Names by country
Greek names for characters
Popular Greek first names by birth decade, common and regional surnames, pronunciation, and the naming rules writers trip over.
How Greek names work
Children are traditionally named after grandparents (the first son after the paternal grandfather), so name pools change slowly. Official documents carry the father's name in the genitive, and women's surnames take the genitive form (Papadopoulos becomes Papadopoulou). Name days matter more than birthdays.
Middle names. No middle names. The father's name appears on official documents only and isn't used in everyday writing.
First names by birth decade
Names drift in and out of fashion. Pick from the decade your character was born, not the year your story is set.
Born before 1950
Girls
- Maria mah-REE-ah
- Eleni (Lena) eh-LEH-nee
- Aikaterini (Katina) eh-kah-teh-REE-nee
- Vasiliki (Vaso) vah-see-LEE-kee
- Sofia soh-FEE-ah
- Angeliki (Kiki) ahn-geh-LEE-kee
- Georgia (Gogo) YOR-yah
- Dimitra (Mitsa) dhee-MEE-trah
Boys
- Georgios (Giorgos) yee-OR-yee-os
- Ioannis (Giannis) ee-oh-AH-nees
- Konstantinos (Kostas) kon-stan-DEE-nos
- Dimitrios (Mitsos) dhee-MEE-tree-os
- Nikolaos (Nikos) nee-KOH-lah-os
- Panagiotis (Takis) pah-nah-YOH-tees
- Vasileios (Vasilis) vah-SEE-lee-os
- Christos KHREES-tos
Born 1950–64
Girls
- Maria
- Eleni
- Aikaterini (Katerina)
- Vasiliki (Vicky)
- Sofia
- Angeliki
- Georgia
- Dimitra
Boys
- Georgios (Giorgos)
- Ioannis (Giannis)
- Konstantinos (Kostas)
- Dimitrios (Dimitris)
- Nikolaos (Nikos)
- Panagiotis (Panos)
- Vasileios (Vasilis)
- Christos
Born 1965–79
Girls
- Maria
- Eleni
- Aikaterini (Katerina)
- Vasiliki (Vicky)
- Georgia
- Sofia
- Angeliki
- Dimitra
Boys
- Georgios (Giorgos)
- Ioannis (Giannis)
- Konstantinos (Kostas)
- Dimitrios (Dimitris)
- Nikolaos (Nikos)
- Panagiotis (Panos)
- Christos
- Vasileios (Vasilis)
Born 1980–94
Girls
- Maria
- Eleni
- Aikaterini (Katerina)
- Georgia
- Vasiliki (Vicky)
- Sofia
- Ioanna
- Dimitra
Boys
- Georgios (Giorgos)
- Ioannis (Giannis)
- Konstantinos (Kostas)
- Dimitrios (Dimitris)
- Nikolaos (Nikos)
- Panagiotis (Panos)
- Alexandros (Alexis) ah-LEK-sahn-dhros
- Christos
Born 1995–2009
Girls
- Maria
- Eleni
- Aikaterini (Katerina)
- Georgia
- Vasiliki
- Sofia
- Anastasia
- Ioanna
Boys
- Georgios (Giorgos)
- Ioannis (Giannis)
- Konstantinos (Kostas)
- Dimitrios (Dimitris)
- Nikolaos (Nikos)
- Panagiotis (Panos)
- Alexandros (Alexis)
- Christos
Born 2010 onward
Girls
- Maria
- Eleni
- Aikaterini (Katerina)
- Vasiliki
- Sofia
- Georgia
- Angeliki
- Dimitra
Boys
- Georgios (Giorgos)
- Konstantinos (Kostas)
- Dimitrios (Dimitris)
- Ioannis (Giannis)
- Nikolaos (Nikos)
- Alexandros (Alexis)
- Panagiotis (Panos)
- Christos
Common Greek surnames
Women's forms are shown after the slash.
- Papadopoulos / Papadopoulou pah-pah-DHOH-poo-los
- Georgiou yor-YEE-oo
- Pappas / Pappa PAH-pahs
- Oikonomou ee-koh-noh-MOO
- Nikolaidis / Nikolaidou nee-koh-lah-EE-dhees
- Karagiannis / Karagianni kah-rah-YAH-nees
- Vlachos / Vlachou VLAH-khos
- Antoniou ahn-doh-NEE-oo
- Makris / Makri MAH-krees
- Dimitriou dhee-mee-TREE-oo
- Ioannou ee-oh-AH-noo
- Konstantinidis / Konstantinidou
- Alexiou ah-lek-SEE-oo
- Papageorgiou pah-pah-yor-YEE-oo
- Christodoulou khree-stoh-DHOO-loo
- Theodorou theh-oh-DHOH-roo
- Mavridis / Mavridou mah-VREE-dhees
- Angelopoulos / Angelopoulou
- Kyriakou kee-ree-ah-KOO
- Panagiotou pah-nah-yoh-TOO
- Michailidis / Michailidou
- Athanasiou
- Vasileiou vah-see-LEE-oo
Regional names
Where a character comes from inside Greece changes their surname, and sometimes their first name.
Crete
-akis (little) is the classic Cretan surname ending.
Surnames: Papadakis, Manolakis, Markakis, Daskalakis, Kounalakis, Psaroudakis, Fragiadakis, Spanoudakis, Zacharioudakis, Sfakianakis
Girls: Eleni, Despoina, Aikaterini, Evangelia, Chrysoula, Kalliopi
Boys: Emmanouil, Michail, Stylianos, Zacharias, Nikolaos, Georgios
Peloponnese
-poulos (son of) is Peloponnesian in origin; families from the Mani end in -eas or -akos.
Surnames: Stathopoulos, Kyriakopoulos, Panagiotopoulos, Antonopoulos, Georgakopoulos, Dimopoulos, Christopoulos, Vasilopoulos, Petrakos, Grigorakos
Macedonia and Thrace (Thessaloniki)
-idis and -iadis endings are typical of Pontic and Anatolian Greek families resettled in the north after 1922.
Surnames: Savvidis, Lazaridis, Theodoridis, Charalampidis, Iordanidis, Pavlidis, Sarafidis, Ioannidis, Papadimitriou, Chatzis
Questions
What are common Greek surnames?
Some of the most common Greek surnames are Papadopoulos, Georgiou, Pappas, Oikonomou, Nikolaidis, Karagiannis. Regional surnames differ, so check the regional lists before choosing one for a character from a particular area.
How do Greek names work?
Children are traditionally named after grandparents (the first son after the paternal grandfather), so name pools change slowly. Official documents carry the father's name in the genitive, and women's surnames take the genitive form (Papadopoulos becomes Papadopoulou). Name days matter more than birthdays. No middle names. The father's name appears on official documents only and isn't used in everyday writing.
Build a Greek character in one tap
InkBorn gives them a name from the right decade, a face card, a background, a personality and even their social media handles.