Ancient Greek Naming: Patronyms, Theophoric Names vs. Roman System

Every culture has a different way of expressing its personal names, and in antiquity the two major Western societies, Greece and Rome, show the divergence that developed. The study of names is called anthroponomastics, derived from anthro meaning human and onoma meaning name. In Rome, the system of names influenced Western societies with modifications, but it has the general parameters of a praenomen, conveniently called a common or first name such as Michael, Susan, or George, and then a nomen or proper or family name such as Lincoln, Washington, or Smith.

The Romans developed a limited number of praenomens and nomens coming from tribes, regions, or ancient families. The Greeks created a different system; typically, they had one name, although they might have put describers such as the father’s name or region. It was only with the arrival of the Romans that the Greeks began to adopt multiple names, but this practice never became universal.

Although the Greeks typically only used one name, seen also during the early Indo-European periods such as the Mycenean age, it was not uncommon to add an identifier to the person, particularly the grandfather’s name or patronymic in the genitive case showing possession, so that it became Cimon, son of Miltiades. Another attribute might be the addition of a particular city or region, such as a deme. Most Greeks would not have the same name as their father, but there were exceptions; one example is the great orator Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes.

Often, they would take the name of their grandfather as a way to distinguish themselves from their father. Traditionally, the eldest son was named after the paternal grandfather, while the second was named after the maternal grandfather or another male relative. There are examples of Greek names from other parts of the Mediterranean that include the simple common name and then a second name, “also known as” X or Y. The names followed the regular pattern of declensions for masculine and feminine forms.

Greek names could also be derivatives of simple attributes such as colors, animals, body parts, or even personal natural characteristics such as beauty or ugliness. These names as recorded may have been nicknames, even if they were somewhat disrespectful, and not their actual name. Compound names occurred with the union of two ideas such as horse and victory, battle and strong, or wise and glory, as seen in names such as Sophokles from Sophos (“wise”) and kleos (“glory”). These compound names allowed the growth of differentiation of names. A name might be shortened from a compound name, such as Nikias, coming from Nikostratros (“victory”).

Some names came from the names of gods or Theophoric, which has the name of the god embedded to invoke their care, such as Dionysios and Demetrios from the gods Dionysus and Demeter, respectively. Most gods were well represented except for Ares and Hades, the gods of war and the Underworld (as one might expect). Many of the Mycenaean names found in the Homeric poems, such as Agamemnon, Achilles, and Odysseus, were not commonly found in the Classical Age. In the Doric area, the names often had the suffix idas, meaning “son of,” so that Leonidas meant “son of Lion”; or the suffix ion, meaning a diminutive, such as Hephaestion (“little Hephaestus”).

Women were named more as the daughter or wife of a person, usually a male. On gravestones, the name occurs as wife or daughter of husband or father with their own name, so Socrates’ wife (Xanthippe) would have on her gravestone: Xanthippe, wife of Socrates. It is from the examination of gravestones that the name of the woman or young girl was actually known, especially for the common inhabitants. Many of the forms came from the masculine names changed to the feminine. A similar idea of the use of the neutered form of ion, now as iwn for the diminutive was used, such as “little one.”

Greek names tended to form based on family names handed down from their ancestors due to tradition and honoring the family history.