Greek Name Generator

How to Use the Greek Name Generator

1. Choose female, male or any Greek names.
2. Pick modern, ancient or both eras.
3. Tick to show modern names in Greek script.
4. Read your Greek name with its meaning. Copy it or tap the star to save it.

Choose Female, Male or Any, then pick an era: Modern for names used in Greece today, Ancient for classical names, or Both. Press Generate for a new list. Modern names come with a surname in the correct form for a woman or a man, and you can show them in Greek script, such as Γιώργος Παπαδόπουλος.

Ancient names are shown the way people were identified in classical sources: by a home city, as in Glaukos of Miletus, or by their father, as in Melissa, daughter of Theodoros. Tick Show meanings to see what a name means. Click any name to copy it, or tap the star to save it.

Why Greek Surnames Change for Women

Greek surnames have grammatical gender. A woman's surname is traditionally the genitive form of the male surname, literally "of Papadopoulos", so the ending changes. Some surnames do not change at all because they are already in the genitive. The generator stores the correct female form of each of its 28 surnames rather than guessing.

Surname endings often hint at a region. Names ending in -akis are typical of Crete, -opoulos of the Peloponnese, and -idis of families with roots in northern Greece, Asia Minor or the Black Sea coast. These are tendencies, not rules.

Modern Greek First Names

Many Greeks are named after a saint, and naming a child after a grandparent is a strong tradition. Everyday forms are often shorter than the full name: Giorgos is used for Georgios, Kostas for Konstantinos and Thanasis for Athanasios. The generator uses these familiar everyday forms, which is how you would hear them in Greece. Name days, the feast day of the saint a person is named after, are often celebrated as warmly as birthdays.

Ancient Greek Names

Ancient Greeks usually had a single name. To tell people apart, sources added the father's name or the home city, which is why the generator offers both forms. Ancient names are spelled here in a close transliteration of the Greek, such as Perikles and Sokrates. In English you will often see Latinized spellings instead, such as Pericles and Socrates.

For men, that gives 24 × 28 = 672 modern names and 26 × 16 + 26 × 25 = 1,066 ancient names, since a man is not named as his own father. Altogether the generator can make 3,418 Greek names.

Name Meanings

Many Greek names are built from ordinary words, so their meanings are clear: Sofia means wisdom, Eirini peace, Petros rock and Alexandros defender of men. Meanings are shown only where they are well established. For names whose origin is uncertain or debated, such as Eleni, Maria and Penelope, no meaning is given rather than a guess.

Tips for Choosing a Greek Name

• Match the era. A character in classical Athens would not be called Giorgos, and a modern Athenian is unlikely to be called Themistokles.
• Use the right surname form. A Greek woman named Maria Papadopoulos would look wrong to Greek readers. The generator handles this for you.
• Think about family. Naming a child after a grandparent is common, so cousins often share first names.
• Use the Greek script carefully. Accents matter in Greek spelling, so copy the generated form rather than retyping it.

Writers building a Greek family can generate one surname, then use the female and male forms for daughters and sons. A brother and sister in the same family might be Nikos Vlachos and Eleni Vlachou, which looks natural to Greek readers and shows that you did your homework.

Frequently asked questions