Greek & Cypriot Names
June Samaras
> lineage, abolished surnames, and made it so that children took their
> father's first name as a substitute surname?
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Where did this theory/opinion come from?
I am aware of the higher frequency in Cypriot family names of
the genitive form, but was not aware that this was now being used
as evidence for some alleged British conspiracy designed
"to destroy family lineage"
Naming traditions in Greek culture have essentially been based on on the
conventions of one's personal genealogy and defined by the basic structure
of Greek grammar, and, in fact were originally PRECISELY and ONLY that
-a simple description of the "family lineage" of an individual and never were
based on any government fiat and pre-date by generations any other form
of "surnames" or any real or imagined British influence in Cyprus
(though in both Greece and Cyprus the conventional forms are now embedded
in official records such as on a taftotita, or a passport, or even in
the listings
in the telephone phone book)
The first naming convention is the pretty much an essential charcteristic
of the language - the simple use of a patronymic that serves to distinguish
between one Ioannis and another Yianni by using the genitive form of the
father's name. (Don't even ASK why not on the MOTHER'S name !<g>)
Ioannis, son of Stavros = Ioannis Stavrou
Yiannis, son of Nicholas = Yianni Nikolaou
The second cultural characteristic is the enduring cultural tradition
of naming a first born son for his paternal grandfather.
If Stavros had 4 sons, then he might well have 4 grandsons ALL
baptised Stavros. To sort them out they would, of neccessity,
need to be differentiated, and the obvious difference was to refer
to which father they belonged to.
So George's son would be Stavros Giorgiou
and Nick's son would be Stavros Nikolaou
and so on for all the cousins.
Before the deleopment of permanent "surnames" this naming
pattern would change through each generation -
Stavros Nikolaou's eldest son would be Nikos Stavrou
and Stavros Giorgiou's son become Giorgos Stavrou
In small villages (and before written records ) this would mostly
be a sufficient form of identification for all who needed to know.
With larger communities and more mobility of populations this
naming convention might no longer be enough to differentiate one
Yianni from another - so other factors might became part of the
distinguishing name such as those in the examples given below.
Profession or Trade names
Samaras = Saddle maker
(This name became was attached to my husband's grandfather
c. 1922 when, as a refugee from Asia Minor, he took up a new
occupation in Greece.His original family name was Kyparissis)
Pappas = Priest
All kinds of descendants of priests have names that reflect
an ancestor who at some time was a member of the clergy,
which has created an infinite number of names like
Papandreou, Papanicholas, Papademos, Papageorgiou etc,etc
Previous place of Residence.
Of the two saddle makers in town, both named George,
the one who originally came from Thessaly might become
known as as Giorgos "Voliotis"
Personal characteristics, nicknames etc
Michael with the thatch of dark hair might bequeath
the name of Mavromichali to his children.
These names were never fixed in stone, and many variations developed over time.
In addition to this, certain regions of Greece have their own localized name
conventions which can be added on to many of the kinds of the names
described above, and these suffixes often denote a regional origin for that
family, even if from many generations ago :
- - - opoulos - from the Peloponnese
- - - akis - from Crete
- - - assis/ issis - from Asia Minor
- - - eas - from Mani
- - - oglou - Asia Minor/Constantinople
Some complications DID arise in parallel with that of modern
governments, and with all the formal legal requirements of urban
and sophisticated life. A proper distinguishing and unequivocal
name is needed for all kinds of reasons : such as registration of births,
marriages and deaths, land transfers, dowries, wills and inheritance,
applying for bank accounts and credit cards and all those other
situations where an individual's identity needs to be categorically
established to lay proper claim to rights and benefits.
One consequence was that the need for documentation has served to
"ossify" family names at a certain point in time into what we now call
"surnames" : that is the use of certain names that have now become
fixed and are now attached to ALL members of a given lineage through
many generations, rather than just the basic fexible genitive patronymic
that was the earliest naming convention.
In Cyprus the use of genitive patronymics is much more more prevalent
and enduring than in Greece. With a larger population and more mobility
and immigration ( e.g.1922), they naturally needed and delevoped a wider
range of bases for forming family names.
In Greece this genitive patronymic is still an essential part of
official identity, so that as well as the "permanent " family name
everyone's name includes, as a middle name, that of their father
(even if only abbreviated to an initial) This is not "just" because
of some government regulation - life in Greece would be very
confusing without it.
Just look in the Athens telephone book for name such as
"Papadopoulos, George" and it is that middle initial that
clears up some of the confusion between the many people
who may share a common, popular name.
Note : the examples given above are all masculine (given the lingering
patriarchal conventions of traditional Greek society) and are only used
to illustrate the basic principles of Greek naming traditions and structures
... woman's names are another chapter ....
... and if you think GREEK names can get confusing then look into
the conventions of forming personal names in Spain, which incorporate
BOTH mother's and father's family names
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June Samaras
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