Ἐτυμολογικά...
The goal of etymologica.com
Etymologica.com is a labor of love. Our aspiration is that it grows to be a comprehensive, accurate, and authoritative reference on the meaning and etymology behind Greek names.
Upgrade status (as of January 2008)
Fairly complete: Zeta (Z), Eta (H), Theta (Θ), Xi (Ξ), Psi (Ψ), Omega (Ω).
Under construction: Alpha (Α).
Added guest book. Any comments and suggestions are most welcome and will be credited!
Etymologica.com is still in its infancy stage. The first draft will take a while to complete and, by its nature, such a project can never be considered finalized: it will forever remain open for additions and fine-tuning.
Why Greek names?
Greek or Hellenic (terms to be used interchangeably) names have a very intriguing nature: most of them are literally embedded with meaning. Take Lysistrate (Λυσιστράτη), a heroine of Aristophanes (Ἀριστοφάνης) . Her story is well known: Lysistrate convinced her peers to deny all sexual liaisons with their husbands so long as they continued fighting a bloody civil war. Lysistrate is probably the most post-modern of ancient heroines.
Now consider her name: Lysistrate is derived from the verb λύω meaning "to disband" and στρατός meaning "army". Her very name summarizes the plot of Aristophanes’' play!
Our approach
Greek names are listed in three ways: Hellenic polytonic script, English transliteration and, whenever necessary, common English spelling (for example, Heracles becomes Hercules). An interpretation of every name is first proposed, followed by the underlying etymology.
All interpretations provided are, to quote the French, littéraire rather than littéral. Consider the name Ἂλκιππος, Alkippos. Its etymology is fairly unambiguous: it is derived from alke (strength) and hippos (horse). Any interpretation, however, would be subjective. The name could mean "strong as a horse." Or perhaps, "stout equestrian". Or maybe, "brave cavalry fighter."
So please do not take any interpretation provided literally, but consider the name's etymology, and put your creativity and imagination to work!
Greek Names: Surviving a paradigm shift
The Roman Emperor Theodosius (Θεοδόσιος) imposed Christianity as the official (and only) religion of the Greco-Roman world, with the military help of the Goth leader Alaric whose army was essentially outsourced to physically eradicate pagans and paganism. The rude shutting down of the Library of Alexandria in 391 C.E. and the outlawing of the Olympic Games in 393 C.E. sealed the end of an era.
As a result of Theodosius, Christianity ceased being a fringe offshoot of Judaism, and emerged as major world religion. The new status quo was certainly not tolerant to cultural vestiges deemed pagan. Archbishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom incited parents to name their children after saints and martyrs rather than after pagan ancestors. Due to the legacy of Theodosius and Chrysostom most contemporary Greeks are called John and Maria, as opposed to Praxiteles and Aphrodite. Moreover, a number on new names emerged, mostly reflecting the new prevailing religion. Examples include the somewhat somber Christodoulos, meaning slave (doulos) of Christ, and the decidedly more upbeat Anastasios, meaning he who rises from the dead (from ana, up, and stasis, to stand).
Although some older Hellenic names ( including the likes of Alexander and Helen) survived due to religious namesakes, the vast majority were rendered all but extinct. Thankfully many older names survived outside the confines of Greece, and are now making a triumphal come-back within Greece too. Due to popular sentiment, the Greek Orthodox Church recently began condoning (albeit reluctantly) the adoption formerly supressed Greek names in Greece. After several centuries, names such as Telemachos and Nephele are once again often heard in Greek schoolyards.
Shout "Yianni" or "Maria" at any crowded street corner in Greece and scores of heads will turn. They are among the most popular names in contemporary Greece, so why are they not listed in this project? We have decided to focus exclusively on names bearing Greek etymology. This means that some wonderful Hellenized names such as Βύρων (Byron), Μιχαὴλ (Michael) and even my own name, Παῦλος (Paul) will not be the subject of our scrutiny. For a comprehensive listing of such names, please check http://www.behindthename.com/.
A note on polytonic script
Contemporary Greek was officially written in polytonic -- i.e. complete with accents and breathing marks -- until the Greek government in 1982 sneaked a bill abolishing polytonic script in a post-midnight parliamentary session attended by only a handful of drowsy, bedandruffed, turtleneck-clad socialist MPs. Ironically, their argument at the time was that computers could not handle polytonic stript. The bill was ratified by the late conservative President Constantine Caramanlis, whose disdain for linguistic heritage was also revealed by his suggestion to scrap the Greek alphabet altogether in favor of Latin, for the sake of modernization!
As a result of this ill-conceived law, passed by uncultured leftist and rightist men of no vision, many centuries of linguistic heritage were sadly uprooted. An entire generation of Greeks can no longer write a simple sentence using the script used by Odysseas Elytis (1979 Nobel Prize in Literature). This site will not be a party to this travesty. If you have a polytonic-compatible Unicode font (e.g., Palatino Linotype) loaded on your computer, you should have no problem enjoying polytonic Greek on your screens.
Sources and inspirations
- The best and most authoritative online source for the etymology of names is http://www.behindthename.com/. I cannot help but draw inspiration from Mike C's magnum opus! The site's name fact forum is the place to ask any name-related etymological question. A wonderful community of volunteers world-wide will almost instantly help you out even with the most obscure of names!
- The most complete compilation of Greek names is The Lexicon of Greek Names, an Oxford University project http://www.lgpn.ox.ac.uk/. I will draw heavily from this incredible site.
- Greek-English Lexicon, Lidell &Scott, 9th Edition (ISBN: 0-19-864226-1). An online version of this venerable lexicon is available at www.perseus.org An etymologist's dream comes true!
- Λεξικὸ τῆς Ἀρχαίας Ελληνικῆς Γλώσσας, Magenta. A great electronic tool available at http://www.magenta.gr/
- Τό Ὀνομά Σου ("Your Name"), a booklet published by an unknown schoolteacher, Konstantinos Mantzouranis, in 1951. I was lucky to unearth this gem at a flea market in Athens. It is the only book I have found that deals exclusively with the meaning and origin of Greek names.
- Λεξικὸ Κυρίων Ὀνομάτων, Ἀνέστης Κωνσταντινίδης. This excellent compendium of Greek names was first published in 1900, and thankfully republished in 1999 (ISBN: 960-7437-37-3), and Θησαυρὸς Ἑλληνικῶν Όνομάτων, Ἂρης Διαμάντης (ISBN: 96-7931-65-3). Both books contain rich and detailed biographical information on Greek names.
- The Great Big Book of Baby Names, (PIL, 2006) by Professor Cleveland Kent Evans. The idea of color-coding names by gender was inspired from this highly enjoyable book.
- People who have given me practical advice and suggested corrections: My beautiful wife Kyriake, Mike C., Kyriakos T., তন্ময় ভট, and many other to be credited
Copyright: Paul C. Panayotacos
