In anticipation of the birth of the baby, the parents most urgently face the question of choosing a name for their unborn child. In recent years, two trends have emerged in this area: fathers and mothers choose an original Russian name for their child or try to call it an original and special name. Names of Greek origin are very popular. It is about them that we propose to talk in this article.
An interesting fact is that the Greek name, as a rule, exists in two versions: colloquial and official. So, for example, a person who has the name Emmanuel in his passport will in general be subscribed and called Manolis everywhere, and the carriers of the famous name Yannis on the passport are Ioannis.
Almost all modern Greek names are of Greek origin, and only a small part of them are borrowings from other peoples. So, there are several categories of names that parents call their children:
- Orthodox greek name. The following names belong to this group: Vasilios (in translation - the king), Irini (peace, peace), Georgeos (engaged in agriculture), Ekaterini (immaculate, pure).
- Antique (mostly mythological) names: Aphrodite (the goddess of beauty born in sea foam ), Pinelopi (faithful wife), Sofoklis (glory) and others.
- Names of Latin or Jewish origin: Mary (beloved), Konstantinos (steady), Anna (gracious).
- Modern names, mostly borrowed from Western Europe: Eduardos (guardian of happiness and wealth), Isavella (beautiful woman), Roberto (eternal glory).
Regardless of origin, any Greek name, as a rule, means some feature of a person’s personality and characterizes intelligence or moral qualities. Moreover, these characteristics are extremely positive and flattering for the name holder. So, the following names can be called very successful: Eleni (bright), Leonidas (like a lion), Prokopios (successful, leading), Parthenios (preserving chastity), Evangelos (carrying good news).
As for the Greeks themselves, today they most often call the boys Georgios, Dimitrios and Konstantinos, and the girls Maria, Eleni and Ekaterini. Also very popular are such names as Nikolaos (conqueror of peoples), Vasilios (king), Panagiotis (blessed), Ioannis (blessed by God), Anastasia (resurrected), Sophia (wise) and Gospel (joyful).
In our country, the names invented by the ancient Hellenes, we meet more often than you can imagine. However, the Greek name is not perceived as such due to the fact that it was adapted to the conditions of local culture and language. So, Greek roots have such popular male names in our country as Alexander, Sergey, Alexei, Artem, Nikolai and others. By the way, women's names, considered to be native Russian: Faith, Hope and Love - also have Greek roots, not to mention such popular names today as Polina and Sofia.