Baby names of Ancient Greek Origin

Ancient Greek baby names are the names that were used in Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC. At that time Greek civilization was dominating the Mediterranean, helping to spread Greek names through that region, especially to Romans and Ancient Egyptians but also Africa and parts of Asia. Later, the Greek culture felt in Judea during the time of Christ, that’s why there is a large amount of Greek Names in the New Testament (Bible).

The structure of Ancient Greek Names

Ancient Greeks had no middle or last name; they were identified by their unique first name and the ethnicity or city they came from along with the patronymic name of their father. (Herodotus of Halicarnassus–‘Ηρόδοτος ο Αλικαρνασσεύς’, the historian who lived in Athens).

Most Ancient Greek names are dithematic (of two elements) either simple derived from a noun or adjective along with a suffix e.g. Philippos-‘Φίλιππος‘, from ‘philli’ (friend) and ‘ippos’ (horse). See also Greek Mythological names for more information about mythological boy names and mythological girl names inspired from Ancient Greek Mythology, along with name meaning, pronunciation and other useful info.

Ancient Greece is considered to be the cradle of western civilization and is the birthplace of many famous philosophers, kings and heroes. The time period of the ancient Greek civilization existed between the archaic periods of 8th to 6th century BC to the end of antiquity i.e. 6th century AD. The Ancient Greek civilization gave the western world democracy, philosophy, literature, arts, sculptures and the Olympic Games. The ancient Greeks were known to be pioneers in formulating logically valid ideas for democracy, government, science, theory, religion, and fine arts. They were truly unique in all aspects of life.

Ancient Greek names are commonly used in Greece and all over Europe as many of these names were transmitted by the New Testament and as Saint Names of Christianity.

Browse through our selection of Ancient Greek baby names to find the ideal name for your baby.