Greek writing from ancient greek red figure pottery (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Looking for a character name that sounds distinctive but doesn’t look like it came out of a random name generator? How about one from Ancient Greece? Often the best names come from real life. Beyond ‘Fred’ is an occasional series that provides lists of names from real-world cultures, both past and present. In other posts, I’ve covered everything from Italian to Ancient Egyptian.
An important note: I’m listing names that I think sound cool for rpg game purposes. I’m not worrying about historical accuracy. If you’re looking for a name for historical re-enactment, please check out my list of sources at the end of this post. I also don’t usually cover name meanings, but again, most of my sources list those. Finally, I tend to stay away from names that are currently in common usage. I figure if you were interested in those, you wouldn’t be looking at this list 😉
Ancient Greek Names
Male
- Abantes
- Agapetos
- Akakios
- Aktis
- Alexios
- Bakis
- Basileios
- Bion
- Burrhus
- Daetor
- Dareios
- Diodoros
- Diokles
- Dryas
- Echemmon
- Eirenaios
- Epiktetos
- Eustorgios
- Eyrx
- Galenos
- Gennadios
- Glykon
- Gurgos
- Harpagos
- Hesiodos
- Hyakinthos
- Hylas
- Iasos
- Iphitus
- Isidoros
- Itheus
- Kadmos
- Kallias
- Karpos
- Kyrios
- Laomedon
- Linos
- Loxias
- Lykos
- Makarios
- Melampos
- Metrophanes
- Myron
- Narkissos
- Nereus
- Nikias
- Nyctinus
- Okytos
- Olympos
- Origenes
- Orthaeus
- Pammon
- Pankratios
- Phaidros
- Philokrates
- Sabyllos
- Seleukos
- Skiron
- Solon
- Talaemenes
- Thales
- Timaios
- Tros
- Xanthos
- Xenokrates
- Xenon
- Xuthos
- Zagreus
- Zenodoros
- Zopyros
- Zosimus
Female
- Achaia
- Agape
- Aikaterine
- Anthousa
- Basiane
- Berenike
- Bito
- Briseis
- Damaris
- Delias
- Demetria
- Drosis
- Eirene
- Euantha
- Eudokia
- Euthymia
- Evadne
- Gaiane
- Galatea
- Galene
- Glyke
- Haidee
- Hagne
- Helike
- Hypatia
- Iaera
- Ino
- Isidora
- Issa
- Kallistrate
- Kallixeina
- Korinna
- Kynna
- Lais
- Lasthena
- Ligeia
- Lyra
- Megara
- Melitta
- Mykale
- Myrrine
- Nemerte
- Nesaea
- Nikaia
- Nysas
- Oitane
- Olympias
- Oreithyia
- Otonia
- Pales
- Pelagia
- Phile
- Pylia
- Raisa
- Rhene
- Rhode
- Rhodope
- Sebasteia
- Semele
- Sostrate
- Sotera
- Thalassa
- Thais
- Timo
- Tryphosa
- Xanthe
- Xanthippe
- Xene
- Xenia
- Zenobia
- Zita
- Zosime
- Zoe
Hints on pronunciation
- Always pronounce the final “e”– it makes an sound like “eh”.
- “Ch” is always pronounced with a “k” sound.
- “Th” is pronounced smoothly, like in “this”
Sources
- Ancient Greek Names – Male. This page contains hundreds of Ancient Greek mens’ names. A good resource if you’re doing a game set in Ancient Greece or don’t like any of my choices.
- Ancient Greek Names – Female. As full a resource as it’s male counterpart, above. Lists of women’s names from the ancient world are often sparse. This is a rare find for female names.
- Behind the Name: Ancient Greek Names. Mixes male and female names together. Also includes the meaning of the names. Not as big a selection as the page above.
- Encyclopedia Mythica: Pronunciation Guide. Lists many names with their pronunciations.
- Hints on Pronouncing Ancient Greek Names. A few quick pronunciation guidelines.
Other Beyond ‘Fred’ Posts:
- Ancient Egyptian
- Ancient Roman
- Anglo-Saxon
- More Anglo-Saxon
- German
- Italian
- Russian
- Victorian English
