Greek surnames - male and female

Greece is located in the southern part of the Balkans, on the islands of the Aegean, Ionian and Mediterranean seas. About 95 percent of the population of this beautiful country consists of Greeks. Of course, representatives of this nation live in other countries, but they tend to settle in small and compact groups. All of them are united by their individual name and patronymic and Greek surnames, which are the collective heritage of each family.

Widespread fame for the descendants of the Hellenes brought high activity in political activities and a rich cultural heritage. According to many people, Greek surnames are the most beautiful in the world. They were formed according to their own characteristic rules. Very often, the name of the grandfather or father became the basis of the generic nickname. Along with the surname, the residents of Ellada actively used their patronymic. Therefore now the full Greek name consists of a name, a patronymic and a surname.

How did the Greek names appear

In some cases, the names of Greeks were formed taking into account the profession of man. Greece has long been famous for its craftsmen in various fields. And those people, whose skill in the chosen profession was outstanding, wore nicknames indicating the nature of their activities.

Sometimes the surname indicated the locality in which its bearer was born. But you can determine the geographical location of a person and by other signs. In different regions of the country, Greek names have different endings. For example, the generic names of the inhabitants of the island of Crete and those from this region end in -a kis or- idis . In other regions of Greece, endings are often used, such as - atos , - pullover, -adis and so on.

Female surnames

In most cases, the Greek surnames of women coincide with the masculine in the genitive case. Also in Greece it is customary to put stress in different ways depending on who owns the surname: a woman or a man.

When married, Greek women can choose the name of their spouse or leave the family name of their father. But this opportunity to choose is only among the fair sex, grown up in urban areas. For the villagers, the situation is somewhat different. Here, her social subordination to a man is more pronounced. In the village, the woman's surname consists of her name, her husband's name and his hereditary name.

Most of the citizens of Greece have surnames similar to the male variants, but with other endings: -y, -a or -i . For example, if a man has the surname Zarobalas, then in the female version it will sound like Zorbala, Ioannidis - Ioannidi and so on.

Greek man's surnames

Its individual name, received at the baptism, every citizen of the country retains throughout his life. Greek male surnames are almost always inherited from the father. Many of them appeared from personal names, which were transformed with the help of suffix and case endings. For example, the name Nikola became the main nickname for Nikolaos, that is, "son of Nikola" in literal translation from the Greek language.