Ancient Greek Name Generator

An ancient Greek had one name, and it usually meant something. Most were compounds of two roots: Demosthenes is "strength of the people", Kleopatra "glory of her father", Aristoboulos "best counsel", Nikomachos "victorious in battle". A smaller group are short names built from a single root or a nickname, like Simon, Lykos (wolf) or Phryne (toad). Because everyone in Athens seemed to be called Demetrios, a citizen was pinned down by his father or deme: Perikles son of Xanthippos, Demosthenes of Paiania. Foreigners were known by their city, which is why we still say Thales of Miletos and Sappho of Lesbos.

Dialect and region colour the sound. Attic and Ionian names often end in -es, -os and -kles; Doric names from Sparta and Crete keep a long a, giving Damaratos and Kleombrotos instead of Demaratos; Macedonian court names such as Philippos, Antipatros and Krateros have a heavier, martial ring. Women's names share the same roots with feminine endings: Arsinoe, Berenike, Theano, Mnesarete.

Everything here is spelled the Greek way, with k rather than c and -os rather than -us, so it sits comfortably beside Thoukydides rather than Latinised Thucydides. Use the plain names for Greek-flavoured fantasy, and the patronymic and city forms for historical fiction, tabletop campaigns and classical novels.