Greek Last Name Generator
Authentic Greek surnames with their meanings
Generate real Greek last names from every region: Peloponnesian -opoulos names, Cretan -akis names, Pontic and Macedonian -idis names, Ionian -atos names and Asia Minor -oglou names, plus historic families like Komnenos and Kolokotronis.
About Greek last names
Greek surnames are young by European standards, mostly fixed in the 18th and 19th centuries, and almost all of them are built from a recognizable piece plus a suffix that tells you where the family came from. The suffix -opoulos ('son of', from Latin pullus) marks the Peloponnese: Papadopoulos is 'son of the priest', Nikolopoulos 'son of Nikolaos'. Crete adds -akis, a diminutive ('little'), giving Kazantzakis and Theodorakis. The -idis and -iadis endings (Nikolaidis, Georgiadis) belong to Pontic Greeks and Macedonia; -atos (Metaxatos, Livieratos) is Kefalonian; -akos and -eas come from the Mani; -ellis from Lesbos; -oglou is the Turkish 'son of' carried by families who left Asia Minor in 1923.
The first half of a surname usually records an ancestor's name, job or nickname. Papa- means a priest, Hatzi-/Chatzi- a pilgrim to Jerusalem, Kara- (Turkish for 'black') a dark-haired ancestor, Mavro- and Kokkino- 'black' and 'red', Kontos 'short', Makris 'tall', Raptis 'tailor', Psaltis 'cantor', Mylonas 'miller', Vlachos a shepherd from the Vlach communities.
Remember that Greek women carry the genitive form: Papadopoulou, Nikolaidou, Kazantzaki. The list here gives the masculine forms, so switch the ending when naming a female character.
How to choose Greek last names
- Choose the ending by region. A Cretan family should be -akis (Manousakis), a Peloponnesian one -opoulos (Anagnostopoulos), a northern or Pontic one -idis (Symeonidis), an Ionian islander -atos (Gerolymatos).
- Feminize for women and girls: -opoulos becomes -opoulou, -idis becomes -idou, -akis becomes -aki, and names ending in -as or -os drop the s (Karras becomes Karra, Kokkinos becomes Kokkinou).
- For meaning, read the first part: Papa- (priest), Hatzi- (pilgrim), Kara- (black/dark), Kondo- (short), Makro- (tall), Xantho- (blond), Anagnosto- (church reader).
- Mix lengths in a cast. Real Greek rosters pair long compounds like Papakonstantinou with short names like Melas, Fokas and Rigas, so do not give every character a five-syllable surname.
- Spell consistently: choose Chatzis or Hatzis, Giannopoulos or Yiannopoulos, Oikonomou or Economou, and stick with one system across a story or game.
Frequently asked questions
What does -opoulos mean in Greek last names?
It means 'son of' or 'descendant of' and comes from the Latin pullus ('young one'). It is characteristic of the Peloponnese, which is why Papadopoulos, Georgopoulos and Konstantopoulos are among the most common surnames in all of Greece.
Why do so many Greek surnames start with Papa?
Papas means priest, and Orthodox priests can marry and have children. A priest's descendants often took his title plus his first name: Papadimitriou is 'of Father Dimitrios', Papanikolaou 'of Father Nikolaos', and Papadopoulos simply 'priest's son'.
What are the most common Greek last names?
Papadopoulos leads by a wide margin, followed by Papageorgiou, Oikonomou, Papadimitriou, Georgiou, Papaioannou, Nikolaou, Vlachos, Karagiannis and Konstantinidis. Cypriot Greeks more often carry plain patronymics like Georgiou, Ioannou and Christodoulou.
Can I tell where a Greek family is from by their surname?
Often, yes. -akis almost always means Crete, -atos means the Ionian islands, -idis or -iadis points to Pontus, Macedonia or Thrace, -akos and -eas to the Mani, -oglou to Asia Minor refugees, and -ellis to Lesbos. Surnames ending in -as, -is or -os are found everywhere.
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All 500 Greek last names
A: 22 names
- Alexandrakis
- Alexandridis
- Anagnostakis
- Anagnostaras
- Anagnostou
- Andreadis
- Andreopoulos
- Andreou
- Angelopoulos
- Angelos
- Antonakis
- Antoniadis
- Antoniou
- Antonopoulos
- Apergis
- Apostolakis
- Apostolou
- Arvanitis
- Asprogerakas
- Athanasiadis
- Athanasopoulos
- Avgoustatos
B: 22 names
- Bakogiannis
- Balaskas
- Balis
- Baltas
- Baltatzis
- Barkas
- Basdekis
- Batsis
- Beis
- Benakis
- Benos
- Bergeles
- Bimpas
- Bletsas
- Bogdanos
- Bogris
- Botsaris
- Boukouvalas
- Bouras
- Boutsikas
- Brillakis
- Broumas
C: 6 names
- Chatzigeorgiou
- Chatziioannou
- Chatzis
- Christodoulou
- Christoforidis
- Christoforou
D: 14 names
- Dalaras
- Deligiannis
- Deligiorgis
- Demirtzoglou
- Diakos
- Diamantopoulos
- Dimitrakopoulos
- Dimitriadis
- Dimitriou
- Dimopoulos
- Doukakis
- Doukas
- Doxakis
- Drakos
E: 4 names
- Elytis
- Emmanouilidis
- Evangelatos
- Evangelopoulos
F: 17 names
- Fanourakis
- Fiakas
- Filippidis
- Filippou
- Filis
- Flessas
- Floros
- Foskolos
- Fotakis
- Fotiou
- Fotopoulos
- Fourlas
- Fragkiadakis
- Fragkos
- Fragoulis
- Frangopoulos
- Frantzis
G: 31 names
- Galanis
- Garefalakis
- Gatos
- Gatsos
- Gavalas
- Gavrilis
- Georgiadis
- Georgiou
- Georgopoulos
- Gerakis
- Gerasimou
- Geronikolos
- Giakoumakis
- Giakoumis
- Giannakis
- Giannoulis
- Gidaris
- Gikas
- Gioldasis
- Gkanas
- Gkotsis
- Gkountas
- Glezos
- Glinos
- Gounaris
- Gousis
- Grammatikakis
- Gratsias
- Grigoriadis
- Grigoriou
- Gryparis
H: 3 names
- Hatzidakis
- Hatzigiannis
- Hatzinikolaou
I: 7 names
- Iakovidis
- Iatrou
- Iliadis
- Ilioglou
- Iliopoulos
- Ioakeimidis
- Ioannidis
K: 78 names
- Kaklamanis
- Kalaitzis
- Kalamaras
- Kalantzis
- Kallergis
- Kalogeropoulos
- Kaloudis
- Kaltsas
- Kamberis
- Kambouris
- Kaminaris
- Kanaris
- Kanellopoulos
- Kantakouzenos
- Kapodistrias
- Kapsalis
- Kapsis
- Karabelas
- Karagiannis
- Karagounis
- Karaiskos
- Karalis
- Karamichalis
- Karanikas
- Karatasos
- Karatzas
- Karavas
- Karkavitsas
- Karvelas
- Karydis
- Katsaros
- Katsikas
- Katsimichas
- Kavvadas
- Kazanoglou
- Kechagias
- Kefalas
- Kefalogiannis
- Kefalonitis
K, continued
- Klonaris
- Kokkalis
- Kokkinakis
- Kokolakis
- Kolias
- Kollas
- Kolokotronis
- Kolovos
- Kondylakis
- Kondyliotis
- Kondylis
- Konstantakis
- Konstantinidis
- Konstantopoulos
- Kontopoulos
- Kordatos
- Korfiatis
- Kornaros
- Kosmas
- Kosmidis
- Kotsis
- Kotsonis
- Kotzias
- Koukoulas
- Koumantaros
- Koumbis
- Koumoundouros
- Kounadis
- Koundouriotis
- Kountouris
- Kourkoulos
- Kourtis
- Kousoulis
- Kouvarakis
- Kritikos
- Kyriakou
- Kyritsis
- Kyrkos
- Kyrou
L: 20 names
- Lagos
- Lambrakis
- Lambrinidis
- Lambrinos
- Lekkas
- Lemonis
- Leontaris
- Leontiadis
- Liakos
- Lianos
- Liapis
- Limperis
- Linardos
- Liontos
- Litsas
- Lolos
- Louvaris
- Lygeros
- Lykoudis
- Lykouris
M: 57 names
- Makedonas
- Makris
- Makropoulos
- Makrygiannis
- Mamalakis
- Mamas
- Manesis
- Maniatakis
- Manolakis
- Manoliadis
- Manolis
- Manolopoulos
- Manousakis
- Mantas
- Mantzaris
- Mantzavinos
- Marinopoulos
- Markakis
- Markou
- Markoulakis
- Marmaras
- Mastoras
- Mastrogiannis
- Mastrokostas
- Mathioudakis
- Mavrogenis
- Mavroglou
- Mavroleon
- Mavromichalis
- Mavrommatis
- Mavromoustakos
- Mavroudis
- Megas
- Melas
- Melissanidis
- Mertzanis
- Mesimeris
- Metallinos
- Metaxakis
- Miaoulis
- Michaelides
- Michailidis
- Michos
- Minas
- Mitropoulos
- Mitsotakis
- Moraitakis
- Moraitis
- Moriatis
- Moschonas
- Mouratidis
- Mourouzis
- Mousouris
- Moutsatsos
- Moutsos
- Mylonakis
- Mylonas
N: 15 names
- Nakos
- Nanos
- Nasioulas
- Nasos
- Nikitaras
- Nikolaidis
- Nikolakopoulos
- Nikolaou
- Nikolopoulos
- Notaras
- Notaridis
- Nouskas
- Ntalaras
- Ntinos
- Ntzounis
O: 2 names
- Oikonomopoulos
- Orfanoudakis
P: 50 names
- Paganis
- Pagonis
- Palaiologos
- Palamas
- Paleologou
- Pallis
- Panagiotidis
- Panagopoulos
- Pantazis
- Papaconstantinou
- Papadakis
- Papadatos
- Papadimitriou
- Papadomichelakis
- Papadopoulos
- Papaioannou
- Papakostas
- Papamichail
- Papandreou
- Papathanasiou
- Papavasileiou
- Papazoglou
- Papoutsakis
- Pappas
- Paraskevaidis
- Paraskevopoulos
- Pavlopoulos
- Pelekanakis
- Pelekanos
- Perdikaris
- Perris
- Petrakis
- Petridis
- Petropoulos
- Petrou
- Plakas
- Plastiras
- Politis
- Politopoulos
- Poulakis
- Prevelakis
- Prokopiou
- Protonotarios
- Protopapas
- Protopsaltis
- Psarakis
- Psaros
- Psomiadis
- Psychas
- Psychogios
R: 11 names
- Riganas
- Rigas
- Ritsos
- Rizopoulos
- Roidis
- Rosettis
- Rossolatos
- Roumeliotakis
- Roumeliotis
- Rousopoulos
- Roussos
S: 53 names
- Sakellaridis
- Samaras
- Sampanis
- Sarantis
- Sarioglou
- Sarris
- Savvas
- Seferis
- Serafeimidis
- Sfakianakis
- Sgouros
- Sideris
- Sikelianos
- Simitzis
- Simos
- Sismanoglou
- Skalidis
- Skandalis
- Skarlatos
- Sklavenitis
- Sklavounakis
- Sklias
- Skordas
- Skoufalos
- Skoufis
- Skoutaris
- Sofoulis
- Solomos
- Sotirakis
- Sotiriou
- Spanos
- Spiliotopoulos
- Spyridakis
- Spyropoulos
- Spyrou
- Stamatakis
- Stamatiadis
- Stamatopoulos
- Stasinos
- Stathakis
- Stathis
- Stathopoulos
- Stavrakis
- Stavrou
- Stefanidis
- Stratakis
- Stratigos
- Stratos
- Stroumpoulis
- Stylianidis
- Stylianopoulos
- Stylianou
- Syriotis
T: 38 names
- Tasios
- Tasopoulos
- Tavoularis
- Terzakis
- Thanopoulos
- Theodorakis
- Theodoridis
- Theodosiou
- Theotokis
- Thrakiotis
- Tombros
- Toumpas
- Tourkantonis
- Trachanas
- Triantafyllou
- Trikoupis
- Tsagkaris
- Tsakalos
- Tsakiris
- Tsaousis
- Tsarouchas
- Tsatsos
- Tsiolis
- Tsipras
- Tsirkas
- Tsitouras
- Tsitsanis
- Tsolakis
- Tsompanidis
- Tsoukalas
- Tsoukatos
- Tsourdalakis
- Tzanetakis
- Tzavellas
- Tzelepis
- Tziovas
- Tzortzis
- Tzoumas
V: 30 names
- Vamvakaris
- Vardakis
- Vardas
- Vardinogiannis
- Vardoulakis
- Varnavas
- Vasilatos
- Vasileiou
- Vasilopoulos
- Vatatzes
- Velentzas
- Velissarios
- Venetis
- Venizelos
- Vergos
- Vidalis
- Vizyinos
- Vlachopoulos
- Vlachos
- Vlahakis
- Vlasopoulos
- Vlastos
- Vougiouklakis
- Voulgarakis
- Voulgaris
- Vouros
- Voutsas
- Voutsinas
- Vrachnos
- Vrettos
X: 7 names
- Xanthakis
- Xanthos
- Xenakis
- Xenidis
- Xenopoulos
- Xenos
- Xylas