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