The 50 most common Greek surnames

Greek culture is one of the most influential in Western societies, but curiously, this influence has not been so present in the case of the formation of surnames.

And is that at first, the use of surnames in Greece was not common; It was not until the eleventh century that it began to be used more regularly.

In this article we will review the most common Greek surnames and their meanings.

• Related article: "The 12 types of language (and their characteristics)"

Formation and evolution of Greek surnames

In the same way that happens with surnames from other regions, Greek surnames also present in sometimes constant or repetitive training guidelines that facilitate knowing and understanding the meaning.

It is common to use the ending or suffix -ou which translates as "de", added to the end of the father's name or the well-known suffixes -opoulos which means "descendant of" or -iadis which translates as "son of".

Thus, in the same way that there are Spanish surnames that are more common and that are formed by the proper name of the father and by suffixes that indicate that he is "son of", with the Greek surnames occurs Similary.

In this way, It is usual for the most common Greek surnames to be made up of the father's own name and the suffixes "-ou", which is translated as "of", the well-known "-opoulos" which is translated as "descendant of" or "-idis" which, similar to the previous one, would refer to "son of".

In the specific case of women, at first they used a female version of their father's name, to later change their surname to the female version of their party's name. It was not until the end of the 20th century that the law appeared that allows women to choose whether they want to change their surname when they marry or prefer to keep their own.

Thus, knowing this way of formation of Greek surnames and if you know the meaning of the words from which the proper names that constitute them come, we will be able to know how each is translated last name.

The most common Greek surnames and their meaning

Now that we know the most common ways of creating surnames, let's move on to mention some of the most common Greek surnames.

1. Papadopoulos

This is the most used and most common surname in Greece. It means "son of the priest"As we have seen before, "-opoulos" is one of the most used suffixes to form surnames in Greece, which translates as "descending from"

The female version, which is also very common, is Papadopoulo.

2. Papageorgiou

In this case we would find again the prefix papa- which we will translate as “priest” and the proper name Georgios, which is the Greek form of Jorge. Therefore, this surname means "of the priest Georgios".

3. Oikonomou

Coming from the Greek word oikonomos, which means "economy"; it is broken down into "oikos" which translates as "home" and "nemein" which means "administration". In this way we could say that it is translated as "of the person who manages the home"

4. Papadimitriou

In this surname we find again "papa" that as we have said translates as "priest", the suffix "-ou" that we know that it means "of" and the proper name Dimitrios that comes from Demeter which means "Goddess of the earth". Therefore Papadimitriou would be translated as "son of the priest Dimitrios".

5. Georgiou

This last name complies with the rule presented at first of using the name of the father who It would be Georgios, translated as we have seen Jorge, plus the suffix “-ou” which, as we have said, means "from". Therefore, in this case, the surname indicates that it is "from Georgio"

6. Papaioannou

We find ourselves again with the prefix "papa-" and the suffix "-ou". In this way it will be translated as "son of the priest Ioannis". Ioannis in Spanish would be translated as Juan.

7. Pappas

In this case we see that only the suffix "papa" is used, which can act as a diminutive. "Pappas" translates to "priest."

8. Vasileiou

We find again "-ou" and the proper name Vasileios which would be translated as "de Vasileios". In Spanish it is known as Basilio which means "king"

9. Nikolaou

Knowing the rule, it is easy to deduce that it translates as “from Nikolaos”. The word nikolaos refers to "the victory of the people", in Spanish the proper name would be Nicolás.

• Related article: "What is Cultural Psychology?"

10. Karagiannis

In this case, on the one hand we have "Kara" which would be translated as "black" and on the other "giannis" which is a proper name that means "God forgives". In this way, would translate as "black Giannis".

11. Vlachos

It makes references to the word that is used to name the people who lived south of the Danube River in Europe.

12. Antoniou

We find again "-ou" and the proper name Antonios which means "one who faces his adversaries", "of Antonios".

13. Makris

This Greek surname means "long" or "tall".

14. Papanikolaou

Since we already know how each morpheme is translated, we can easily deduce that means "son of the priest Nikolaos".

• You may be interested in: "The 80 most common French surnames"

15. Dimitriou

Again the common suffix “-ou” appears in this case it will be translated as “de Dimitrios”.

16. Ioannidis

The suffix “-iadis” that we know means “son of” and the proper name Ioannis which in Spanish translates as Juan, thus Ioannidis would be translated as son of Juan.

17. Georgiadis

Knowing the suffix -iadis we can know that it means "son of Georgios". As we have mentioned, Georgios would be translated as Jorge.

18. Triantafyllou

The term "triantafyllo" is translated as "rose", thus knowing the ending -ou we can say that it means "pink".

19. Papadakis

We find again the prefix “papa-” that we know translates as priest and the “akis” suffix that indicates small, is a diminutive. In this way, we deduce that translates as "priest's child" which could refer to the altar boy.

20. Athanasiou

Also making reference to the name of the father Athanasios which means "immortal". It would be translated as "of Athanasios."

21. Konstantinidis

Suffix "-idis" translated to "son of", plus Konstantios proper name which means constant.

22. Ioannou

It means “de Ioannis” or in Spanish “de Juan”.

23. Alexiou

Formed by the suffix “-ou” that means “of” and by the proper name Alexios that means "the protector" or "the one who defends".

24. Christodoulou

Translated as "de Christodoulos" the proper name means "servant of Christ".

25. Theodorou

Composed of "Theos" which means God and "doron" which is translated as gift, it would refer to "from Theodoros".

26. Giannopoulos

The Greek word Giannis means "God forgives or man faithful to God", in this case the surname formed by the suffix "-opoulos" and the proper name Giannis translates as "descendant of Giannis".

27. Nikolaidis

From the suffix "-idis" translated as "son of" together with the proper name Nikolaos which means "victory of the people", it will refer to "son of Nikolaos".

• Related article: "Anthropology: what is it and what is the history of this scientific discipline"

28. Konstantinou

We find the suffix “-ou” again, pointing out that it translates as “de Konstantinou”. As we have seen before, the proper name means constant.

29. Michailidis

Formed by the suffix "-idis" that translates as son and the proper name Michail, which in Spanish would be Miguel. It would be translated in Spanish as "son of Miguel."

30. Panagiotopoulos

This surname is made up of the masculine proper name Panagiotis, which comes from the term Panagia in reference to the Virgin Mary and translated as “all holy” and the suffix “-opoulos” that we know translates as “descendant of”, in this case "Descendant of Panagiotis".

31. Papakonstantinou

Knowing how each term is translated, we can know what it means "son of the priest Konstantinos".

32. Antonopoulos

From the proper name Antonios and the suffix "-opoulos" would translate into Spanish as "son of Antonio"

33. Dimopoulos

Formed by the proper name Dimos, which comes from the word Demo which translates as "people" and the suffix "-opoulos", the surname would indicate that it is the "son of Dimos".

34. Anastasiou

We find again the reference to his father, Anastasios, which means "resurrection." It would be translated as "of Anastasios".

35. Dimitriadis

Made up of the suffix "-iadis" which means "son of" and the proper name Dimitrios, it comes from the Greek word Demeter which means Goddess of the earth.

• You may be interested in: "The 95 Most Common American Last Names"

36. Vasileiadis

Formed by the proper name Vasileios which would be translated as "king" and the suffix "-iadis" which means "son of", thus Vasileiadis refers to "son of Vasileios".

37. Giannakopoulos

This surname is formed by the proper name Giannis that we have seen that translates as Juan in Spanish, the suffix “-akis” that indicates small and the also suffix “-opoulos” that means “descending from".

38. Angelopoulos

Own name Angelos that would be translated as Angel and the ending “-opoulos” that means “son of”.

39. Dimou

Coming from the masculine proper noun Dimos, which, as we have previously pointed out, derives from the word demos, which means people. Together with the suffix "-ou" it would indicate "From Dimos".

40. Ioannou

It would be translated as "of Ioannis"

41. Nikolopoulos

Formed by the proper name Nikolaos which means "victory of the people" and the already known suffix "-opoulos", the surname would translate as "son of Nikolaos".

• Related article: "The 8 types of families (and their characteristics)"

42. Mylonas

The translation in Spanish would be “miller”.

43. Apostolou

This surname is constituted by the name Apostolos which would be translated as apostle which means "sent" and suffix "-ou", "of Apostolos".

44. Petropoulos

Formed by the Greek name Petros which means "stone" and the ending "-opoulos", refers to "descendant of Petros".

45. Lamprou

This Greek surname is formed by the proper name Lampros which translates as "brilliant" and the suffix "-ou". In this way, indicates that the meaning of the surname is "de Lampros".

46. Christou

Formed by the Greek name Christos which means "anointed" and the suffix "-ou", it would be translated as "of Christos".

47. Anagnostou

This Greek surname is made up of the proper name Anagnostes which means "reader" and the already known suffix "-ou" which translates as "of". From Anagnostes.

48. Raptis

This surname refers to a trade, specifically that of tailor.

49. Athanasopoulos

In the same way that we have seen previously, it is formed by the proper name Athanasios, a Greek term that means "immortal" and the already known suffix "-opoulos". In this way will be translated as "descendant of Athanasios".

50. Stavropoulos

Greek surname formed by the masculine name Stavros which translates as "cross" and the ending "-opoulos" which means "descendant of". therefore this surname would refer to "descendant of Stavros".