Introduction

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I know far less about Greek names—particularly in antiquity—than I do about Roman ones. When I first needed some, I took the approach of using Greek words almost as personifications. After all, names in myth and history often worked that way. Pandora (Πανδώρα) means “all gifts.” Theodora (Θεοδώρα) means “gift of god.” Both show how a simple word could serve as a name while still carrying a clear meaning.

Along this line I managed to come up with a few names for my novels. Xanthe (Ξανθή), meaning “blond” or “fair,” became the name of an entrepreneurial prostitute in volume two of Restitutor Reipublicae. Eirene (Εἰρήνη), meaning “peace,” was the birth name of a freedwoman who befriends my protagonist in the same novel.

The remaining names I drew straight from mythology or history. Agathokles (Ἀγαθοκλῆς) appears in Femina, borrowing from a lesser-known tyrant of Syracuse. The freedwoman mentioned earlier adopts the name Valeria Niobe upon manumission, following the convention of combining a master’s nomen with a slave name. I also used Andromache and Jocasta as the names of Xanthe’s “colleagues,” since mythological names were not uncommon as professional names in their line of work. And there is of course Phoebe, a personal favorite character in Femina.

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I should add that drawing from history and mythology is not uncommon even today. Tycoon Aristotle Onassis and ballplayer Orestes Destrade (though not Greek) come to mind. The process of finding the right name can be painstaking—especially if you want to avoid falling back on the most familiar or cliché choices. As I pushed further into a more Greek-oriented world for my writing, I realized I needed a deeper well to draw from, a source that could provide me with a much wider range of names.

Mythology to the Rescue

As far as I can tell, the ancient Greeks did not carry surnames in the way Romans did with the nomen. I could be wrong, but for fiction it seems acceptable to simply use a single name. Quite often, individuals were associated with their city (or profession) instead: Hero of Alexandria, Sappho of Lesbos, Agathokles of Syracuse, and so on. For my purposes in fiction, I’ve followed this convention—either a single name or a name paired with a city.

From the title of this section you might expect me to follow that Niobe, Andromache, Phoebe, and Jocasta line of names I mentioned above. These worked well for the characters I created, but it can be difficult to match the feel of the name with the character when you have to search out one candidate at a time. Furthermore, despite being somewhat less chauvinistic than the Romans, Greek history is still dominated by men, which makes finding appropriate female names more of a challenge.

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There is a shining light, however. The ancient Greeks liked large groups in their myths. In particular, there are several significant lists of fifty, and authors, particularly Apollodorus and his Bibliotheca, were fond of cataloging them, giving us several rosters of names. Today these lists reside on Wikipedia. Since the ancient sources do not agree, taking the union of all the versions brings the number closer to one hundred.

Nymphs and River Gods

While there is no comprehensive list, there are supposedly three thousand Oceanids—the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys. Wikipedia provides a list from Acaste to Zeuxo, roughly ninety. A far cry from three thousand, but still a wealth of names. I didn’t know this until I just looked—Xanthe is one!

Of course, with three thousand daughters, there are three thousand sons as well—the Potamoi, or river gods. Wikipedia lists nearly ninety. A word of caution, however: river gods are essentially personifications of rivers, so their names are the names of rivers. You have to decide whether a given one works as a personal name. Still, Scamander was good enough for J. K. Rowling.

Beyond that, there are the Nereids—the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris (herself an Oceanid). Several sources, including Apollodorus, give us complete lists of all fifty.

Mere Mortals

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Then there are the fifty daughters of Danaus, who were married off to the fifty sons of his brother Aegyptus. On their wedding night, forty-nine of the Danaids murdered their husbands. Ghastly, I know—but the story provides another valuable source of names, not only for women but for men as well.

And then there are the fifty daughters of Thespius, the Thespiades, each of whom bedded Heracles in what is sometimes dubbed his “Thirteenth Labor.” Some versions say it happened all in a single night, others that it took place over fifty consecutive nights. Either way, it was a truly Herculean effort. Furthermore, each daughter bore him a son, giving us yet another set of fifty male names to go along with those of the mothers.

And then there are the fifty daughters of Thespius, the Thespiades, each of whom bedded Heracles in what is sometimes dubbed his “Thirteenth Labor.” Some versions say it happened all in a single night, others that it took place over fifty consecutive nights. Either way, it was a truly Herculean effort. Furthermore, each daughter bore him a son, giving us yet another set of fifty male names to go along with those of the mothers.

Beyond these family groups, there are other famous catalogues of names. Traditionally there were also fifty Argonauts, a valuable source of male names. However, many of them were famous heroes, so if you are looking for less clichéd choices, it may require a little diligence to find the ones that fit. And let us not forget the suitors of Penelope, traditionally numbered at one hundred, most of whom bore less notable names.

All these lists and catalogues, taken together, supply hundreds of possibilities for your characters. They are authentic and run the gamut from “never heard of them” to “that’s vaguely familiar” to “I’ve heard of her.” By the way, did you know Cleopatra is a name found in Greek myth—in fact, one of the Danaids—long before the Egyptian pharaoh? (This is not a coincidence; she was descended from a Macedonian Greek.)

Conclusion

BBefore closing, I’d like to offer an anecdote. A recurring theme in Freelancer’s Code is that women and goddesses in the mythic age were more sexually liberated than they are portrayed in tradition—a by-product of the male domination of the time. In a story I once toyed with, I created a central supporting character: a seductive priestess of Aphrodite, in many ways the embodiment of pleasure. In the roster of Nereids, I found my priestess: Plexaure, which I Latinized to Plexaura. It seemed perfect, since it is visually similar to the English word pleasure. The story, for the moment, is on the scrap heap, but should I ever require a similar character, I might use that name.

As a parting thought, you might doubt the authenticity of some of these ancient names, suspecting that authors like Apollodorus simply sat down and made up forty-plus daughters of Nereus after the famous ones—Amphitrite (wife of Poseidon) and Thetis (mother of Achilles). And I’d agree: it seems doubtful that the full roster of fifty nymphs was passed down through oral tradition. So did Apollodorus just start making them up? It’s possible. But then again, who better to invent ancient Greek names than an ancient Greek? He is certainly more qualified than I.

Finally, for convenience, I’m including a table of links to the lists from Wikipedia that I’ve mentioned. I have not compiled a list of all the names, since knowing the context of each name may help you select the best fit for your character. Disclaimer: all links were correct at the time of writing. If any are broken, a simple search on the terms should allow you to find the page.