Cypriot Greek - Names

Names

• Cypriot Greeks may have standard Greek patronyms, like Papadopoulos, but there are some which are clearly Cypriot Greek. There are some names which indicate place of birth or origin, e.g. Παφίτης being from Paphos, or Καϊμακλιώτης being from Kaimakli, or professional occupation e.g. Σκαρπάρης (shoemaker), Κωμοδρόμος (smith) etc. As most Cypriots used patronymics until independence (1960) when surnames became officially used in public registers, a similar process of creation of surnames took place to that of other Greek speaking populations outside the Hellenic Republic e.g. the Pontians . A good example would be Ευσταθιάδου (bearing the also commonly Pontian -άδης (masc.)/ -άδου (fem.) ending). Additionally, Cypriot patronymy includes a couple of semi-diphthongs in some names, i.e. beginning with Ττ or Κκ marking aspirated unvoiced plosives, e.g. Ττοφή .

• Cypriot first names include: Γιωρκής, Στυλλής, Αλισαβού, Πκιερής.

• Also there are names which, whilst normal names elsewhere, are unusual except in Cyprus where they are more highly concentrated. Examples include: Βαρνάβας, Βερεγγάρια, Δωμέτιος, Μάμας, Μάριος and Νεόφυτος.

• In keeping with older traditions of Greeks, Cypriots often have as their patronym, literally, the name of the father. At the same time the first-born son may take as a first name his paternal grandfather's name (sometimes a second-born son taking as his name the maternal grandfather's name) leading to repetition. For example a grandfather being called Γεώργιος Αργυρού, his son being named Σάββας Γεωργίου, and the grandson called Γεώργιος Γεωργίου(/Σαββίδης).