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).
Read more about this topic: Cypriot Greek
Famous quotes containing the word names:
“When the Day of Judgement dawns and the great conquerors and lawyers and statesmen come to receive their rewards—their crowns, their laurels, their names carved indelibly upon imperishable marble—the Almighty will turn to Peter and will say, not without a certain envy when he sees us coming with our books under our arms, “Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them here. They have loved reading.””
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“At night thousands of names and slogans are outlined in neon, and searchlight beams often pierce the sky, perhaps announcing a motion picture premiere, perhaps the opening of a new hamburger stand.”
—For the State of California, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Nor youth, nor strength, nor wisdom spring again,
Nor habitations long their names retain,
But in oblivion to the final day remain.”
—Anne Bradstreet (c. 1612–1672)