Thursday, March 21, 2013

Bi-cultural Names--Greek/English (boys)

Am I crazy? Yes, probably, since Greek is written in a completely different alphabet. Luckily, we have an established, surprisingly regular system for transliterating Greek names to English (modern speech is an entirely different prospect!).
As usual, we start with the boys.

Direct transliteration ("spelled" the same), with (usually) slight pronunciation difference:
  • Aaron--English, EHR-on; Greek, ah-ROHN
  • Adam--English, AD-am; Greek, ah-DAHM
  • Alexis--English & Greek, ah-LEKS-is
  • Leon--English, LEE-on; Greek, LEH-ohn
  • Matthias--English, mah-THYE-as; Greek, maht-THEE-ahs
  • Silas--English, SYE-las; Greek, SEE-lahs
  • Thomas--English, TOM-as; Greek, thoh-MAHS

One/two-letter difference:
  • Adrian--English, AY-dree-an; Adrianos--Greek, ah-dree-ah-NOHS
  • Andrew--English, AN-droo; Andreas--Greek, ahn-DREH-ahs
  • Antony--English, AN-toh-nee; Antonis--Greek, ahn-TOH-nees
  • Benjamin--English, BEN-jah-min; Veniamin--Greek, ven-yah-MEEN
  • Daniel--English, DAN-yel; Daniil--Greek, dah-nee-EEL
  • Dimitri--English, dih-MEE-tree; Dimitris--Greek, dee-MEE-trees
  • Elias--English, ee-LYE-as, EL-ee-as; Ilias/Elias--Greek, ee-LEE-ahs
  • George--English, JORG; Georgios--Greek, yeh-OHR-gee-ohs
  • Gregory--English, GREG-oh-ree; Gregorios--Greek, greh-GOHR-yohs
  • Jason--English, JAY-son; Iason--Greek, YAH-sohn
  • Marcus--English, MAR-kus; Markos--Greek, MAHR-kohs
  • Michael--English, MYE-kel; Michail--Greek, mee-khah-EEL
  • Nicholas--English, NIK-oh-las; Nikolaos--Greek, nih-KOH-lous
  • Theodore--English, THEE-oh-dohr; Theodoros--Greek, theh-OH-doh-rohs

Larger difference, but still recognizable:
  • Abraham--English, AY-brah-ham; Avraam--Greek, ah-vrah-AHM
  • Alexander--English, al-eks-AN-der; Alexandros--Greek, ah-LEKS-ahn-drohs
  • Basil--English, BAZ-il; Vasilios--Greek, vah-SEEL-ee-ohs
  • Benedict--English, BEN-eh-dikt; Venediktos--Greek, veh-NEH-dik-tohs
  • Charles--English, CHARLZ; Karolos--Greek, KAH-roh-lohs
  • Christopher--English, KRIS-toh-fer; Khristoforos/Christoforos--Greek, khrees-TOF-or-ohs
  • Cyril--English, SEER-il; Kyrillos--Greek, KEE-ree-lohs
  • Eugene--English, YOO-jeen, yoo-JEEN; Evgenios--Greek, ev-YEN-yohs
  • Philip--English, FIL-ip; Filippos--Greek, FIL-ip-pohs
  • Gabriel--English, GAYB-ree-el; Gavriil--Greek, gah-vree-EEL
  • John--English, JON; Yannis/Yiannis--Greek, YAHN-nis
  • Joseph--English, JOH-sef; Iosif--Greek, YOH-seef
  • Laurence--English, LOH-sents; LAW-rents; Lavrentios--Greek, lahv-REN-tee-os
  • Lucas--English, LOO-kas; Loukas--Greek, loo-KAHS
  • Paul--English, PAWL; Pavlos--Greek, PAHV-lohs
  • Peter--English, PEE-ter; Petros--Greek, PEH-trohs
  • Stephen--English, STEE-fen; Stefanos--Greek, STEH-fahn-ohs
  • Zachary--English, ZAK-ah-ree; Zacharias/Zakharias--Greek, zah-khah-REE-ahs

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