100 Ancient Greek Last Names

Ancient Greek last names were not commonly used in the day-to-day lives of ancient Greeks. Ancient Greeks primarily used personal names, followed by patronymics (their father’s name) and often their demotics (indicating their origin or city-state). The concept of surnames or last names, as we know them today, didn’t exist. Greek names, which includes last names, are so diverse that their history and use are now studied as a branch of the research of names, called onomastics.

What are Ancient Greek Last Names?

Ancient Greece was an era that spanned from about 800 BC to 146 BC. From this civilization would arise Western philosophy, democratic practices, the Persian Wars, and the Peloponnesian War. Ancient Greek last names were typically only used when formal clarification of one’s identity was needed. Otherwise, ancient Greeks used their personal name.

Ancient Greek last names consisted of the names of their fathers, and a third name could denote their home city as needed. Some ancient Greeks were also identified by their occupation or a particular physical or personality trait. Therefore, a person might be called “X son of Y from Z place.” For example, “Socrates, son of Sophroniscus from Alopece” would be the way to formally identify Socrates, the founder of Western philosophy, and “Alexandros, son of Philip from Macedon” would be the way to formally identify Alexander the Great, king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon.

This naming system allowed Greeks to differentiate between individuals with the same given name by providing context about their lineage and origin. As last names became more commonly used, the echoes of ancient Greek culture and ideals would carry on long after ancient Greece fell to Roman rule.

100 Examples of Ancient Greek Last Names

We have curated examples of ancient Greek last names by collecting the personal names of notable figures in ancient Greece and their patronymics and demotics. The names below would be the full reference to these people and how they would be formally identified.

1. Alexandros – Alexandros, son of Philippos from Macedon (Alexander the Great)
2. Plato – Plato son of Ariston from Athens
3. Archimedes – Archimedes from Syracuse
4. Isocrates – Isocrates son of Theodorus from Scambonidae
5. Pythagoras – Pythagoras son of Mnesarchus from Samos
6. Hippocrates – Hippocrates son of Heraclides from Kos
7. Aesop – Aesop from Thrace, Phrygia (demotics are debated)
8. Herakleides – Herakleides of Pontus
9. Perikles – Perikles son of Xanthippus from the deme of Cholargos
10. Alkibiades – Alkibiades son of Kleinias from the deme of Scambonidae
11. Leonidas – Leonidas I of Sparta
12. Themistokles – Themistokles son of Neokles from the deme of Phrearrhioi
13. Miltiades – Miltiades son of Cimon from the deme of Laciadae
14. Pyrrhos – Pyrrhos from Epirus
15. Lysandros – Lysandros of Sparta
16. Philippos – Philippos II of Macedonia
17. Democritus – Democritus of Abdera
18. Heraclitus – Heraclitus of Ephesus
19. Archytas – Archytas of Tarentum
20. Aristoxenus – Aristoxenus of Tarentum
21. Andocides – Andocides son of Leogoras from the deme of Aegilia
22. Eratosthenes – Eratosthenes of Cyrene
23. Antiphon – Antiphon of Rhamnous
24. Alcaeus – Alcaeus of Mytilene, Lesbos
25. Aspasia – Aspasia of Miletus, associated with Athens due to Perikles
26. Anacreon – Anacreon of Teos
27. Cleanthes – Cleanthes of Assos
28. Speusippus – Speusippus of Athens
29. Epicurus – Epicurus of Samos
30. Lysias – Lysias son of Cephalus from the deme of Cephale
31. Mnesarchus – Often mentioned as the father of Pythagoras from Samos
32. Philoctetes – Philoctetes of Lemnos in some myths
33. Simonides – Simonides of Ceos
34. Theophrastus – Theophrastus of Eresos, Lesbos
35. Thales – Thales of Miletus
36. Strabo – Strabo of Amaseia in Pontus
37. Terpander – Terpander of Lesbos
38. Stesichorus – Stesichorus of Himera, Sicily
39. Xenocrates – Xenocrates of Chalcedon
40. Tyrtaeus – Tyrtaeus of Sparta
41. Meton – Meton of Athens
42. Alcman – Alcman of Sparta
43. Agathon – Agathon of Athens
44. Diodorus – Diodorus from Agyrium in Sicily
45. Philemon – Philemon from Soli or Syracuse
46. Callicrates – Callicrates of Athens
47. Cratinus – Cratinus of Athens
48. Aratus – Aratus of Soli in Cilicia
49. Bion of Smyrna – Bion from Smyrna
50. Chrysippus – Chrysippus of Soli
51. Antigonus – Carystus – Antigonus from Carystus on Euboea
52. Apollodorus – Apollodorus of Athens
53. Posidonius – Posidonius of Apamea in Syria
54. Agrippa – Lanatus – Agrippa Menenius Lanatus of Rome
55. Melissus of Samos – Melissus from Samos
56. Cleisthenes of Sicyon – Cleisthenes from Sicyon
57. Scylax of Caryanda – Scylax from Caryanda in Caria
58. Bacchylides – Bacchylides of Ceos
59. Timocreon – Timocreon of Rhodes
60. Hellanicus of Lesbos – Hellanicus from Mytilene, Lesbos
61. Pamphilus – Pamphilus of Amphipolis
62. Callinus – Callinus of Ephesus
63. Nearchus – Nearchus of Crete, served Alexander
64. Euhemerus – Euhemerus of Messene
65. Theocritus – Theocritus of Syracuse
66. Demosthenes – Demosthenes son of Demosthenes from Paeania
67. Epaminondas – Epaminondas from Thebes
68. Kallias – Kallias son of Hipponicus from Alopece
69. Xenophon – Xenophon son of Gryllus from Athens
70. Thucydides – Thucydides son of Olorus from Halimos
71. Pelopidas – Pelopidas from Thebes
72. Nicias – Nicias son of Niceratus from Cydathenaeum
73. Lycurgus – Lycurgus the son of Eunomus, Spartan lawgiver
74. Eudoxus – Eudoxus son of Aeschines from Cnidus
75. Anaxagoras – Anaxagoras from Clazomenae
76. Empedocles – Empedocles from Akragas, Agrigento
77. Zeno of Elea – Zeno son of Teleutagoras from Elea
78. Kleisthenes – Kleisthenes son of Megacles from Athens
79. Aristophanes – Aristophanes son of Philippus from Kydathenaeum
80. Pausanias – Pausanias son of Cleombrotus from Sparta, Pausanias the Regent
81. Cimon – Cimon son of Miltiades from Laciadae
82. Hesiod – Hesiod from Ascra
83. Hipparchus – Hipparchus from Nicaea
84. Euripides – Euripides son of Mnesarchus from Salamis
85. Sappho – Sappho from Lesbos
86. Aeschylus – Aeschylus son of Euphorion from Eleusis
87. Diogenes – Cynic – Diogenes son of Hicesias from Sinope
88. Polybius – Polybius from Megalopolis
89. Antisthenes – Antisthenes from Athens
90. Gorgias – Gorgias from Leontini
91. Phidias – Phidias from Athens
92. Parmenides – Parmenides son of Pyres from Elea
93. Solon – Solon son of Execestides from Athens
94. Pindar – Pindar from Thebes
95. Corinna – Corinna from Tanagra
96. Aristarchus – Aristarchus from Samos
97. Menander – Menander son of Diopeithes from Kephisia
98. Lysippus – Lysippus from Sicyon
99. Protagoras – Protagoras from Abdera
100. Chilon – Chilon from Sparta

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