Free online translator for converting English names to Greek (Ελληνικά)
The Greek alphabet has been in continuous use for over 2,800 years and is the ancestor of Latin, Cyrillic, and other alphabets. Modern Greek uses 24 letters, many familiar from mathematics and science.
The Greek alphabet is the ancestor of both Latin and Cyrillic, and the first writing system to give vowels their own full letters rather than leaving them implicit. That innovation, made around the ninth century BC by adapting Phoenician consonant signs that Greek did not need, is why Greek names transliterate unambiguously in a way Arabic and Hebrew names cannot. Every vowel is written.
Modern Greek pronunciation has drifted a long way from the ancient values while the spelling stayed put, which produces a specific problem for names. Five different spellings — ι, η, υ, ει and οι — are all pronounced ee in modern Greek. A foreign name containing an ee sound therefore has five defensible spellings, and Greeks choose between them by analogy with existing words rather than by rule.
Greek also has a rule that catches people transliterating names: the letter sigma has two lowercase forms. It is written σ everywhere except at the end of a word, where it becomes ς. A name ending in an s sound must use the final form, so Chris is Χρις and not Χρισ. This is the same category of rule as Hebrew final letters and is equally non-optional.
Greek has most sounds found in English, making transliteration relatively straightforward. However, some English sounds require letter combinations in Greek.
Greek lacks several English consonants outright. There is no sh, so Sharon becomes Σάρον with a plain s. There is no j, which becomes τζ. The letter β is pronounced v, not b, so a b sound must be written with the digraph μπ — Bob becomes Μπόμπ. Similarly d requires ντ and hard g requires γκ, because δ is the th of this and γ is a soft guttural.
These digraphs are the single most surprising feature for anyone new to Greek transliteration, and they are why a short English name can become visually much longer in Greek. Modern Greek also writes a stress accent, the tonos, on the stressed syllable of any word of two or more syllables, so a transliterated name should carry it — Σάρον rather than Σαρον.
Here are examples of common English names transliterated to Greek:
Explore your name in other writing systems:
Use our Greek alphabet translator above. Type your English name and it converts to Greek using standard phonetic transliteration rules. The result is how Greeks would write your name.
Greek uses accent marks (τόνοι) to indicate which syllable is stressed. Since 1982, modern Greek uses a single accent (΄) called tonos. It's essential for correct pronunciation.
No! While letters like A, E, and O look similar, others that look alike have different sounds. For example, Greek Ρ (rho) looks like English 'P' but sounds like 'R'. Always use proper transliteration.
Yes, many people use our tool for Greek name tattoos. However, we strongly recommend verifying with a native Greek speaker, as accent placement and letter choice matters for readability.
Modern Greek pronunciation changed over centuries. The letter β (beta) now sounds like 'v'. To represent the 'b' sound, Greek uses the combination μπ (mu + pi). This is standard in foreign name transliteration.
Greek β is pronounced v, so the b sound is written with the digraph μπ. The same applies to d, written ντ, and hard g, written γκ. This is why short English names look longer in Greek.
Modern Greek pronounces ι, η, υ, ει and οι all as ee. The spellings are historical and no longer distinguish sound, so a foreign name with an ee sound has several defensible forms.
Greek sigma is written σ within a word and ς at the end. A name ending in an s sound must use the final form: Χρις, not Χρισ.