According to a survey conducted by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), the most popular male and female names in Greece are Giorgos and Maria.

As the data showed, around 8.3 percent of men in Greece are named Giorgos, with the same percentile (8.3) of women named Maria, with Ioannis (or Yiannis) second for men at 6.5 percent and Eleni for women or girls, at 5.2 percent.

Dimitris, with 6.4 percent was the third mostommon name, while for females Aikaterini or Katerina was in 3rd spot with 3.7 percent. Fourth for males is Constantinos or Costas, with 6 percent while for females it’s Vassiliki, at 3.2 percent. Nikolaos was fifth among males, at 5.7 percent and Sofia, at 2.3 percent among females.

Greek couples often choose to name their children after the grandparents, which can lead to arguments in families over whose should be given priority.

Another notable factoid is that since the spread of Christianity Greeks gradually turned away from picking ancient Greek names, such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, although they are not entirely missing among the populace today.

Source: ELSTAT - protothema