Byzantine Baby Names
Picking baby names is one of the awesomest honours bestowed upon new parents. It’s a lot of fun to pour over names, and a great responsibility to pick one. Since we just recently got to decide on a name for our second child, I thought I’d do a blog post on Byzantine baby names. The list that follows contains over a hundred names, based on saints and prophets honoured in both the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox churches. Where there are common variants of a name, I have listed them in brackets beside the first one.
A
Abraham – for forefather Abraham , or hermit and confessor, or archbishop in Greece –
Agapia (Agape) – Martyred sister with Irene and Chionia
Agatha – Martyr
Agnes – Called St. Agnes of Rome, a virgin martyr
Alexander (Oleksander) – of Constantinople, or of Jerusalem
Alexandra (Oleksandra) – Empress of Rome, Martyr
Amos – Prophet
Anastasia (Anastasiya)– Healer
Andrew (Andriy)– Apostle
Anna (Anne, Ann) – Mother of the Theotokos
Anthony – Saint Anthony the Great
Aquilina – Child Martyr
Artemius – Saint in Byzantine liturgical calendar
Athanasia – Widow and Abbess
Athanasius – Abbot near Nicomedia, St. Athanasius the Great
B
Barbara – Great Martyr
Basil – St. Basil the Great
Benjamin – Martyr and Deacon
Bohdan – Slavic name meaning gift of God
C
Christopher (Christian, Krystof, Kristof, Khrystoslav) – of Lycia
Chione – Martyred sister with Agapia and Irene
Conon – Martyr
Cornelius – Pope
Cosmas – brother of Damien
Cyril (Kyrylo) – Of Alexandria, Of Jerusalem
Cyrus – Martyr
D
Damian – brother of Cosmas
Daniel (Danylo) – Prophet
David (Davyd) – King
Demetrius – of Thessalonika
Dionysius – Saint
E
Elijah – Prophet
Elias – Saint
Elizabeth – the Mother of John the Baptist
Ephrem – Venerable
Esther – the Righteous
F
Faustyna (Faustina) – Nun, although technically Roman Catholic, she was Polish
G
Gabriel – Angel
George (Yuriy) – the Great Martyr
Gregory – the Theologian
H
Helen (Helena, Elaina) – mother of Constantine
I
Ignatius – of Antioch
Irene (Iryna) – Martered with sisters Agapia and Chionia
Isidore – Venerable
J
James – Apostle the greater, Apostle the lesser
Jeremiah – Prophet
Joanna – the Myrrh bearer
Joachim – Father of the Theotokos
Joel – Prophet
John (Ivan) – John the Baptist, John the Evangelist
Josaphat – St. Josaphat Kuntsevych
Josaphata – Nun Martyr
Joseph (Yosef) – Adoptive father of Jesus
Joshua – the Righteous
Judith – the Righteous
Juliana – Martyr
Justina – Martyr
K
Kalyna – Ukrainian name meaning shrub or guelder rose, symbolizing beauty. This name would be good paired with Marie/Maria to honour the Theotokos
Kateryna (Katya, Katrusya, Katherine, Catherine) – St Katherine of Alexandria
Khrystaphora (Christafora, Christaphora, Khristaphora) – I can’t find any saints of this name but it’s the feminine version of St. Christopher and I know Ukrainian sisters who’ve had that name
Klymentiy (Clement) – Pope
Kostyantyn (Constantine, Konstantyn, Kostya) – the Great
L
Laurentia – Venerable Nun Martyr
Leo (Leonid) – Pope https://orthodoxwiki.org/Leo_the_Great
M
Macarius – Desert Father in Egypt
Macrina – the Elder (grandmother of Sts. Basil and Gregory), the Younger (sister of St Basil)
Malachi/Malachias – Prophet after the Babylonian Captivity
Mark (Marco, Marko) – Apostle
Martha – sister of Mary/Myrrh bearer
Mary (Marie, Maria) – Theotokos, Sister of Martha/Myrrh bearer
Matrona – of Moscow
Matthias – Saint
Methodius – Saint
Michael (Mykhaylo) – Angel
N
Naomi – Mother in Law of Ruth: I couldn’t find a good article on her, though lots of icons! This one on Ruth describes her role
Nestor – Martyr
Nicholas (Mykola, Nikolai) – the Wonderworker
O
Olympia – Early Martyr, Recent Venerable Nun Martyr
Osee (Hosea)- Prophet
P
Paul (Pavlo) – Apostle
Peter (Petro) – Apostle
Phillip – Apostle
Q
Quadratus – of the Seventy
R
Rachel – Wife of Jacob
Rebecca – the Righteous
Ruth – The Righteous
S
Sabbas – the Sanctified
Salome – the Myrrh bearer
Sarah – the Righteous
Simeon – the God-Receiver
Simon – Apostle
Sophia (Sofiya) – Martyr
Sozon – Martyr
Stephen (Stefan, Stepan) (feminine – Stefanya, Stepania, Stepaniya, Stephanie) – Deacon, 1st Martyr
Susanna – the Myrrh bearer, the Virgin Martyr
Sylvester – Pope Sylvester
T
Terence (Taras) – Martyr
Theodora – the Empress
Theodosius – the Cenobiarch
Timothy (Tymofiy) – Apostle
Tryphon – Martyr
V
Veronica (Veronika) – Woman who wiped the face of Jesus
Volodomyr (Vladimir) – Saint
X
Xenia – Venerable
Xenophon – Venerable
Z
Zachary – Father of John the Baptist
Zenobius – Hieromartyr, brother to Zenobia
Zenobia – Martyr, sister to Zenobius
So I hope you found some good saints and holy men and women! I learned a lot while compiling this list. I’m sure I missed lots of good names too, so let me know in the comments and I’ll update this article.
Having a baby soon? You may be interested in some of our other posts in Family under baby or pregnancy.
