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, 1^st 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.