In ancient Greece, did everyone have a unique given name?

Were people's names made up to fit them personally? I'm reading the Iliad at the moment and all of the characters have different names - there's no John A, John B and John C, it's Achilleus, Agamemnon, Menelaos, Diomedes and Glaukos, and there are no repeats! I think there's one exception - two Aiases I think? Apart from that the names go on and on...

In ancient Greece, did everyone have a unique given name?
I'm sorry to see that you are getting some rather misleading answers here.





It is not correct to say that everyone in Ancient Greece had a unique name. Much like today, there was a fairly limited number of personal names so in a large enough population you would find individuals who shared the same name.





The problem comes when you look at a text like the Iliad, of course. As one of the answers says the Iliad is not actually history, but is a story based on a core of events which might or might not be based in real events of the thirteenth century BC (the war or wars surrounding the city of Troy in north-western Turkey). As such, the names in the Iliad are somewhat exceptional. Much like Hebrew or Native American names they are often names with meanings, chosen to describe the attributes of the person they are attached to. For example, 'Glaukos' means something like 'bright' or 'shining'; 'Odysseus' means 'angry man' or 'hater' - a good name for an outstanding warrior. The Trojan prince Hector is called 'Eteokles' in the Iliad, meaning 'justly famed'. And so on.





And by the way, the answer that says that Odysseus is called something else in the Iliad is mistaken. He's called Odysseus in both!





The Greeks loved their Homer - so much that many an Ancient Greek child was given an Homeric name in the hope that they might reflect the virtues and abilities of their heroic namesake.





To complicate things a little further, it was often the case that Ancient Greek people would be born with one name and adopt another as they grew older, by picking up a kind of nickname. For example, the philosopher we know as Plato was not born with that name. His birth name was Aristocles, but he picked up the name 'Plato' (from the the Ancient Greek 'platon' meaning 'wide' or 'broad-shouldered') as he grew up, probably by his athletics tutor. So really, in calling him Plato, his contemporaries were using a nickname that meant something like 'Wideboy'!





Finally, we should remember that the archaeological record is very incomplete. We only have records of the names of a minute fraction of the people who lived in, say fifth century BC Athens. So perhaps it is not so surprising if certain names - for example the traditional names used among a few rich families who could afford to have inscriptions commissioned - seem more prevalent or survived better than others.
Reply:Yes, that's a weird habit the modern Greeks have - so all your first cousins end up named Anna or something.





and as for George....!





I blame the Bible. Everyone picks the nice names from it (when was the last time you met a Jabez or a Jezebel?)





I think the old names actually meant something and were intended reflect the owners' qualities and also bestow qualities upon them by the blessing of having the name of those qualities spoken over them every time the person's name is spoken. I like that.
Reply:The Iliad isn't a work of history, so the poet is free to vary names to avoid confusion. In real life you could have two or more people of the same name.


It is said that the Aiantes were originally a two-headed warrior, which either had been rationalised by Homer's time or he rationalised it himself.
Reply:Absolutely not. In Classical Athens it was normal to name an eldest son after his paternal grandfather, so the city was full of men called "Myron the son of Aristokles the son of Myron, the son of Aristokles the son of Myron...." etc. Younger sons were often named after an uncle, or the maternal grandfather, so in any multi-generation Athenian family you would probably get several repeated names.
Reply:Shame it isn't like that now. If u go to a greek wedding ad shout out Maria. 3 quarters of the lady guests wld stand up, including the bride! I'm so glad my mum is called Maria or she wld have named me after my dads mother, also Maria! AAGGHHHH!!!!
Reply:There were many names but there were not only for one person.
Reply:Yes.
Reply:At the time, the world population was not anywhere the size of what it is currently. Therefore, it was not necessary to repeat names of people. For example, any knowledge of American Indian tribes will show you that some tribes were allowed to pick their own unique name at some point.





Ancient Greece was the same way.
Reply:Homers Iliad's, depicts Odysseus as bearing another name and yet in the fable of the Odyssey he is known as Odysseus. There are very few repetitions of names.