The Evolving Names for Greeks: Hellenes, Graikoi, and Romioi

The names used to refer to the Greek people and their land have complex, disputed origins, and their definitions have shifted significantly over millennia, reflecting fundamental changes in politics, religion, and geography.

Hellenes / Ἑλλάς (Hellas)

Hellenes is the name the Greeks have historically used for themselves and their land, and it is the official modern name of the country.

• Mythological origin: The foundational myth traces the name to Hellen, the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha. His sons—Aeolus, Dorus, and Xuthus—were the ancestors of the four major Greek tribes: the Aeolians, Dorians, Achaeans, and Ionians. This myth provided a powerful, pan-Hellenic identity for all Greeks, unifying them across different city-states under a common lineage.
• Geographic origin: A competing theory suggests the name derives from the Selloi (or Helloi), the priests of Zeus at the oracle of Dodona in Epirus, who lived in a region called Hellopia. This points to a specific regional origin that later spread to encompass all culturally Greek peoples.
• Classical definition: During the Classical period, a Hellene was defined by culture, language (Greek), and religion, distinguishing them from all non-Greeks, whom they called barbarians. Initially, Hellas referred only to a small region in Thessaly, but it expanded to refer to the entire Greek world.

Graikoi /Γραικός (Graecus)

This is the exonym (a name used by outsiders) that led to the modern English “Greek.” The term likely originated from a small tribe called the Graikoi in Epirus or central Greece, one of the earliest groups of Greeks the Romans encountered upon their arrival in southern Italy.

The Romans adopted this term, converting it to Graeci, and applied it universally to all Hellenes. Due to the eventual dominance of the Roman Empire, Graecus became the standard term for the Greek-speaking inhabitants in the Western world.

The great name shift for Greeks: From Hellenes to Romioi

The most significant political and cultural shift in naming occurred with the rise of the Byzantine Empire. After the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity (starting with Constantine the Great in the 4th century CE), the term Hellene gradually became especially associated with paganism, the worship of the Greek gods.

As the empire became officially Christian, the traditional cultural meaning of “Hellene” was inverted: it went from meaning “a civilized, Greek-speaking person” to meaning “a pagan who worships the old gods.” The last known temples and pagan schools (like the one in Athens) were closed in the 6th century.

The classical sense of being a Hellene survived primarily as a literary or academic term for someone educated in classical Greek tradition.

The rise of “Romios” (Roman) as the name for Greeks

The vast majority of Greek-speaking citizens of the Eastern Empire adopted a new identity rooted in the state. They called themselves Rhomaioi, meaning Roman. This identity was based on their citizenship in the continuing Roman Empire, whose capital was Constantinople, or “New Rome.”

Being a Romios signified being a citizen of the Roman Empire and an Orthodox Christian. It was an administrative and religious title, replacing the pagan connotations associated with the term “Hellenes.”

Over the centuries, the term Romios became synonymous with the Greek-speaking, Orthodox Christian people of the Eastern Mediterranean. This cultural synthesis is known as Romiosini (Roman-ness).

This identity persisted even after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. During the centuries of Ottoman rule, the Greeks were classified as the Millet-i Rûm (the Roman/Greek Nation), and the term Romios continued to serve as the primary ethnic and religious identifier for the Greek population under the Ottoman Empire.

Yunan / Javan

This name remains the standard term for Greeks in the Middle East and Asia. This originates from Ionia, the Greek region on the western coast of Asia Minor. The Persians were the first major Eastern power to encounter the Greeks in this region and named the entire Greek world after it, calling the Greeks Yauna.

This Persian name evolved into Yunan, used in Turkish, Arabic, and Persian, and is related to the ancient Hebrew term Javan, the mythological ancestor of the Greeks in the Bible. This usage highlights the consistent and powerful historical ties between the Greeks of Asia Minor and their Eastern neighbors.