Compiled by Jessica Hammer
Byzantine names consisted of a given name followed by one or more surnames (which could include both inherited names and patronymics). By-names or descriptive names were also sometimes used in addition to - but not instead of - inherited names and patronymics. Women used feminized forms of these names.
A very large number of middle- and sur-names could be included in a Byzantine name, such as in the actual historical example of John Doukas Angelos Palaiologos Raoul Laskaris Tornikes Philanthropenos Asanes. However, in common use, only those names which were politically or socially convenient were actually used. For example, names which indicated relationships to famous families would often be used, while those that were of lesser-blooded families would be omitted.
A typical male name might look like this:
Ioannes Doukas Laskaris ho Pontikoctonous
This name means: John whose mother is of the Doukas, whose father is of the Laskaris, known as “The Rat-Slayer.”
If you don’t know enough Greek to construct your own by-names, there’s nothing wrong with just introducing them in English, as for example:
Ioannes Doukas Laskaris the Rat-Slayer
A typical female name might look like this:
Maria Angelina Palaiologina
This name means: Maria whose father’s name was Palaiologos and who had someone named Angelina in her family.
If Maria married Ioannes, she could take any number of his names in addition to or instead of her own. So she could be Maria Laskarina, Maria Angelina Palaiologina Doukaina Laskarina… or anything in between.
To feminize family names, convert endings as follows:
-es, -is, -on, and -os to -ina
-nos to -ne
-tes to -tissa
-as to -ina (but drop the s first)