Names

Hi, I've heard a lot about Hellenismos having a certain initiation, either a personal or ritualistic way of showing your true devotion to the gods & goddesses.

I've heard that by doing so, you renounce your old life before the gods & also receive a new Traditional Greek name once you declare yourself a genuine Hellenic.

I was wondering if anyone had any opinions or knowledge of this since after searching, I could find Nothing in the polls about it.

my main basic questions are
-How would one go about finding your new name?
-Is there a certain amount of study or time that must be put into the research & worship of Hellenismos before you consider an Initiation?
-Once you have taken on your new name, is that the name you forever go by?
*(For Example- My name is Chelsie now, and has been since birth.
But say I chose my new name as Atheaya, Would I Only be permitted to share my new name to others after I've taken it?)

Just trying to get my bearings.

Sincerely

Hi, I've heard a lot about Hellenismos having a certain initiation, either a personal or ritualistic way of showing your true devotion to the gods & goddesses.

No, not really. The esoteric Mystery religions would often have a formal ceremony of entry into the cultus – called τελετή [teletē] – but the exoteric, everyday religion really has no such thing.

 I've heard that by doing so, you renounce your old life before the gods & also receive a new Traditional Greek name once you declare yourself a genuine Hellenic. 

Again, no, not exactly. In Greece, there is something done called an ονοματοδοσία [onomatodosía], which is a name giving ceremony primarily for younger children to receive traditional names in addition to the names that were mandated by the government at birth. This ceremony is sometimes used, by extension, as a way of marking a reception of a committed newcomer – however, this is almost never done (if ever at all) outside of Greece. Most genuine people go by their legal names in life. Many people do use a traditional name as a username on the forum, for instance, but consider it more of an online nickname. 

-How would one go about finding your new name?

If you were to participate in a formal onomatodosía, it would be given to you by the officiant. Otherwise, there isn't really any 'finding a new name' to do. You may use any name you wish as your screenname/username, so long as it fits the character limit and is not disrespectful. 

-Is there a certain amount of study or time that must be put into the research & worship of Hellenismos before you consider an Initiation?

Unless you are in catechumency for a particular Mystery cult (of which there are very few legitimate streams remaining – and which have/had their own particular procedures for receiving new converts), there is no initiation. As far as time before committing in general? I would recommend not making any commitments (just as informal advice, not a rule) before you are comfortable with your new religion. How long that might take is certainly not set in stone. It could be weeks, it could be a year or more. 

*(For Example- My name is Chelsie now, and has been since birth.
But say I chose my new name as Atheaya, Would I Only be permitted to share my new name to others after I've taken it?)

Chelsie is a perfectly good name.   

*Atheaya is not any word or name I recognize.    Do you mean Athenaea (Ἀθηναία)? I doubt you mean Atheaia (Ἀθεαία), which would mean something like 'atheist woman'.

If you want to have a religious name though go for it, but I don't think it is very common and my guess is (and it seems to be the case most of the time) is that most people that use religious names within Hellenismos usually come from a wiccan background and they're used to the wiccan traditions so much so, that they choose to adopt some of them.

Erodius wrote:

Hi, I've heard a lot about Hellenismos having a certain initiation, either a personal or ritualistic way of showing your true devotion to the gods & goddesses.

No, not really. The esoteric Mystery religions would often have a formal ceremony of entry into the cultus – called τελετή [teletē] – but the exoteric, everyday religion really has no such thing.

Again, no, not exactly. In Greece, there is something done called an ονοματοδοσία [onomatodosía], which is a name giving ceremony primarily for younger children to receive traditional names in addition to the names that were mandated by the government at birth. This ceremony is sometimes used, by extension, as a way of marking a reception of a committed newcomer – however, this is almost never done (if ever at all) outside of Greece. Most genuine people go by their legal names in life. Many people do use a traditional name as a username on the forum, for instance, but consider it more of an online nickname. 

If you were to participate in a formal onomatodosía, it would be given to you by the officiant. Otherwise, there isn't really any 'finding a new name' to do. You may use any name you wish as your screenname/username, so long as it fits the character limit and is not disrespectful. 


Unless you are in catechumency for a particular Mystery cult (of which there are very few legitimate streams remaining – and which have/had their own particular procedures for receiving new converts), there is no initiation. As far as time before committing in general? I would recommend not making any commitments (just as informal advice, not a rule) before you are comfortable with your new religion. How long that might take is certainly not set in stone. It could be weeks, it could be a year or more. 


Chelsie is a perfectly good name.   

*Atheaya is not any word or name I recognize.    Do you mean Athenaea (Ἀθηναία)? I doubt you mean Atheaia (Ἀθεαία), which would mean something like 'atheist woman'.

-Thank you for all of the advise, I am More than comfortable with the transition into Hellenismos,
I've always been attracted to the Greek Religion, I just never knew of one by name before, which in reality, was the only thing keeping me from proclaiming myself as a Hellenist long ago.
I didn't think they even Existed anymore.

-As for the name Athaeya, It has Nothing to do with anything in the "occult" as far as I know of.
It was just a particular name that I liked.

I am a simple, Spiritual-Hellenist, not to be confused with Wiccan or Pagan.
I was just curious as to IF there was a ceremony or not.

Thanks for the clear up
It was a Major help.

-Many Blessings

-Thank you for all of the advise, I am More than comfortable with the transition into Hellenismos,
I've always been attracted to the Greek Religion, I just never knew of one by name before, which in reality, was the only thing keeping me from proclaiming myself as a Hellenist long ago.
I didn't think they even Existed anymore.

Well, now you know – and you've come into a great place to learn.   

-As for the name Athaeya, It has Nothing to do with anything in the "occult" as far as I know of.
It was just a particular name that I liked. 

Nor as far as I'm aware. I just wanted to give a heads-up that the phonetics of the word would be, in Greek, essentially an insult   . 

Thanks for the clear up 
It was a Major help.

You're very welcome.

I suppose one could say I have a religious name (which is not my screen name on this forum). I don't use it in day-to-day life, only when worshipping the Gods and to a few people within my tradition, and I use it because of it's meaning. It symbolizes those qualities which I believe I do not have but desire to attain, so it serves a purpose as being a reminder to always strive to be better than myself. The name is essentially a one-word prayer. I, personally, think that's an appropriate use for a religious name, but it would be best to keep such a name private, shared with only a few, else it would lose it's meaning, in a sense.

Of course people will do as they wish, but a name that's expedient to personal growth seems, to me, to be superior to one which only sounds pretty.

Aktaion wrote:I suppose one could say I have a religious name (which is not my screen name on this forum). I don't use it in day-to-day life, only when worshipping the Gods and to a few people within my tradition, and I use it because of it's meaning. It symbolizes those qualities which I believe I do not have but desire to attain, so it serves a purpose as being a reminder to always strive to be better than myself. The name is essentially a one-word prayer. I, personally, think that's an appropriate use for a religious name, but it would be best to keep such a name private, shared with only a few, else it would lose it's meaning, in a sense.

Of course people will do as they wish, but a name that's expedient to personal growth seems, to me, to be superior to one which only sounds pretty.

-Like I've stated before I am a bit new to this religion & am still learning more day by day.

I appreciate the advise about keeping a name more private than public. Initially, that was an intention I'd plan to hold to, being as many people can often be ruthless towards a religious practice they do not follow, & honestly, I figured that this would be my answer when I was to find it.
I also believe that keeping something as sacred as a name personal "is" important, and I can only think of one or two people that I would trust with a namesake such as this, and agree that something held as highly as a name to be used by the gods & goddesses to refer to you is indeed something we should hold dear to us & perhaps that's how it should be.

All & All,
I was simply curious if there was a certain way to go about this tradition if it was still relevant to the religion today.

I Thank you all for your answers

-Many Blessings.

xxChella21xx wrote:

Aktaion wrote:I suppose one could say I have a religious name (which is not my screen name on this forum). I don't use it in day-to-day life, only when worshipping the Gods and to a few people within my tradition, and I use it because of it's meaning. It symbolizes those qualities which I believe I do not have but desire to attain, so it serves a purpose as being a reminder to always strive to be better than myself. The name is essentially a one-word prayer. I, personally, think that's an appropriate use for a religious name, but it would be best to keep such a name private, shared with only a few, else it would lose it's meaning, in a sense.

Of course people will do as they wish, but a name that's expedient to personal growth seems, to me, to be superior to one which only sounds pretty.

-Like I've stated before I am a bit new to this religion & am still learning more day by day.

I appreciate the advise about keeping a name more private than public. Initially, that was an intention I'd plan to hold to, being as many people can often be ruthless towards a religious practice they do not follow, & honestly, I figured that this would be my answer when I was to find it.
I also believe that keeping something as sacred as a name personal "is" important, and I can only think of one or two people that I would trust with a namesake such as this, and agree that something held as highly as a name to be used by the gods & goddesses to refer to you is indeed something we should hold dear to us & perhaps that's how it should be.

All & All,
I was simply curious if there was a certain way to go about this tradition if it was still relevant to the religion today.  

I Thank you all for your answers

-Many Blessings.

My apologies if I came across as a little abrasive or antagonistic, it was not my intention in the slightest.

My apologies if I came across as a little abrasive or antagonistic, it was not my intention in the slightest.

No Not at all, I understand your viewpoint on the matter.

I began going by my Middle name instead of my Government name through which I found what I believed to be a "synonym" (please correct me if I'm wrong) for my middle name. My middle name is Nicole therefore I go by Nikoletta

Hey, I also thought about it, but luckily I don't need to make any changes, my names is Gregory, my name has greek origin and Gregory in greek is Γρηγόριος. The meaning of this name is "Be vigilant", in greek "γρηγορέω", so my Hellenic name is Gregorios and I'm happy with it