Using it
Type English, such as your name, and it's written in Greek letters as a Greek speaker would spell its sounds. This doesn't translate the words into the Greek language; it changes the alphabet. Swap the boxes to go the other way: paste Greek and get it in Latin letters.
System picks how. Everyday spells English by sound and turns Greek into Latin letters with ELOT 743, the system on Greek passports. Letter for letter uses ISO 843, which marks η as ī and ω as ō so every letter can be got back exactly.
The Greek alphabet
| Capital | Small | Name | ELOT 743 | ISO 843 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Α | α | alpha | a | a |
| Β | β | beta | v | v |
| Γ | γ | gamma | g | g |
| Δ | δ | delta | d | d |
| Ε | ε | epsilon | e | e |
| Ζ | ζ | zeta | z | z |
| Η | η | eta | i | ī |
| Θ | θ | theta | th | th |
| Ι | ι | iota | i | i |
| Κ | κ | kappa | k | k |
| Λ | λ | lambda | l | l |
| Μ | μ | mu | m | m |
| Ν | ν | nu | n | n |
| Ξ | ξ | xi | x | x |
| Ο | ο | omicron | o | o |
| Π | π | pi | p | p |
| Ρ | ρ | rho | r | r |
| Σ | σ, ς | sigma | s | s |
| Τ | τ | tau | t | t |
| Υ | υ | upsilon | y | y |
| Φ | φ | phi | f | f |
| Χ | χ | chi | ch | ch |
| Ψ | ψ | psi | ps | ps |
| Ω | ω | omega | o | ō |
Writing English in Greek letters
Greek letters don't line up one to one with English sounds, so spelling by sound needs a few pairs. In modern Greek, β is said v, δ is the th in "this", and γ is a soft, breathy g. So Greek writes a b sound as μπ, d as ντ and a hard g as γκ: Bob becomes Μπομπ and Daniel Ντανιελ.
Greek has no letter for h, so it's left out: Hello is Ελλο. u and oo become ου, as in Γκους for Gus, and th becomes θ. The final σ of a word is written ς. Names already from Greek come back to their own letters: Christopher is Χριστοφερ.
Greek in Latin letters: ELOT 743
ELOT 743 is the standard of the Hellenic Organization for Standardization, adopted by the United Nations, the UK and the US. Its transcription is what Greek passports use, so Δημήτριος is Dimitrios and Θεσσαλονίκη is Thessaloniki.
It follows the sound in a few places. η, ι and υ are all said i, but η becomes i while υ stays y. αυ and ευ become av and ev before a vowel or a voiced consonant (Παύλος, Pavlos; Ευάγγελος, Evangelos), and af and ef before θ, κ, ξ, π, σ, τ, φ, χ or ψ or at the end of a word (αυτός, aftos). μπ is b at the start of a word and mp inside it: Μπάμπης is Bampis. γγ is ng.
Letter for letter: ISO 843
ISO 843's transliteration keeps one Latin spelling for each Greek letter, so nothing is lost: η is ī and ω is ō, γγ stays gg and μπ stays mp, and accents stay as acutes. Ελληνικός Οργανισμός Τυποποίησης, the standards body's own name, is Ellīnikós Organismós Typopoíīsīs, and typed back in with Letter for letter it comes out as the same Greek.
Questions
How do I write my name in Greek letters?
Type it in the box with System on Everyday. Check any b, d or g: Greek writes them μπ, ντ and γκ, because β, δ and γ stand for other sounds in modern Greek.
Does this translate English into Greek?
No. It changes the alphabet, not the language. Hello comes out as Ελλο, not the Greek word for hello.
Why are there two sigmas?
σ is written inside a word and ς at the end of one. Both are sigma, and the capital is Σ either way.
Are these the letters on fraternity and sorority houses?
Yes, the same 24 letters. Almost every fraternity and sorority is named with two or three of them, such as Sigma Chi (ΣΧ) or Delta Delta Delta (ΔΔΔ), and the table above gives each letter's name.
Sources
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