In a recent interview, U.S. Ambassador to Greece George Tsunis characteristically quips: “Don’t call me George. Call me Giorgos, like my mother does.” Now, Mr. Tsunis’ U.S. birth certificate probably lists his given name as George, however, as a genuine Diaspora Greek, he grew up being called Giorgos. This issue to which he alludes affects a large number of Greeks abroad, who encounter all manners of bureaucratic obstacles in Greece due to the appearance of their names.

For a country with such a large number of ex-pats and a longstanding Diaspora dating back centuries the issue that many Greek (or aspiring Greek) citizens face regarding the correct transcription of their names should have been definitely resolved long ago.

Right or wrong, Greek immigrants or Greeks born abroad often change their names for various reasons. Depending on the circumstances, these changes are often imposed by the authorities of their host country. For example, before the U.S. embraced multiculturalism, generations of Greeks faced chauvinism from U.S. authorities, who would arbitrarily change their names to make them sound more ‘American’. There was also widespread racism, which often compelled Greeks to ‘Americanize’ their names if they wanted to secure steady work, send their children to schools without having them teased, and generally, be accepted into mainstream society. Greeks living in other parts of the world faced similar challenges.

Even in today’s far more tolerant era, the tendency to change one’s name to blend in with the locals still remains. Greece – which has traditionally been enchanted by the allure of anything foreign – has strengthened this trend, creating an identity issue for many Diaspora Greeks, who would prefer to be addressed by their traditional Greek name when conducting business in Greece. However, instead of being registered in Greece’s municipal registries “like their mother calls them” or how they were baptized, they end up toting cacophonic foreign names imposed on them by the Greek state (how ironic!) because the latter insists on the exact transcription of their names as listed on their foreign birth certificates.

This paradox is just the tip of the iceberg. For every Greek citizen born abroad unwillingly walking around Greece with a foreign name due to Greek bureaucracy’s lack of flexibility, there are just as many ethnic Greeks interested in obtaining their citizenship, who have given up because of the obstacles they encountered in the process. Some have a difficult time proving their direct familial ties to their Greek ancestors (parents and grandparents) due to the changes made to the latters’ names on foreign identity documents. Others cannot declare important events like a death or birth because the name on the foreign documents doesn’t match the name on Greek documents with absolute precision.

This is a major issue that affects almost all Greek families to some extent. It is curious why at least institutions of the Diaspora (the Church, Greek communities, large organizations) have not officially taken up this issue with Greek state authorities and demanded that a practical and easy resolution finally be reached. Here lies a truly golden opportunity for an ambitious community leader from the Diaspora – clergyman or layperson – who might be seeking a promotion to a higher office or an opportunity to be elected to a Greek Government post with the support of Greeks living abroad…

As for the Greek state, one would have imagined that with the population crisis it is facing due to the low birth rate and the need to harness the power of the Greek Diaspora, it would have found a way to facilitate Greeks from all around the world in their dealings with consular and central state agencies. This is particularly true of the current administration, which has made the ‘digital shift’ its trademark and worked hard to secure voting rights for Greeks living abroad. More than any previous administration, it should be the one to address this issue and proceed with the necessary policy adjustments. With the help of technology and the simplification of the registration process, it should not be too difficult to find a way for interested parties to officially declare the desired version of their name as they would like it to appear in Greek records through the help of supporting documentation (i.e., a baptismal certificate).

In an age when there is such hypersensitivity for individual rights and politicians bend over backwards to promote the individual agendas of various minority groups, the right for someone to be addressed by the name given to them by their parents – in other words, to safeguard their identity – must also be respected, without requiring them to go through expensive and time-consuming procedural actions. In the words of Antisthenes, “the beginning of all instruction is the study of names.”

Χ@CTripoulas