Evangelos, Vangelis ( el, Ευάγγελος, or, in polytonic orthography, ; from "good" + "messenger, angel") is a common Greek male name. The diminutive derived from the name Evangelos, is usually Vangelis. The female equivalent is Evangelía (). It is an ancient Greek name; in Greek mythology there are at least two personalities bearing the name. One was Pixodarus, a shepherd who discovered the marble from which the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus was built (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World), and was thereafter worshiped as a god named Evangelos, because he brought the good news. The second was the successor of the prophet Branchus to the shrine of

Miletus Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' (exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in a ...

, called Evangelos because he was the one announcing the good oracles; he was at the origin of a clan of prophets, the Evangelides. According to the ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (Harper, New York, 1884), Evangelus () was: 1. A Greek comic poet of the new comedy, a fragment of one of whose plays ie preserved by Athenaeus; edited by Meineke, Fragm. Comic. Graec., vol. ii., p. 1173, edit. minor. 2. A slave of Pericles, who distinguished himself by his abilities; he is said to have written a work on the science of war "Tactics" (), which was highly prized by Philopoemen. Later, with the advent of Christianity, the name was connected to the "good word" of the

Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

(in Greek, Εὐαγγέλιον, evangélion, Evangile), and to the people bearing the good news (evangelists), as well as to the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

itself (in Greek ), meaning the bringing of the good news to Virgin Mary by Archangel Gabriel, that she was going to conceive Jesus.

Name day

Bearers of the name Evangelos celebrate their name day on March 25, as the

, is celebrated in churches on that day.

Famous Greek people bearing the name

Evangelos Averoff-Tositsas Evangelos Averoff-Tositsa ( Greek: Ευάγγελος Αβέρωφ Τοσίτσας) ( Trikala, 17 April 1910 – Athens, 2 January 1990) was a Greek politician, leader of the right wing party New Democracy (1981–1984), member of parliament, ...

(; 1910–1990), conservative Greek politician, writer and industrialist *

Evangelos Damaskos Evangelos Damaskos ( el, Ευάγγελος Δαμάσκος) was a Greek pole vaulter. He was born in Acharnes, Athens, Greece. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Damaskos competed in the pole vault. He tied with fellow Greek I ...

(), Greek light athlete active in the nineteenth century * Evangelos Mantzios (; b. 1983), Greek footballer * Evangelos "Vangelis" Moras (; b. 1981), Greek footballer * Evangelos Nessos (b. 1978), former German footballer of Greek ancestry * Evangelos Venizelos (; b. 1957), Greek jurist and politician (former leader of the centre-left party PASOK) *

Evangelos Zappas Evangelos or Evangelis Zappas ( el, Ευάγγελος or ; ro, Evanghelie Zappa; 23 August 1800 – 19 June 1865) was a Greek patriot, philanthropist and businessman who spent most of his life in Romania. He is recognized today as one of the ...

(; 1800–1865), Greek

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

* Evangelos Odysseas "Vangelis" Papathanassiou (; 1943–2022), composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock, and orchestral music. *Vangelis Katsanis (; (died 2009), playwright, famous for "The Successors," an extremely anti-royalist play which resulted in Katsanis' exile

Variants

* Vangélis, Vángos (, ), the most common

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...

s of this name * Evangelía, Vangelió, Vangelítsa (, , ), the female variant

References

Greek masculine given names {{name-stub

Name day

Famous Greek people bearing the name

Variants

See also

References