Greek Alphabet Converter (Greek ↔ Latin Letters)
This Greek alphabet converter turns Greek text, including Ancient Greek with accents and breathing marks, into Latin letters using classical transliteration. It also spells English names with Greek letters.
How to use the Greek alphabet converter
- Paste Greek text to read it in Latin letters. Ancient Greek with accents and breathing marks (polytonic) and modern Greek (monotonic) both work.
- Or type English and switch the direction to “Latin letters → Greek” to spell a name in Greek letters.
- Choose a style. “Classical” marks long vowels as ē and ō, as most reference books do. “Simple” drops the marks.
- Press Convert, then copy the result.
Transliteration method and rules
Transliteration means writing each Greek letter with the Latin letter, or pair of letters, that scholars agree stands for it. It is not translation: λόγος becomes logos, not “word”. The tool follows the classical system used in most English-language dictionaries and textbooks:
- θ → th, φ → ph, χ → ch, ψ → ps, ξ → x.
- η → ē and ω → ō, to keep them apart from ε (e) and ο (o).
- υ → y on its own, but u in the pairs αυ, ευ, ηυ and ου (so Ζεύς is Zeus).
- γ before γ, κ, ξ or χ → n, because it was pronounced like the n in “anger”: ἄγγελος becomes angelos.
- The rough breathing (ʽ) → h at the start of the word: ὁ becomes ho. On a diphthong the mark sits on the second vowel but is said first: υἱός becomes hyios.
- Initial ρ → rh, as in rhētōr, and the iota subscript (ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ) is written as a following i.
- Accents are dropped. English has no letters for pitch accents, so classical transliteration leaves them out.
ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος → en archēi ēn ho logos
Going from English to Greek is less exact, because English spelling does not show sounds clearly. The tool spells by common sound patterns: ch → χ, ph → φ, th → θ, ps → ψ, x → ξ, and a final s → ς. Greek has no letter h, so h is left out except in those pairs.
Greek alphabet and transliteration chart
| Capital | Small | Name | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Α | α | alpha | a |
| Β | β | beta | b |
| Γ | γ | gamma | g (n before γ, κ, ξ, χ) |
| Δ | δ | delta | d |
| Ε | ε | epsilon | e |
| Ζ | ζ | zeta | z |
| Η | η | eta | ē |
| Θ | θ | theta | th |
| Ι | ι | iota | i |
| Κ | κ | kappa | k |
| Λ | λ | lambda | l |
| Μ | μ | mu | m |
| Ν | ν | nu | n |
| Ξ | ξ | xi | x |
| Ο | ο | omicron | o |
| Π | π | pi | p |
| Ρ | ρ | rho | r (rh at the start of a word) |
| Σ | σ / ς | sigma | s (ς at the end of a word) |
| Τ | τ | tau | t |
| Υ | υ | upsilon | y (u in au, eu, ou) |
| Φ | φ | phi | ph |
| Χ | χ | chi | ch |
| Ψ | ψ | psi | ps |
| Ω | ω | omega | ō |
Examples
The first line of the Iliad
μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ becomes mēnin aeide thea, “Sing, goddess, the wrath…”. This is the tool’s default example.
Names of philosophers
Σωκράτης becomes Sōkratēs (or Sokrates in the simple style). Ὅμηρος becomes Homēros: the rough breathing on the first letter gives the H in “Homer”.
Your name in Greek letters
Alexander becomes Αλεξανδερ, Christopher becomes Χριστοφερ and Thomas becomes Θομας. These are letter spellings, not the traditional Greek forms of the names (Ἀλέξανδρος, Χριστόφορος, Θωμᾶς), which have Greek endings and vowels.
Classical, Latin-style and modern transliteration
There is more than one way to write Greek in Latin letters. Older English books often use Latin-style spellings: Socrates, Achilles, with c for κ and -us for -ος (Odysseus stays, but Heraklēs becomes Hercules via Latin). Modern Greek uses its own standard, ELOT 743 (also ISO 843), which reflects modern pronunciation: β is v, η is i and χ is ch. This tool gives the scholarly classical form. Use it for ancient texts and Greek words in philosophy, theology and history. For where the Greek letters came from, see our Phoenician Alphabet Translator.