The name of Cyprus, in every language it uses

People often ask what the name Cyprus means, and the honest answer has a twist. The island has two official languages, its own alphabet and an official transliteration that doesn’t match the guidebooks. Here’s what the island is called in each language, what its people are called and why every town seems to have two or three names. What’s spoken where is in languages in Cyprus.

Cyprus, Kypros, Kibris

In English it’s Cyprus, and the state’s official name is the Republic of Cyprus. In Greek the island is Kypros, written Κύπρος, and the state is Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, which the Spanish foreign ministry transliterates as Dimokratia Kyprou. In Turkish, the ministry writes the official name as Kibris Cumhuriyeti, without Turkish diacritics, and I’ve left it that way. In Spanish, the language of the other half of this guide, the island is Chipre. Gov.uk also reminds British visitors to make sure their passport is stamped on entry and exit, so the Republic’s name is one you’ll literally carry home with you.

The people are Cypriots, and the two main communities are known as Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. I think it matters to use the words properly, because a Greek Cypriot isn’t a Greek and a Turkish Cypriot isn’t a Turk; both are Cypriots from different communities.

What does the name Cyprus mean?

I’ll be straight with you. The official sources I can cite don’t explain where the name Kypros comes from, and I won’t offer an etymology I can’t back up, however many are doing the rounds online. What is clear is the official name, the Republic of Cyprus, and that of its two official languages only Greek is also used officially in Brussels, as the EU points out. Its place on the map is covered in where is Cyprus.

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One town, two or three names

Greek has its own alphabet, and turning it into Latin letters produces different spellings. CYSTAT and official documents use Lefkosia, Lemesos, Larnaka, Pafos and Ammochostos, while in English we say Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos and Famagusta. On signs and maps you’ll come across both.

Some names have a history of their own, and I give the capital’s its own section below. Limassol was Nemesos in the 10th century, according to its municipal tourism board, and Larnaca stands on ancient Kition. Across the Green Line, Turkish forms such as Lefkoşa, Gazimağusa and Girne come into play as well. The towns, with their populations, are in towns and villages in Cyprus.

The capital’s many names

Nicosia deserves its own section, because it has changed name several times. The municipality says the kingdom of Ledra is recorded around 672 BC, under King Onasagoras, that in the Ptolemaic period the city was also called Lefkothea, and that by about AD 348 it was known as Lefkousia or Ledri. That’s where today’s official Lefkosia comes from.

It has been the island’s capital since the 9th or 10th century according to the municipality, and capital of the Republic since December 1959. It’s still split by the buffer zone patrolled by UN peacekeepers. That’s why it also has a Turkish name in use, Lefkoşa, on the other side of Ledra Street.

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Place names that mislead

Villages work the same way as towns. Ayia Napa also appears as Agia Napa, Peyia as Pegeia and Kalopanayiotis as Kalopanagiotis, and each time it’s the same village, whatever the hotel booking site or the road sign happens to say. I use the form most British visitors search for, but on the road go by what the sign says. And to see the whole island with every name in its place, start with the map of Cyprus. More surprising details, all sourced, are in my facts about Cyprus.

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