Random Mode Keyboard shortcut: Command/Ctrl + Shift + R
thumbnail

Name that Greek Letter

Guess the name of each selected ancient Greek letter.
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Last updated: August 10, 2019
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
First submittedFebruary 22, 2012
Times taken253,540
Average score70.8%
Rating4.92
4:00
Enter name here:
0
 / 24 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
Symbol
Name
Π π
Pi
Δ δ
Delta
Ε ε
Epsilon
Α α
Alpha
Ρ ρ
Rho
Γ γ
Gamma
Κ κ
Kappa
Η η
Eta
Symbol
Name
Ο ο
Omicron
Υ υ
Upsilon
Μ μ
Mu
Ξ ξ
Xi
Ω ω
Omega
Ζ ζ
Zeta
Σ σ
Sigma
Θ θ
Theta
Symbol
Name
Λ λ
Lambda
Φ φ
Phi
Ι ι
Iota
Ψ ψ
Psi
Τ τ
Tau
Ν ν
Nu
Χ χ
Chi
Β β
Beta
+13
Level 41
Feb 22, 2012
Aw yeah, 100% with 3:19 left. When I learned the Greek alphabet back in fourth grade, I knew it would pay off some day. |^)
+38
Level 16
Mar 25, 2015
Being greek probably didn't help much.. I never learned the letters' transilteration in english, haha! 19/24
+13
Level 60
Mar 16, 2016
Me too...I believe it's a little bit difficult being a greek and trying to solve this
+5
Level 61
Aug 18, 2016
It would be αλφα instead of alpha, for example, right? Shouldn't answers like that be accepted?
+19
Level 49
Mar 14, 2017
Also Greek, never understood why they spell "Omicron" with a c. "Omikron" makes more sense, as Kappa is more of an equivalent to k than it is to c.
+7
Level 61
Mar 20, 2018
There are a lot of examples of words with a κ in Greek that becomes a C in English. For example, the prefix micro- from μικρός, or the name Cyrus from Κύρος. I agree that it doesn't make the most sense, but it's common.
+2
Level 83
Sep 18, 2018
The problem is not that αλφα isn't an accepted answer, it is more that some letter's english spelling has little to do with the original greek pronounciation which makes it impossible to guess a phonetic spelling when you don't know the answer.
+2
Level 61
Feb 25, 2019
The English spellings correspond fairly closely to the original pronunciation, but only if "original" is taken to mean "Classical Attic."
+1
Level 62
Feb 23, 2023
I feel like the reason αλφα isn't accepted is that most keyboards and therefore most users can't type that.
+3
Level 77
Jul 23, 2017
I learned the Greek letters from an astronomy book I own. Heehee...
+12
Level 39
Oct 17, 2017
ha, i learned most of these from math class
+1
Level 89
Jul 29, 2018
Watching Revenge of the Nerds paid off with Lambda Lambda Lambda.
+1
Level 48
Dec 24, 2021
AquaHolic, I knew like 15 of them from memory and 7 more from math! Although, I did have to ch**t a few times.
+11
Level 46
Feb 22, 2012
100% Yay for math!
+9
Level 23
May 10, 2016
The overuse of theta. So true, thank you calc.
+2
Level 40
Feb 23, 2012
Where did you guys go to school? Learning the Greek alphabet in grade school; very cool!
+3
Level 34
Jan 2, 2015
I never learnt at all! I wish I was taught in school
+2
Level 14
Feb 23, 2012
Pi takes the cake.
+1
Level 38
Feb 23, 2012
I agree with 2Boo2. We've never learned any greek letters in school but I still got 22/24
+1
Level 28
Feb 27, 2012
100% with 3:28 to spare
+1
Level 41
Mar 5, 2012
@2Boo2: I went to school in suburban Philadelphia, and we did a unit on ancient Greek culture in like fourth grade. But I think I probably remember the alphabet more because I have a knack for languages than because it was such an important part of the curriculum.
+1
Level 51
Apr 5, 2020
PHIladelpia.
+3
Level 75
Aug 30, 2020
φιλαδηλφια ?
+3
Level 68
Dec 22, 2021
Actually, Φιλαδέλφεια, but close enough!
+2
Level 41
Mar 5, 2012
Oh, and it helps that I've had a lot of courses in sciences, maths, statistics, and logic, all of which have their favorite Greek symbols.
+1
Level 32
Apr 5, 2012
got them all with 3:22 left :)
+2
Level 36
May 3, 2012
I have also seen it spelled "Omikron"
+6
Level 46
Sep 5, 2012
They forgot to include "Sir", the last letter of the Greek Alphabet when pledging a fraternity!
+4
Level 77
May 6, 2014
Upsilon? I tried it with Ipsilon and Ypsilon, never did I imagine... Is the spelling Americanized or do they spell it like that in Greece too? In that case just my country changed the spelling..
+1
Level 45
Jul 7, 2021
In Greek we spell it Ύψιλον and it’s pronounced e -pse -lohn
+8
Level 12
Jul 11, 2014
15/24

I'm greek and know the alphabet in greek, but these are spelt weird

+2
Level 71
Jan 22, 2016
Because this is an English language quiz site the answers use the English spelling. I don't know if there is a Greek quiz site, but if there is then the spelling would be in the Greek language.
+4
Level 39
Sep 5, 2014
Actually, as a Greek, i have to say there are too many mistakes here. Ρ is Ro, Y is Ipsilon, M is Mi, Λ is Lamda, T is Taf and N is Ni.
+1
Level ∞
Sep 5, 2014
I added a note that this is ancient Greek.
+1
Level 55
Sep 5, 2014
Tau may be pronounced Taf, but I'm sure it's still spelt with an upsilon, even in modern Greek. ευχαριστώ (thanks) is pronounced "eff-charis-to" but it's still written the way it always has been. Same with mu and nu, pronounced mee and nee but written with upsilons.
+1
Level 55
Sep 5, 2014
Well, thinking about it, maybe I just am wrong about the alphabet. It just strikes me as odd, but maybe typical ,that the only country in the world which doesn't teach the traditional Greek letter spellings would be Greece. In English we maintain 'ph' spellings in words which are derived from Greek words that contained Φ, but in Greece the very letters are now spelt with iotas instead of upsilons.
+1
Level 41
Sep 6, 2014
They are not mistakes, it is just the traditional transliteration used by English native speakers. And as this quiz is in English, there is nothing wrong about it (:
+1
Level 45
Jul 7, 2021
Yes what he means is the transliterations are wrong. They should at least attempt to homophonic to the Greek words for them
+1
Level 68
Oct 11, 2023
That's because the "standard" pronunciation of Ancient Greek, as it's taught around the world, is based on the theories of Erasmus of Rotterdam in the 16th century - which are probably wrong. When I started learning Modern Greek four years ago, this surprised me too.
+1
Level 76
Sep 5, 2014
If you had fun trying a new alphabet here, you may also like to try

Name That Russian Letter!

+1
Level 56
Sep 5, 2014
Someone should make a quiz about the modern spellings of Greek letter names. They are different from the classic ones and even more different from their names in English.
+1
Level 33
Sep 5, 2014
100% :) I taught myself the Greek alphabet and a few words in Greek in a few hours.
+1
Level 58
Sep 5, 2014
Isn't it spelt Lamda??
+1
Level 19
Sep 5, 2014
The only reasons I got most of these are because of physics class and Red vs Blue
+2
Level 19
Sep 9, 2014
i am greek and i got only 22. There is no nu, it's ni, there is no mu it's mi ! jesus
+6
Level 83
Sep 7, 2015
Are you Ancient Greek?
+5
Level 61
Nov 6, 2014
Interesting Fact: if the radius of a pizza was z, and the depth was a, the volume would be Pizza (Pi x z x z x a)
+2
Level 62
Feb 23, 2023
Take that to the Interesting Facts page!
+1
Level 50
Mar 22, 2024
And pizz=A
+1
Level 20
Jan 6, 2015
To think that joining a fraternity at Slippery Rock State College (Sigma Pi = Sig Pigs) in 1975 somehow proved useful. I bested Bluto Bartowski with a 0.0 GPA.
+1
Level 23
Mar 27, 2015
Got them all, Sophomore in College; guess Greek does pay off in the end :p
+1
Level 60
May 1, 2015
You should definitely accept omikron as an alternate spelling, since there's no c in Greek and you'd spell it using a kappa. I've always learned omikron, and never seen it written this way outside this quiz (I understand using omicron because of "micro" but that's an Anglification of the original Greek spelling)
+1
Level 68
May 5, 2017
As is this quiz.
+1
Level 51
May 1, 2015
Got them. My sister taught me well. I did get stuck on lambda temporarily, though, because I left out the B.
+2
Level 75
May 25, 2015
Here is a simpler way for english pronunciation imo, if you want it to sound more like actual greek than klingon lol:

Β: vee-ta

Ζ: zee-ta

H: ee-ta

Θ: thee-ta

I: yo-ta

M: me (what is mu seriously?)

N: nee (pronounced like knee)

P: should be exactly like "p" in english they changed it to avoid confusion.

R: raw (much more accurate)

T: tough

Y: he-psilon

Φ: fee

Χ: he

Ψ: psi but like saying pepsi not psychic

I think this should make it easier for both you and us. I had a really hard time understanding greek letters at my british uni and it was crazy.

+1
Level 71
Mar 14, 2016
Should have gone to a Greek Uni.
+1
Level 78
Nov 24, 2020
I can see that this is well-meant, but it is not accurate. Tau is not pronounced tough.
+1
Level 47
Apr 22, 2016
did anyone else just pick the letters on their keyboard
+2
Level 22
Jul 8, 2016
Hideously corrupt.
+1
Level 68
Dec 5, 2016
100% with 3:25 left! Learned some Greek in middle school, don't remember more than the basics of the language, but I still have that alphabet DOWN.
+2
Level 86
Dec 5, 2016
Some alternate spellings could be accepted : ksi for xi, khi for chi, ypsilon for upsilon, omikron for omicron.
+2
Level 86
Nov 23, 2019
I tried ksi, khi and omikron today and they are still not accepted. Would you consider it now?
+1
Level 86
Dec 21, 2021
As usual, I tried those three spellings before entering the wanted ones. I frankly wonder why the Quizmaster is so stubborn about this...
+1
Level 62
Feb 23, 2023
because psi and phi are the most common spellings. Omikron is more common, but Omicron is still the most common
+1
Level 73
Dec 5, 2016
Thank you Maths and physics
+1
Level 14
Dec 5, 2016
so weird how they are written
+1
Level 67
Dec 19, 2016
Yes... very happy to get all of these.
+3
Level 70
May 4, 2017
Is it bad that I used the fraternities and sororities from Monsters University? XD
+1
Level 28
May 27, 2017
All correct.I'm not even greek!
+3
Level 50
Nov 7, 2017
Omicron with a K (omikron) should be acceptable as well
+1
Level 44
Mar 20, 2018
i guess doing ancient greek for gcse helped a lot with this! 100%
+1
Level 66
Dec 10, 2018
tried Ypsilon for a few, same with theta, but for the wrong ones..

Still 50% right! never had greek, and no such things as sororities here. So know pi from maths, gamma from gamma rays. and a few more in similar ways. Alpha and omega are terms you here now and then

+1
Level 52
Dec 11, 2018
Got 23/24. Science studies are useful at least for one thing.
+2
Level 81
Sep 9, 2019
I am Greek. There is no 'b' in Lamda.

Where did you get it?

Check in with a Greek speaker first.

I got everything right but this one.

+3
Level 86
Nov 23, 2019
Well it's spelt lambda in several languages. But you're right indeed, Lamda should be accepted.
+1
Level 60
Sep 20, 2019
Guys I am sorry but I am greek and I scored 16/24... It is kind of inaccurate. May be you should search a little bit better before uploading a quiz
+3
Level 26
Feb 13, 2020
It's not inaccurate, the american spelling is different than the Greek or even British spelling
+1
Level 62
Nov 23, 2019
Got it with 3:24 left. I guess three years as a chemical engineering major and being in grad school for chem are finally paying off.
+1
Level 48
Dec 6, 2019
When they said there weren't any extra studies available in the Netherlands when chosing Greek, they probably didn't think about the quizzes here!
+1
Level 66
Oct 4, 2020
I am Greek and truly, my eyes hurt when I see the american spelling!
+3
Level 46
Oct 23, 2020
Ypsilon is correct, you should accept it.
+1
Level 62
Feb 23, 2023
That's kind of how it's said but not how it's spelt (in English)
+1
Level 28
Feb 17, 2021
2:39

Scoring

You scored 5/24 = 21%

This beats or equals 10% of test takers

The average score is 17

Your high score is 5

+1
Level 67
Jun 1, 2021
18
+3
Level 32
Sep 21, 2021
d for deez nuts
+1
Level 59
Dec 13, 2021
ok
+1
Level 79
Jan 20, 2023
dees nutz*
+3
Level 73
Dec 21, 2021
Covid 19 has made them familiar...
+1
Level 38
Dec 21, 2021
tell me about it.
+8
Level 68
Dec 21, 2021
Thank you Covid-19 variants for teaching me the greek letters!
+1
Level 38
Dec 21, 2021
+1, probably the funniest comment I've seen all quarantine!
+3
Level 61
Dec 21, 2021
Studying physics finally pays off
+2
Level 38
Dec 21, 2021
and covid stats!
+3
Level 26
Dec 21, 2021
omicron...
+1
Level 75
Apr 14, 2023
hi, I am a person from the future and I come from the year 2023. Fortunately, the omicron variant fell off and so did covid cases as a whole. no more lockdowns, masks, or strict regulations
+2
Level 52
Dec 23, 2021
Got all except Ligma
+1
Level 79
Jan 20, 2023
ligma what??
+1
Level 67
Dec 23, 2021
first, and isn't a greek letter, and you forgot about eta
+2
Level 66
Dec 29, 2021
cant believe they named a greek letter after a covid 19 strain!
+1
Level 62
Feb 23, 2023
gg
+1
Level 54
May 7, 2022
It's been a while since I've taken higher level maths and physics (that's how I learned greek letters).
+1
Level 62
Nov 18, 2022
I am Greek and got 15/24 lmao
+1
Level 37
Nov 24, 2022
Gamma small letter isnt a y. Its much different
+1
Level 58
Dec 23, 2022
I'm kinda surprise I knew all of them
+1
Level 63
Jan 19, 2023
Gamma's small letter threw me off. Surely it looks like something else?
+1
Level 63
Jan 19, 2023
Upon checking Google, it seems that the issue is font. That's annoying, but oh well
+1
Level 62
Feb 23, 2023
Is this Classical Greek or Koine / Street Greek
+1
Level 45
Jun 7, 2023
i remember me saying "who could ever do this, this is impossible!" now look at me doing it in 12 seconds
+2
Level 48
Jun 23, 2023
Studying mathematics in college really helped...
+1
Level 27
Dec 26, 2023
Do I know greek? Nope, just a physicist