What is the difference between transliteration and translation?

Transliteration swaps the letters and keeps the word: kalimera becomes καλημερα, the same word written in the Greek alphabet. Translation would give you the meaning, good morning. This page only does letters, in both directions, so an English name like Marina comes back as Μαρινα rather than as a Greek word that means something similar.

Which transliteration scheme does it use?

Modern Greek uses ELOT 743, the standard behind Greek passports: η is i, β is v, φ is f, χ is ch, ω is o, and αυ is av or af depending on the sound after it. The ancient page uses the classical scheme instead, where η is ē, β is b, φ is ph, a rough breathing is an h and an iota subscript is an i. Whichever is running, its full table is printed under the tool. In the modern scheme μπ is b at the start or end of a word and mp inside it. The output is a mapping result, not a certification of the spelling a particular name must use on an official document.

How do I type th, ch and ps?

As they sound. th gives θ, ch or kh gives χ, ph or f gives φ, ps gives ψ, x or ks gives ξ, ou gives ου, mp gives μπ, nt gives ντ and gk gives γκ. Pairs are matched before single letters, and an h group beats the pair in front of it, so Anthony is Ανθονυ and never Αντχονυ, and Memphis is Μεμφις.

What happens to accents?

Going into Greek, none are added: kalimera comes out καλημερα rather than καλημέρα, because the Latin spelling does not say where the stress falls. Coming out of Greek, the tonos is dropped, so χαρά is chara. On the ancient page the marks that change the sound are kept: a rough breathing becomes an h and an iota subscript becomes an i, so ἡμέρα is hēmera and ᾠδή is ōidē.

Why does kalimera come out with an η?

Because Greek writes that one sound five ways, ι, η, υ, ει and οι, and the Latin letters cannot say which one a word takes. The letters alone write ι, which is right far more often than not, and about forty common Greek words whose spelling the letters would get wrong are held in a list and used when the whole word matches: καλημερα, Αθηνα, ευχαριστω, Κρητη. The tool says on screen whenever one of them fired, and any word outside the list is spelled straight from its letters.

Does a word-final s really change letter?

Yes, and it is the giveaway that a page was done by hand. Greek writes σ everywhere except at the end of a word, where it writes ς: kosmos is κοσμος, with σ in the middle and ς at the end, and Christos is Χριστος. Capitals have no final form, so ALEXANDROS is ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ.

Is anything uploaded?

No. Conversion runs in this browser, with no account or upload. Each input supports up to 20,000 characters; longer passages need separate passes. Explicit text, scheme, direction and case edits are saved in local browser storage when it is available. Opening a page or preset does not overwrite the saved draft. Blocked storage and clipboard access do not prevent the conversion from working.

Can I convert English to Greek alphabet letters?

Yes. Enter Latin letters and choose English to Greek. The result follows letter and digraph mappings: Marina becomes Μαρινα, th becomes θ, and ps becomes ψ. Choose As typed, Upper or Lower for case. This gives Greek characters rather than the Greek meaning of English words. Accents are not inferred, and names can have more than one spelling.

How do I transliterate Greek to English or Latin letters?

Choose Greek to English and Modern. Greek text such as χαρά becomes chara and Θεσσαλονίκη becomes Thessaloniki. The direction label refers to Latin-script output; it does not translate Greek vocabulary into English. ELOT 743 supplies the modern letter convention, including contextual av/af and ev/ef pairs. The table shows the mapping applied.

Which Latin characters are converted into Greek?

The forward converter recognizes A–Z and the macron vowels ā, ē, ī, ō and ū, including uppercase and decomposed macron forms. In the ancient scheme ē and ō distinguish η and ω. Punctuation, numbers and unsupported letters are carried through. The modern scheme also has a small, disclosed list of common Greek spellings; Latin letters alone cannot reconstruct every Greek vowel spelling.

English to Greek Transliteration

Convert English or Latin-letter writing into the Greek alphabet, or transliterate Greek into Latin letters. Type Marina to get Μαρινα, or choose Greek to English and paste Θεσσαλονίκη to get Thessaloniki under the modern ELOT 743 scheme. Digraphs and final sigma are handled as you type. The tool names its scheme, lists the digraphs and special letters applied, and shows the complete mapping table. Use the existing ancient Greek page for ē, ō, breathings and iota subscripts. This is letter conversion, not word translation: it does not turn an English sentence into a Greek sentence with the same meaning.

The direction changes the alphabet, not the word meaning. English to Greek accepts Latin lettering; Greek to English returns Latin lettering.

Englishtype or paste

Greekmodern scheme

The transliteration appears here as you type.

Both directionsThe scheme is namedDigraphs and final sigmaNothing is uploaded

Direction

Scheme

Case

Show the map

ELOT 743, the standard used for Greek passports. The pairs and special letters it applies are listed with the result, and the full table is under the tool.

Worked examples

DigraphSophia
Σοφια · ph → φ
Final sigmaChristos
Χριστος · ch → χ, final s → ς
Greek back to Latinευχαριστώ
efcharisto · ευ → ef before a voiceless sound, χ → ch

The modern mapping table

ELOT 743, the standard used for Greek passports. This is a letter mapping, not a certified name spelling. The Latin column is what a Greek letter becomes, and the note says what to type to get it.

Greek	Latin	Note
α	a
β	v	the b sound is written μπ
γ	g
δ	d
ε	e
ζ	z
η	i	sounds the same as ι and υ
θ	th
ι	i	what a typed i becomes
κ	k	c and q are read as k
λ	l
μ	m
ν	n
ξ	x	type x or ks
ο	o
π	p
ρ	r
σ	s	anywhere but the end of a word
ς	s	only at the end of a word
τ	t
υ	y	type y
φ	f	type f or ph
χ	ch	type ch, kh or h
ψ	ps
ω	o	type w for ω
αι	ai
αυ	av, af	af before θ κ ξ π σ τ φ χ ψ
ει	ei
ευ	ev, ef	ef before θ κ ξ π σ τ φ χ ψ
οι	oi
ου	ou	a typed u becomes ου
γγ	ng	type gg or ng
γκ	gk
μπ	b, mp	b at the start or end of a word, mp inside one
ντ	nt
τζ	tz	a typed j becomes τζ
τσ	ts

A stated scheme, applied exactly. Letter by letter transliteration under the scheme named on the page, in both directions. It cannot know which spelling a particular name or dialect uses where the conventions differ, so the mapping table is shown under the tool.

The Greek alphabet in ELOT 743

Every letter, digraph and pair the modern scheme uses, in both directions. These rows are generated from the tool's own table, so the page cannot disagree with what you get when you type.

Greek	Latin	Note
α	a
β	v	the b sound is written μπ
γ	g
δ	d
ε	e
ζ	z
η	i	sounds the same as ι and υ
θ	th
ι	i	what a typed i becomes
κ	k	c and q are read as k
λ	l
μ	m
ν	n
ξ	x	type x or ks
ο	o
π	p
ρ	r
σ	s	anywhere but the end of a word
ς	s	only at the end of a word
τ	t
υ	y	type y
φ	f	type f or ph
χ	ch	type ch, kh or h
ψ	ps
ω	o	type w for ω
αι	ai
αυ	av, af	af before θ κ ξ π σ τ φ χ ψ, and at a word boundary
ει	ei
ευ	ev, ef	ef before θ κ ξ π σ τ φ χ ψ, and at a word boundary
οι	oi
ου	ou	a typed u becomes ου
γγ	ng	type gg or ng
γκ	gk
μπ	b, mp	b at the start or end of a word, mp inside one
ντ	nt
τζ	tz	a typed j becomes τζ
τσ	ts

Common questions

What is the difference between transliteration and translation?: Transliteration swaps the letters and keeps the word: kalimera becomes καλημερα, the same word written in the Greek alphabet. Translation would give you the meaning, good morning. This page only does letters, in both directions, so an English name like Marina comes back as Μαρινα rather than as a Greek word that means something similar.
Which transliteration scheme does it use?: Modern Greek uses ELOT 743, the standard behind Greek passports: η is i, β is v, φ is f, χ is ch, ω is o, and αυ is av or af depending on the sound after it. The ancient page uses the classical scheme instead, where η is ē, β is b, φ is ph, a rough breathing is an h and an iota subscript is an i. Whichever is running, its full table is printed under the tool. In the modern scheme μπ is b at the start or end of a word and mp inside it. The output is a mapping result, not a certification of the spelling a particular name must use on an official document.
How do I type th, ch and ps?: As they sound. th gives θ, ch or kh gives χ, ph or f gives φ, ps gives ψ, x or ks gives ξ, ou gives ου, mp gives μπ, nt gives ντ and gk gives γκ. Pairs are matched before single letters, and an h group beats the pair in front of it, so Anthony is Ανθονυ and never Αντχονυ, and Memphis is Μεμφις.
What happens to accents?: Going into Greek, none are added: kalimera comes out καλημερα rather than καλημέρα, because the Latin spelling does not say where the stress falls. Coming out of Greek, the tonos is dropped, so χαρά is chara. On the ancient page the marks that change the sound are kept: a rough breathing becomes an h and an iota subscript becomes an i, so ἡμέρα is hēmera and ᾠδή is ōidē.
Why does kalimera come out with an η?: Because Greek writes that one sound five ways, ι, η, υ, ει and οι, and the Latin letters cannot say which one a word takes. The letters alone write ι, which is right far more often than not, and about forty common Greek words whose spelling the letters would get wrong are held in a list and used when the whole word matches: καλημερα, Αθηνα, ευχαριστω, Κρητη. The tool says on screen whenever one of them fired, and any word outside the list is spelled straight from its letters.
Does a word-final s really change letter?: Yes, and it is the giveaway that a page was done by hand. Greek writes σ everywhere except at the end of a word, where it writes ς: kosmos is κοσμος, with σ in the middle and ς at the end, and Christos is Χριστος. Capitals have no final form, so ALEXANDROS is ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ.
Is anything uploaded?: No. Conversion runs in this browser, with no account or upload. Each input supports up to 20,000 characters; longer passages need separate passes. Explicit text, scheme, direction and case edits are saved in local browser storage when it is available. Opening a page or preset does not overwrite the saved draft. Blocked storage and clipboard access do not prevent the conversion from working.
Can I convert English to Greek alphabet letters?: Yes. Enter Latin letters and choose English to Greek. The result follows letter and digraph mappings: Marina becomes Μαρινα, th becomes θ, and ps becomes ψ. Choose As typed, Upper or Lower for case. This gives Greek characters rather than the Greek meaning of English words. Accents are not inferred, and names can have more than one spelling.
How do I transliterate Greek to English or Latin letters?: Choose Greek to English and Modern. Greek text such as χαρά becomes chara and Θεσσαλονίκη becomes Thessaloniki. The direction label refers to Latin-script output; it does not translate Greek vocabulary into English. ELOT 743 supplies the modern letter convention, including contextual av/af and ev/ef pairs. The table shows the mapping applied.
Which Latin characters are converted into Greek?: The forward converter recognizes A–Z and the macron vowels ā, ē, ī, ō and ū, including uppercase and decomposed macron forms. In the ancient scheme ē and ō distinguish η and ω. Punctuation, numbers and unsupported letters are carried through. The modern scheme also has a small, disclosed list of common Greek spellings; Latin letters alone cannot reconstruct every Greek vowel spelling.

Letter by letter transliteration under the scheme named on the page, in both directions. It cannot know which spelling a particular name or dialect uses where the conventions differ, so the mapping table is shown under the tool.