Name profile

Xenophon

An ancient Greek name meaning approximately “foreign voice.”

Meaning and history

Xenophon is an ancient Greek masculine name combining xenos, “foreigner,” “guest,” or “stranger,” with phōnē, “voice,” giving a sense such as “foreign voice.” Its defining bearer was Xenophon of Athens, a soldier, historian, and student of Socrates whose Anabasis recounts the march of the Ten Thousand. A notable modern bearer was Greek economist and prime minister Xenophon Zolotas. The name retains strong associations with classical history, philosophy, and military writing.