Panagiotis is a Greek devotional name meaning "all-holy," associated with the Virgin Mary.
Panagiotis is one of the most distinctly Greek names in existence — a five-syllable declaration of faith that translates literally as "all-holy" or "belonging to the All-Holy One." It derives from the Greek prefix pan- (all, every) combined with hagios (holy, sacred), and it is directly connected to the title Panagia — "the All-Holy" — one of the most revered epithets of the Virgin Mary in Orthodox Christianity. To name a son Panagiotis was to place him under the explicit protection of the Theotokos, the mother of God, a profound act of devotion that has been repeated in Greek families for centuries.
The name is inseparable from Greek Orthodox culture. It reaches its name day on August 15th, the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos — one of the most celebrated days in the Orthodox calendar. Across Greek history, prominent bearers have included Panagiotis Kanaris, the revolutionary naval hero who used fireships to destroy Ottoman fleets during the Greek War of Independence in the 1820s, and Panagiotis Tsaldaris, a Prime Minister of Greece in the interwar period.
The name has always signaled a family's depth of Orthodox identity and Greek cultural pride. Outside Greece, Panagiotis presents the classic immigrant-family dilemma: beloved at home, difficult abroad. Most Greek diaspora bearers navigate this by adopting the nickname Panos or, in English-speaking countries, converting to the name Peter (Petros is the more natural Greek equivalent, but the association runs deep). In recent decades, however, a generational turn toward heritage pride has led more young Greek-Americans and Greek-Australians to reclaim Panagiotis in full — a name that demands to be pronounced correctly and carries its culture unapologetically.