Sotirios

Sotirios descends from soter, the Greek word for savior, a title once applied to Zeus, to Hellenistic kings, and eventually to Christ in the liturgical language of the Eastern church. As a given name it honors that last use, and in Greece it is traditionally bestowed in thanks for a child safely delivered or an illness survived. Four syllables, so-TEE-ree-os, commonly worn down to Sotiris or Sakis. A votive quality lives in the name, the sense of a small silver plaque hung beside an icon. It suits boys born after long waiting, sons who arrive with the weight of a whole family's gratitude already settled on them.