It is the bane of every family historian:  sorting out men with the same name who lived in the same location at the same time, and sometimes married women who had the same given names. For Greek researchers, this issue is exacerbated due to naming traditions which almost always ensure that several men in a village—because they are named after their grandfather–have the identical baptismal name and surname. Fortunately, our naming traditions usually provide the father’s given name as well. Examples:  Nikolaos Stamatakis, of Georgios (Νικολάος Σταματάκης του Γεώργιου) and Nikolaos Stamatakis, of John (Νικολάος Σταματάκης του Ιώαννου). We now know that the father of the first Nikolaos is Georgios and the second is John.

But what happens when we are searching in records where the father’s name is not given? This usually is the case in older documents, such as 1844 or 1872 Voting Lists. One research strategy is to look at the ages of the men as a means of differentiation, but we already know that Greek ages can be notoriously inaccurate and many years off. Another strategy is to pinpoint an exact location, but what about families who moved between villages? Or the cases when a man married a woman, moved to her village and took HER surname thus losing his surname and becoming a “xxx…gamvros” (unusual, but we do see this in names like Stratigamvros). And  to all this, let’s throw in the real possibility of clerical errors—or even misinformation given by the informant.

What then?

I was faced with this exact situation. My research question was:  Which Nikolaos Papagiannakos in Agios Ioannis, Sparta, was the father of my great-grandfather, Panagiotis Nikolaos Papagiannakos?

I consulted several sets of records (Mitroon Arrenon, Voter Lists, Town Registers, Marriage Records) and documented every Nikolaos Papagiannakos, giving each a unique identification number. And I paid careful attention to the names of their sons.

Preliminary Analysis of Papagiannakos Name in Agios Ioannis Records

1. #1783 Nikolaos, born 1789
   Source: 1844 Voter List: N. Papagiannakos, age 55, native, landowner

2. #862  Nikolaos born 1815; his son was Panagiotis Nikolaos GIANNAKOS (as given in Sparta marriage record) b 1841. Source:  1872 & 1873 Voter List  

3. #2798 Nikolaos  born bef 1820; son was Ioannis #2797, b 1845
   Source: Estimated birth year as 25 years before birth of son in 1845

4. #2796 Nikolaos  born bef 1812; son was Ioannis #2795, b 1837 in 1872 Voter list, age 28,
   Source: Estimated birth year as 25 years before birth of son in 1837

5. #2792 Nikolaos born bef 1810; son was Ioannis #2791 b 1835 in 1872 Voter List age 37, in 1873 Voter List age 38
   Source: Estimated birth year as 25 years before birth of son in 1835

6. #348 Nikolaos Panagiotis, b. 1872; son: Panagiotis
   Source: 1898 marriage record; he was age 26

7. #104 Nikolaos  Ioannis, born 1867
   Source: Male Register:  Year: 1867; Line 8: Papagianakos, Nikolaos; father: Ioannis; born 1867  

That’s a total of 7 Nikolaos Papagiannakos’ in Agios Ioannis born between 1789-1867:

• Only two have fathers identified: line 7 has Ioannis; line 6 has Panagiotis 
• Lines 3, 4, 5 have sons named Ioannis
• Lines 2 & 6 have sons named Panagiotis

My research question: which Nikolaos is my great-great grandfather, was answered:  it is line 2, Nikolaos born 1815.

But I got caught up in the records and kept going. I suspected a possible duplication of Ioannis #2797 & Ioannis #2795 in the 1872 & 1873 Voter Lists. Both have Nikolaos as their father; however, the ages were not one year apart. I wondered whether there was a clerical or typographical error in the ages as follows: 

• Ioannis #2795 , worker:  in year 1872 he is age 35 BUT there no Ioannis age 36 in year 1873
• Ioannis #2797, farmer:  in year 1873 he is age 28 BUT there is no Ioannis  age 27 in year 1872

Assuming these were the same person, then Ioannis Nikolaos Papagiannakos in 1872 was either 27 or 35, and in 1873 he was either 28 or 36.

A cousin in Agios Ioannis told me that there were two Papagiannakos families, but no one knew how they were related. I wondered if this was true, and the records proved that theory to be correct. As much as I wanted to sort out the two families, I simply could not do it. I was too invested in trying to “have it all make sense” and I doubted my ability to make correct assumptions. That’s when I asked Greg Kontos to help.

In one hour, he did what I was unable to do: examine the records with a critical eye in a dispassionate manner. He created a chart and allowed the data to reveal the answers:

Greg came to these conclusions (see detailed analysis below): 

• The two Ioannis’ above (#2795 and 2797) were the same person; therefore, their fathers were the same Nikolaos.
• Thus, the Nikolaos’ on lines 1-5 above were merged appropriately, giving us two Nikolaos Papagiannakos’ living in Agios Ioannis during that earlier period, both with sons named Ioannis:

1) Nikolaos, born 1789 and died by the time the 1872-73 Voter Lists were compiled
(found in the 1844 Voter List, line 1102)

2) Nikolaos, born 1815 (found in the 1872 Voter List, line 1925)

Naming patterns raise the possibility that these Nikolaos’ had the same grandfather, Ioannis, but without documentation we cannot make that assertion.

The Nikolaos’ in lines 6 and 7 above were a later generation.

Through this experience, I learned:

1. Follow the records and carefully evaluate every piece of evidence
2. Remove emotion from your analysis!
3. It’s okay to make educated guesses and careful assumptions, but clearly label them as such
4. Know when it’s time to call in the experts, then do it!

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Gregory Kontos, GreekAncestry: Analysis of Nikolaos & Ioannis Nikolaos Papagiannakos Names in Agios Ioannis in 1800’s; March 14, 2022

1844 & 1873/73 Voter List Records Show:

• There are two Ioannis Papagiannakos’, sons of a Nikolaos, living in Agios Ioannis in 1872 and 1873 Voter Lists.
• There were 2 Nikolaos Papagiannakos’ in Agios Ioannis, both with sons named Ioannis. One Nikolaos appears in the 1844 and the other in the 1872 Voter Lists.

In the 1872/3 Voter Lists, there was only one Nikolaos Papagiannakos (birth 1815 according to Voter List) currently living in Agios Ioannis and being eligible to vote.   If there had been another Nikolaos Papagiannakos, he was either:

(1) dead by 1872; or

(2) born after 1851; meaning he was too young to be recorded in the 1872 Voter List, as a man had to be 21 years old to vote in 1872.  

In the 1844 Voter List, 28 years earlier, there was only one Nikolaos Papagiannakos (born abt 1789) living then in Agios Ioannis and being eligible to vote. Since he does not appear in the 1873/3 Lists, we can assume he had died by then.

Conclusion: there were 2 Nikolaos Papagiannakos branches (not more).

The 1872 & 1873 Voter Lists have 2 Ioannis Nikolaos Papagiannakos’ of Agios Ioannis but there was a typographical error:

Ioannis #2795 , worker:  Yr. 1872, image 431, line 1874 is  age 35 BUT no Ioannis  age 36 in Yr 1873

Ioannis #2797, farmer:  Yr 1873, image 481,  line 2061 is age 28 BUT no Ioannis  age 27 in Yr 1872

Based on the information provided, we can assume that these two men were the same person.   I merged these 2 into one, #2797, and amended birth year to: between 1837 and 1845.

Supposition: the 1844 Voter List Nikolaos, #1793, born abt 1789 and died before 1872 could be the father of Ioannis #2791, b. 1835, and Konstantinos #2799, b. 1838.

Supposition: the 1872-73 Voter List Nikolaos, #862, born about 1815 could be the father of Ioannis #2797, b. 1837; Panagiotis #9, b. 1841, and Panagiota #5511, b. 1853.

CONCLUSION:

The two Nikolaos Papagiannakos’ are:

1.            Nikolaos #1793, born 1789 died by 1872/3 (the one in 1844 Voter List)
2.            Nikolaos #862, born 1815 (the one in 1872 Voter List)