# Why are fraternities/sororities always named with either 2 or 3 Greek letters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 18, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954 "2010-03-18T22:54:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Terra1041](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Terra1041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terra1041)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/1 "2010-03-18T22:54:27Z")
I always thought that this naming convention was silly, other than maybe to teach college and university students how to badly mispronounce Greek letters. (For instance, the 2nd letter of the Greek alphabet actually has the sound of the English V, not B which needs a 2-letter combination in Greek.) Where did the custom originate, why is it always 2 or 3 letters instead of 1 or 4 (etc.), and what happens if they run out? I’ve even seen some use other branding like “SigEp” for my school’s branch of Sigma Phi Epsilon. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/2 "2010-03-18T23:36:36Z")
Pretentious = Greek letters. That’s a start. Plus, fraternies were training for pretentious guys to join groups like masons or elks or shriners… Which all make me think of Fred Flintstone’s Order of the Water Buffalo… ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/3 "2010-03-18T23:42:36Z")
> [@Terra1041](#): > > I always thought that this naming convention was silly, other than maybe to teach college and university students how to badly mispronounce Greek letters. (For instance, the 2nd letter of the Greek alphabet actually has the sound of the English V, not B which needs a 2-letter combination in Greek.) Where did the custom originate, why is it always 2 or 3 letters instead of 1 or 4 (etc.), and what happens if they run out? > > I’ve even seen some use other branding like “SigEp” for my school’s branch of Sigma Phi Epsilon. Yes currently the b sound is transliterated as mu pi and beta currently has a v sound, but classically it had a b sound. Also delta now sounds like the th in then rather than a D. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/4 "2010-03-19T00:33:36Z")
The tradition of Greek-letter college societies was started by [Phi Betta Kappa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_Beta_Kappa), which isn’t even really a fraternity, but an honor society. All the subsequently-formed organizations copied that naming tradition, except when they didn’t, such as the Secret Societies on some Ivy League campuses, like Skull & Bones, etc. ΦΒΚ stands for “Φιλοσοφία Βίου Κυβερνήτης.” Why Greek? Because that was the language of classical scholarship, until those pesky Christians took over. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/5 "2010-03-19T01:07:18Z")
There are a few [men’s or woment’s collegiate social] fraternities that don’t use two or three Greek initials including [Acacia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_Fraternity) and [FarmHouse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FarmHouse). ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/6 "2010-03-19T01:17:11Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > ΦΒΚ stands for “Φιλοσοφία Βίου Κυβερνήτης.” Why Greek? Because that was the language of classical scholarship It’s not just that Greek was the language of classical scholarship, but more the fact that in the 19th century, when most of these clubs got their start, just about everyone who made it to college had to study Greek at some time or other. Or even just made it through HS sometimes; in the early years of Los Angeles High School every student had to take Greek. > [@](#): > > until those pesky Christians took over. …and kept right on using Greek to write the New Testament and other early Christian tracts. Though it must be said it was presumably quite rare for anyone in the 1800s to use Greek to read the Bible, unless they were studying in one of the better divinity programs. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/7 "2010-03-19T01:20:20Z")
> [@Terra1041](#): > > I’ve even seen some use other branding like “SigEp” for my school’s branch of Sigma Phi Epsilon. This is quite common–Delta Kappa Epsilon is Deke, and I’m sure there are others. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/8 "2010-03-19T01:27:18Z")
The first social fraternities as we know the system were created at Union College in Schenectady, NY, with Kappa Alpha (1825), Sigma Phi (1827), Delta Phi (1827)\*, Psi Upsilon (1833), Chi Psi (1841), and Theta Delta Chi (1847). The names were chosen for the same reason as Phi Beta Kappa – they were the initials of the first words of a Greek phrase that described their goals. Kappa Alpha – the first, and still in existence – was originally a debating society, but soon added a social aspect. The idea of caught on. Kappa Alpha added branches at other colleges. Later, women’s colleges joined in. But since the first fraternities used Greek letter names, later ones followed suit; it made it clear what they were. \*These three are often referred to as “The Union Triad.” ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/9 "2010-03-19T02:07:25Z")
> [@Billdo](#): > > There are a few [men’s or woment’s collegiate social] fraternities that don’t use two or three Greek initials including [Acacia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_Fraternity) and [FarmHouse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FarmHouse). RSE - Rensselaer Society of Engineers (RPI, Troy, NY) 3 Letters, but representing English words. I didn’t belong, and I’m not sure whether being a ‘Society’ disqualifies it from being a ‘Fraternity’ - but it sure looked like a fraternity on campus. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/10 "2010-03-19T10:42:53Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > It’s not just that Greek was the language of classical scholarship, but more the fact that in the 19th century, when most of these clubs got their start, just about everyone who made it to college had to study Greek at some time or other. Or even just made it through HS sometimes; in the early years of Los Angeles High School every student had to take Greek…and kept right on using Greek to write the New Testament and other early Christian tracts. Though it must be said it was presumably quite rare for anyone in the 1800s to use Greek to read the Bible, unless they were studying in one of the better divinity programs. Yes, but in the middle ages in Christian western Europe, which was where the precursors of modern universities emerged, hardly anyone could read Greek at all, and Latin was the universal language of scholarship. Surely it was the lingering effects of this tradition that led to Latin still being considered fundamental in high schools in the 19th century, and often still taught as an option in the 20th. (Both I and my wife studied Latin in high school in the 1960s and '70s, me in an English state grammar school, and she at a public school in Los Angeles.) It is my impression that Greek was never anywhere near as widely taught at high school level as Latin. I find your claim about Los Angeles High surprising, and I suspect it was very unusual. It seems to me that the use of Greek by these organizations (no real equivalents of which exist outside the USA, so far as I am aware) was probably connected with some sort of 19th century American movement to revive Greek and the reputation of the ancient Greeks vis-a-vis the Romans, and to replace the study of the more traditional Latin with that of Greek. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/11 "2010-03-19T13:53:56Z")
Some groups now turn the system around and create Greek names from English. There are several science fiction groups, student and other, that call themselves Psi Phi, for sci-fi. Sigma Epsilon Xi is a joke fraternity backformed from SEX. There’s a website for it. Safe for work. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/12 "2010-03-19T14:02:49Z")
> [@UncleFred](#): > > RSE - Rensselaer Society of Engineers (RPI, Troy, NY) 3 Letters, but representing English words. I didn’t belong, and I’m not sure whether being a ‘Society’ disqualifies it from being a ‘Fraternity’ - but it sure looked like a fraternity on campus. You took the one I was going to say! You’re an RPI alum too, **UncleFred**? Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like there are a lot of us on this board. ANd yes, RSE is a full-fledged local fraternity (and they even allow non-engineers to join, how nice of them! 😛 (and IIRC, either my senior year or right after I graduated there was a woman who joined. They were never originally chartered as a coed fraternity, but they also weren’t chartered as a men’s only fraternity, so they were like "well…it doesn’ say we can’t, so why not?)) I wasn’t a member either, but the fraternity I am a member of (Alpha Chi Rho (AXP)) was always good friends with the. We often held joint social and charitable events. Or, also: > [@md2000](#): > > Pretentious = Greek letters. That’s a start. > > Plus, fraternies were training for pretentious guys to join groups like masons or elks or shriners… Which all make me think of Fred Flintstone’s Order of the Water Buffalo… Please don’t associate whatever personal experiences and prejudices you may have about some fraternities with all fraternitries in general. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/13 "2010-03-19T14:09:55Z")
Wikipedia has a [list of fraternities and sororities](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_fraternities_and_sororities) and it mentions three that don’t have Greek letters (Triangle and the aforementioned Acacia and Farmhouse). Back in my college days, UVa. had two others, St.Elmo’s and another St. someone or other (although at least one of these had an alternate name with Greek letters). But, tradition is a pretty big draw for these fellows. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/14 "2010-03-19T15:05:46Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Sigma Epsilon Xi is a joke fraternity backformed from SEX. There’s a website for it. Safe for work. When I was in college, a comic strip in the student paper featured Sigma Delta Rho – Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/15 "2010-03-19T15:27:50Z")
The puns on fraternities go back forever. I Felta Thigh. Delta Handa Poker. Tappa Halfa Keg. The Harvard Lampoon was founded in 1876 and I bet you could find some of these in the first issue. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/16 "2010-03-19T15:42:39Z")
In college, we used to say that we were members of Gamma Delta Iota (God Damned Independent, or non-fraternity members). ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/17 "2010-03-19T16:22:58Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The puns on fraternities go back forever. I Felta Thigh. Delta Handa Poker. Tappa Halfa Keg. > > The Harvard Lampoon was founded in 1876 and I bet you could find some of these in the first issue. Don’t forget Eata Bitta Pie! ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/18 "2010-03-19T16:30:27Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Sigma Epsilon Xi is a joke fraternity backformed from SEX. There’s a website for it. Safe for work. The International English Honor Society is, unfortunately, ΣΤΔ (Sigma Tau Delta). My friends and I who were members each picked a venereal disease; I was syphilis! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/19 "2010-03-19T16:41:03Z")
Don’t forget the Lambda Lambda Lambda (ΛΛΛ or Tri-Lambs). It’s a real fraternity now. > **[Lambda Lambda Lambda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda_Lambda_Lambda)** > > Lambda Lambda Lambda (ΛΛΛ or Tri-Lambs) is a national collegiate co-ed social fraternity founded on January 15, 2006 at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut by a small group of students. On April 8, 2017, the Alpha chapter inducted their Upsilon Class, bringing their historical numbering to 157. > Inspired by the movies Revenge of the Nerds and National Lampoon's Animal House, Lambda Lambda Lambda is a small co-ed social fraternity, unaffiliated with the Interfraternity and Panhell... At least _Revenge of the Nerds_ inspired something. 😉 [hijack]Were there really black fraternities years ago? In the movie, the Tri-Lambs was a black fraternity [end hijack] ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954/20 "2010-03-19T16:54:18Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Sigma Epsilon Xi is a joke fraternity backformed from SEX. There’s a website for it. Safe for work. Likewise, Lamda Sigma Delta shirts were not uncommon at Grateful Dead shows back in the day. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-fraternities-sororities-always-named-with-either-2-or-3-greek-letters/532954.md?page=2)