User:Economos

Economos (English)

Oikonomou (Greek)   "Oi" in Greek is pronounced as a long E.

Oikon (English = ēcon) means house in classical Greek. The original meaning of Oikonomou was a home owner.

Oikonomou evolved from home owner to estate manager. Somebody who was responsible for all resources on the estate, a steward. Oikonomou was a medieval Eastern Roman title for somebody who was in charge of a project or institution. It is still used by the Greek Orthodox church. Hence the word economy means the management of resources. Since the proper management of resources would use the least amount, economy has also taken on the meaning of frugality.

Ever since the creation of currency, economic resources have been translated into and confused with money. Wealth is usually measured more in terms of money rather than what the money will buy or how much tangible assets we have accumulated.. We often talk about how much money we have in the bank, not what it will buy or what we own. We often forget that money and tangible assets are not the same thing. As a result, Oikonomou has evolved from a manager of resources, to a manager of money, a treasurer.

The "mou" ending connotes a sense of belonging. Greek names ending in "ou" are generally reserved for female members of a family. For example, the female members of a family named Mazarakos would have the last name Mazarakou. However, Oikonomou is an exception to this rule because the Oikonomou contains the sense of belonging/cartaker. Unfortunately, the officials at Ellis Island didn’t always appreciate the fine points of Greek grammar and sometimes changed the ending to "os" upon arrival in America. In the United States there are about an equal number of Economos and Economou, but in Greek they are the same name.