Onuphrios

Onuphrios is a variant transliteration of a Greek personal name used in late antiquity and medieval periods. In Latin and most modern English texts the form Onuphrius is more common, while Onuphrios appears in some Greek manuscripts and in critical editions of hagiographic works. The name is primarily encountered in religious and historical contexts, and its exact etymology is not firmly established in standard references.

The best-known figure associated with this name is Saint Onuphrius the Great, a 4th-century hermit in the Thebaid who lived as a solitary ascetic in the Egyptian desert. His life appears in various Christian traditions, and he is often depicted in Byzantine and Western art as a long-haired, bare-footed hermit, sometimes with leaves or fruit covering his body as a sign of his ascetic life.

In scholarly literature, Onuphrios may be cited when referring to the original Greek form behind the Latin Onuphrius; otherwise the name is rarely used as a standalone term outside discussions of Saint Onuphrius or related figures. The variant forms have appeared in Orthodox, Catholic, and Byzantine sources, and have influenced the use of related modern given names in Eastern Europe.

See also: Onuphrius (name).