The value of Greek personal names to the study of ancient Greek history, language and religion was established as long ago as 1845, in a seminal article by the great French scholar J.-A. Letronne, and has been a recognised feature of classical scholarship ever since. As epigraphical and other documentary evidence (the greatest source of names) accumulated, however, it became increasingly difficult for scholars to gain comprehensive access to it. The British Academy, at the suggestion of Peter Fraser, established the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names project with the aim of fulfilling this need.

1998 was the year of Peter Fraser's 80th birthday, and also approximately the half-way point in the publication of the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names. It seemed, therefore, an appropriate moment to explore how this scholarly resource can now be exploited, in a colloquium in which scholars illustrated the value of name studies in various branches of scholarship.

This colloquium was held at the premises of the British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1, on Saturday July 11th 1998. Its proceedings, edited by E. Matthews and S. Hornblower, were published on 14th December 2000 as Greek Personal Names: Their Value as Evidence by Oxford University Press for the British Academy.