Where do fraternity names come from?
The word fraternity comes from the Latin word “frater” meaning brother. The word fraternity was created to describe both college organizations of men and women. Both groups were called fraternities because that was the only word that existed during the 1800s. The word sorority comes from the Latin word “soror” meaning sister. In 1882, the Gamma Phi Beta women at Syracuse University began to call themselves a sorority because a professor thought it suited them better. Founded in December 1776, Phi Beta Kappa was a men’s fraternity and was the first college organization to use Greek lettering. They chose the Greek letters “PBK” Phi Beta Kappa because those letters represented their motto (Philosophia Bios Kybernethes) which translates to (Philosophy is the guide to life). Today fraternities pick a Greek motto or 2–3 Greek letters that are important in the fraternity’s values, Interests, etc. Then each of those letters make up the fraternity’s/sorority’s name, for example DKB (ΔΚΒ) would be pronounced Delta Kappa Beta. When writing the letters always write them in the Greek alphabet.
