Greek Dating in USA - Dating Single Men and Women of Greek Descent

People of Greek descent make up one of the most vibrant communities in the melting pot that is America. Their contribution to society especially in media, politics, hospitality sector and sports is remarkable as are their cultural expressions especially with regard to dating and marriage.

The earliest mention of Greek presence in the North American continent comes from Cabeza da Vaca’s book, La Relacion which describes a Greek named Don Theodoro who came with the Narvaez expedition and landed in Florida in 1528. Yet another source mentions one Juan de Fuca, the Greek captain of a Spanish expedition which in 1592 sailed up the Pacific coast in search of the fabled Northwest passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. His legacy survives as the Strait of Juan de Fuca which today forms the international boundary between United States and Canada. The first group of Greeks to have settled in the country came from Crete, Smyrna and Mari who put down anchor at the New Smyrna Beach in Florida in 1768. But even this colony was unsuccessful and even though the settlers later moved to St Augustine in Florida in 1776, nothing remained to show their presence. The first successful Greek settlement to come up in the United States was in New Orleans, Louisiana in the 1850s. During this time Greek immigration was mostly from Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands and by 1890s there were around 15000 Greeks living in the US.

However the political and economic circumstances of early twentieth century leading to the First World War resulted in Greeks migrating to the US in large numbers. The loss of their homeland to Balkan and Turkish control and later the economic devastation of World War II as well as the Greek Civil War again left no choice for thousands of Greeks to migrate to the US. From 1946 until 1982, approximately 211,000 Greeks emigrated to the United States. However after Greece became part of the European Union in 1981, annual immigration numbers of Greek emigration to US fell below 2000 and in recent years, the flow has been minimal.

Today United States is home to the largest overseas Greek population. This is even higher than Cyprus and UK which despite having a higher percentage of Greek descent population still lags behind US in sheer number. Figures provided by the US Census Bureau estimate that in 2007, there were around 1,380,088 people  of Greek descent living in the United States. The areas with the largest communities of Greek Americans are the New York City metropolitan area, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Baltimore, and Cleveland. However it is Tarpon Springs, Florida that has the largest concentration of Greek Americans in the country with around 11% of its residents claiming to be of Greek descent. Other states with significant numbers of Greek Americans are New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Texas. The communities with largest number of residents who were born in Greece include Tarpon Springs, Twin Lakes and Holiday in Florida, Palos Hills, Lincolnwood and Bedford Park in Illinois, Harbor Isle in New York, Campbell in Ohio and Horse Heaven in WA.

Dating in the Greek American community follows mainstream cultural trends. Singles meet each other through friends, mutual acquaintances and dating resources like dating websites. Young people may hang out in cafes and pubs while more formal dating may include a movie, play or dance followed by dinner. As far as casual dating is concerned, there is little to mark anything out as Greek as different from other cultures.

The importance of the family in an individual’s personal life is perhaps the most important cultural aspect of Greek dating. Traditionally Greek society laid great emphasis on the involvement of the family in personal decisions like matchmaking and marriage. Though arranged marriage has long disappeared among Greek in USA and even in the  country of origin, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings still take adequate interest in who a member of the family may be dating.

Family celebrations like weddings are a great way of singles coming together in Greek society. On these occasions usually the entire clan together with neighbors, business associates and other friends get together with the singles having ample opportunity to check each other out. Other cultural festivals like the Greek Independence Day Parade and Greekfests are celebrated with great enthusiasms where people can sample Greek cuisine, music and dance performed in traditional Greek dress. These again make great opportunities for not only Greek singles to come together but even for non-Greeks to know more about this very colorful and rich culture.

The Church has traditionally played a very important role in Greek society. Most of the Greek Americans are followers of Greek Orthodox Church which observes several religious festivals through the year like the Nativity of Christ, the Annunciation Church and so on. Such celebrations are also ideal opportunities for singles from the community to mingle together, particularly for the religious-minded. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, established in 1921 is the religious organization most closely associated with the Greek American community. It operates the Greek Orthodox Youth of America which is the largest Orthodox Christian youth group in the United States. Other than the Church, there are a number of Greek associations in the United States which work to spread awareness of Greek culture and traditions among its people besides allowing them more scope for mutual social networking. These range from the large and more formal ones like American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association to smaller clubs representing the local regional homeland of Greeks in America like Pan-Macedonian Association, the Pan-Cretan Association and others.

The Internet has also proved to be a useful platform for bringing tougher people of similar cultural background. Websites like usagreeks.com and greekrealm.com are not only great ways for the dissemination of Greek culture but also for wider social networking among Greek singles. In fact sites like greekboston.com can put one in touch with Greeks in a particular area while others like usa.greekreporter.com can keep one up to date with the latest happenings in the country relevant to the Greek community.

Greek dating in USA today does not lay undue emphasis on choice of partners from a particular community, ethnicity or even religion. Rather it is in the importance of family and other signifiers of Greek culture like having a Baklava for dessert or taking a partner to celebrate a Greekfest with the family, that Greek dating reveals its unique flavor.