Why do many cities and islands in Greece and Cyprus have different anglicised names in English?

<h3>Why do many cities and islands in Greece and Cyprus have different anglicised names in English?</h3>

I have noticed that many major cities and islands in Greece and Cyprus have anglicised versions. For example:
Athens instead of Athina
Salonica instead of Thessaloniki
Nicosia instead of Lefkosia
Famagusta instead of Ammochostos
Corfu instead of Kerkyra
Crete instead of Kriti

The list is endless. Why didn't they just call the capital 'Athina' instead of changing it to 'Athens'?



<strong>Cyprus best answer:</strong>
<p><i>Answer by airpole</i><br/>The answer is very simple I'm afraid. British being lazy to pronounce words that do not fit to their liking are easy to change the names to what seems fit for them.
For Kerkyra where I come from, the word Corfu has some historical explanations.
According to Wikipedia an explanation is as follows.
The island is steeped in history and perennially connected to the history of Greece from the beginning of Greek mythology. Its Greek name, Kerkyra or Korkyra, is connected to two powerful water symbols: Poseidon, god of the sea and Asopos, an important Greek mainland river.[3] According to myth, Poseidon fell in love with the beautiful nymph Korkyra, daughter of Asopus and river nymph Metope, and abducted her, as was the custom among gods of the era's myths – Zeus himself was a serial offender.[3] Poseidon brought her to the hitherto unnamed island and, in marital bliss, offered her name to the place: Korkyra,[3] which gradually evolved to Kerkyra (Doric).[4] Together, they had a child they called Phaiax, after whom the inhabitants of the island were named: Phaiakes, which was then transliterated via Latin to Phaeacians.
Many centuries ago, during the Venetian occupation he name Coryfo or Koryfo became predominant. A popular explanation is this:
One, is that, the old fortress of the island's city has two tops, Koryfes in Greek , thus the name deriving from that conjuction.Koryfes, Koryfo, Corfu.
The other is that the highest mountain of the island also has two "koryfes". The coherence here too, is obvious.
Later on, 19c, under British rule the name Corfu was the name it was referred to in the official sitings. That was rectified when the Ionian Islands passed to Greek sovereignity and the original ancient name was restored.
However, during the mid 20c, the name Corfu was back in use for the convinience of the foreign visitors.
Athens and Salonica are rather simplified versions of their original names.</p>
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