List of kings of Sparta

[4] The kings' firstborn sons, as heirs-apparent, were the only Spartan boys expressly exempt from the Agoge; however, they were allowed to take part if they so wished, and this endowed them with increased prestige when they ascended the throne.

Ancient Greeks named males after their fathers, producing a patronymic with the suffix -id-; for example, the sons of Atreus were the Atreids.

For royal houses, the patronymic was formed from the name of the founder or of an early significant figure of a dynasty.

If the descent was not known or was scantily known, the Greeks made a few standard assumptions based on their cultural ideology.

The Atreidai (Latin Atreidae) belong to the Late Bronze Age, or the Mycenaean Period.

The Spartan kings as Heracleidae claimed descent from Heracles, who through his mother was descended from Perseus.