The real reason behind the absurd "name dispute" is the ethnic Macedonians living in Northern Greece. Back in 1995 Konstantin Micotakis publicly admitted that Greece doesn't have issue with Macedonia's name, but was very bothered by as he said:  "They  [Macedonian Government] insist on protecting their minority" What Micotakis meant, was the Macedonian Government repeated requests to the Greek Authorities to stop abusing the ethnic Macedonians living in Greece, who to this day are not permitted to speak Macedonian and are followed by the Greek secret service, reminiscing of Stalin era policing.

But, don't take our word for it, read the HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT on Ethnic Macedonians in Greece.

below are samples from the report:

"The Greek government views the term "Macedonian" as a geographic term that describes all Greek citizens living in the Macedonian region in northern Greece. The government denies the assertions of the ethnic Macedonians in Greece that they are are a minority group; officials refer to them as "Slavophone Greeks" or "bilinguals." - Human Rights Watch

" Before  World  War  I,  Macedonians  were  the  largest  ethnic  group  in  Aegean  Macedonia " - Human Rights Watch