Armenian surnames and their origin

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

Armenians are a very ancient people, the fate of which befell a lot of troubles. Numerous ups and downs that accompanied them led to a significant dispersion of the ethnic group. As a result, there are Armenian diasporas in almost all countries. In this article we will touch on such a topic as Armenian surnames. Let's discuss their origin, features, and give a short list of examples.

Ancient Armenian onomastics

In Armenian onomastics, a surname means a family name. It is called "azganun". Such surnames appeared relatively recently. Until the late Middle Ages, generic names did not exist. In order to distinguish people of the same name from each other, Armenian surnames were not required. As in the entire Eastern world, they resorted to the designation of something like a Russian patronymic, but they did not mention their father, but their grandfather in it. That is, in fact, the full names of the Armenians sounded like “Garnik, the grandson of Aram”, for example. But this was an official address, but in everyday life they often managed with a nickname. For example, "GarnikAmayak", which means "Lame Garnik". Obviously, the nickname most often came from some recognizable trait or feature of a person.

Origin of surnames

For the first time, Armenian surnames were required when the demographic situation improved dramatically, and with it, emigrants also increased. The movement of people from place to place necessitated the creation of stable nicknames that would apply not only to a person, but also to his entire family and descendants. This is how Armenian surnames gradually developed from nicknames.

Features of old surnames

In addition to the first surnames, the Armenians used to add to them an indication of the place from which the person came. For example, Anania Tatevatsi or Grigor Shirakatsi are vivid examples of such names, to which a geographical indication of a person’s homeland is attached. Sometimes, however, a different approach was used. Namely, a person was determined by the nature of his professional activity. For example, Mkrtich Magistros.

Parallels in the world

It is worth saying that this process among the Armenians was not unique. Almost all peoples had a similar scheme for the formation of surnames. Well, for example, the Russian surnames "Novgorodtsev" and "Kazantsev" clearly testify to the historical homeland of the carriers. And the professional affiliation of the founder of the surname is given out by such surnames as "Kuznetsov" or "Warriors".

Varieties of Armenian surnames

In the late Middle Ages, steel alsoappear noble aristocratic families in the relevant circles. Such are, for example, the beautiful Armenian surnames Mamikonyan and Amatuni. When they were used in speech, they were preceded by the particle “azg”, which means “kind”. The second option is the "tun" particle. Therefore, such a surname sounded like “Azg Mamikonyan” or “Tun Amatuni”. Over time, the same family names began to appear among artisans, and even among peasants. In addition to the already mentioned professions, personal characteristics and geography of settlement, indications of character traits also began to appear in the surnames. For example, a cunning person could be awarded the surname "Chakhatyan", which means "fox".

But still, the most common Armenian surnames come from the personal names of the founders of the clan. And in order to make a surname out of a name, the Armenians simply added one or another traditional suffix to the word. Most often they were "yan", "yants", "unts", "uni", "onts", "ents". Of these, “yan” is the particle that most often contains Armenian surnames. Male and female surnames did not differ. In itself, this suffix is the result of the reduction of the suffix "yants", meaning simply belonging to the genus. That is, the surname "Abazyan" said that its bearer comes from a kind of person named Abaz.

Nakharar Armenian names and surnames stood out against the general background. For example, the suffix "uni" was attached to the latter. As for the suffixes "enz", "onts" and "unts", they are most often found in Zangezur.

Nextevolution

For us, it is most relevant to note the Russification of a number of Armenian surnames. This process was launched when systematic population censuses began, and then total passportization. In the course of this, many Armenian surnames, both male and female, dropped their traditional endings. Sometimes this happened due to the mistake of an ignorant copyist. Sometimes this was done deliberately.

If you study Armenian surnames more deeply, you can make sure that they did not appear from scratch. Each of them has a unique and interesting story, in which certain stages of development, factors of influence, guiding principles, and so on can be distinguished. This is what professional onomastics does.

About the list of Armenian surnames

Armenian surnames, the list of which will be given below, are not even the tip of the iceberg, but just a drop in the ocean. In fact, there are many of these surnames, because in the process of resettlement, the Armenian diasporas created more and more new variants of their surnames. Therefore, one should not be surprised that a good half of them, if not the bulk, are Armenianized roots from other languages - Turkish, Greek and many others.

Armenian last names: list

• Avazyan. Means "replacement".
• Aganjanyan. This surname consists of two Turkic roots meaning "soul" and "master".
• Agayan. Just "Mr."
• Adilyan. It is of Arabic origin. Among the Arabs, it is the epithet of the ruler,fair.
• Arazyan. It comes from an Azerbaijani word that can be translated as “bliss, happiness.”
• Aramyan. Means "peace" and "consolation".
• Arzuyan. Persian surname with the meaning "dream", "hope".
• Asadyan. "Happiest".
• Asgaryan. "Junior".
• Afsarian. It comes from a word that means something like a crown or crown, which served in the East as the headdress of a ruler.
• Arshadyan. This surname is translated as "senior".
• Arshakyan. Derived from an ancient Iranian word meaning "courage".
• Hakhverdiyan. The same as the Russian surname Bogdanov, that is, “given by God.”
• Azarian. This surname is translated by the word "fire".
• Akhadyan. Surname of Arabic origin meaning "the only one".
• Ashrafyan. Another Arabic surname. But this time it means "most noble".
• Ayazyan. This surname comes from the word for a cool light breeze.

• Arslanyan. Translated as "lion".
• Altunyan. This surname came to the Armenian language from the ancient Turkic. It means "gold".
• Azizyan. From the word "Aziz", which translates as "great".
• Azadyan. An ancient surname that literally translates as "free", alluding to the social position in a feudal society.
• Atayan. It comes from the Turkic word "Ata". It means either a father, or a saint, a righteous mentor, or simplyolder person.
• Abdalbekyan. A complex compound name, the general meaning of which is conveyed by the expression "possessing power."
• Garakhanyan. This is the surname of the noble houses. She means "great ruler".
• Kagramanyan. In Persian, this surname could be translated as "lord" or "hero".
• Kalantaryan. A surname with a religious meaning associated with the Islamization of part of the Armenians. She means a hermit, a dervish who spends his life wandering around the world.
• Kocharyan. Means "nomad".
• Khosrovyan. The meaning of this surname can be roughly conveyed by the words "good fame" or "good news", or even "good reputation".
• Khudaverdiyan. Another variation of the surname with the meaning "given by God".
• Shirinyan. Literally means "sweet".
• Yuzbashnyan. Surname, probably originating from a military environment. Consists of two roots - "hundred" and "head". Literally translated as "hundred-headed". Apparently, hints at the title of centurion.
• Babayan. "Baba" is a respectful address to the father.
• Baguiryan. From the Azerbaijani language, this surname should be translated as “studying” or “comprehending the doctrine.”
• Bagramyan. Translated into Russian as "victorious".
• Bashkhiyan. This surname comes from the word "teaching", and, accordingly, means "teacher".