The meaning and origin of the surname Ter-Akop. Origin of Armenian surnames

This question is quite interesting. The fact is that many Armenian noble and princely families used the prefixes “Ter-” (not proven, but in the Union of Armenian Nobles they seemed to equate the descendants of ancient priestly families). In general, the priestly families belonged to a separate class, while the higher clergy was purely from noble princely families, and the lower ones were equated with the nobility - the Aznawakans. There is also a princely prefix “Melik-” that could be worn only by princes, if they do not have this title, then rather by nobles. In general, all Meliks were princes in one way or another, maybe small ones, but princes. The ending "...yants" was given only to the descendants of the nobility, so also, most likely, the nobility or principality.
True, it often happened that “Meliks-” could drop out of the noble class into the merchant class, such as Melik-Murodyan and Melik-Hakobyan. Although their roots are still princely and they are descendants of princes from Karabakh.

Not everything is clear with the prefix “Ter-”, although it is known that it is very ancient and was used by the Armenians as an address to a clergyman (father), and by the Cilicians as an address to nobles (master), but in modern times it has become a prefix for the names of hereditary clergymen , but since the prefix is ancient and was given somewhere before the beginning of the 19th century, it was in the same century that representatives with this prefix took a prominent place in the service and have long been almost equated with the nobility, like the clergy. Some of the prominent representatives are the “princes” Ter-Khachatryans (in the male line the family died out, the descendants live in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, although the family is not at all princely, maybe noble), Ter-Asaturovs (Ter-Asaturyans), Ter-Gukasyans (Tergukasovs) and Ter -Sukiasyans (Sukiasyans, Sukiantsy, Sukiasyans), Ter-Yasayants (possibly distorted from Yesayants, Isayants), many of them, in addition to recognizing the status of arzavur-aznvakans (Georgian “aznauri”), served the nobility of the Russian Empire in military and public service. As a rule, local nobility in a certain territory - Lori, Kars, Tiflis, Erivan, Elizavetpol provinces. There are exceptions: the princely family of Ter-Hovakimyan, descendants of Archpriest Prince Arsen Bagratuni (Ter-Hovakimyan). But there can also be namesakes.

The same is the case with the ending in “...yants”; without exception, they belonged to the upper classes in pre-revolutionary Armenia. The same with the ending in “...uni”, without exception, the ancient princely (royal) families - Bagratuni, Rshtuni, Arshakuni, Artsruni, Arartuni (the family died out), Aikazuni (the family died out in 331 BC).

But that’s not all, among simple Armenian surnames there are also noble ones, such as, for example, the Mirzabekyans (Mirzabekovs), the surname is translated Mirza - prince, Bek - junior prince (the title was given to the youngest princely sons in the family), from which it follows that in there was a younger princely son in the family, who became the founder of the family. But you also need to be careful with these surnames during the times of Persian rule; Islamized names were common among Armenians: Mirzabek, Amirkhan, Mirzakhan (so, in addition to princes, they may also be descendants of peasants).
Quite famous are those who were in Russian service - the Argutinsky-Dolgorukov princes (Argutyans, Argutians and possibly the Aratyunyans, after the revolution), the Arapetov princes (Ayrapetyans), the Madatov princes (Madatyans), the Akhverdovs (Akhverdyans, presumably from the Kolontar dynasty, descendants of the Lori prince Melik-Dai), etc. very many among the Russian and Georgian nobility; Russified families - nobles Ivanovs (descendants of the Ovanesyan brothers, diplomats under Peter I), Lazarevs (Lazaryans), Serebryakovs (descendants of Admiral Kazar Markosovich (Lazar Markovich) Artsatogorodzyan (translated from Armenian - silversmith)), etc. and so on.
There are families unrecognized among the nobility, since they received them from foreign rulers - the Minasyans (descendants of Mirza Minasyan), the surname is common, there may be descendants of both nobles and peasants with this surname. I would especially like to highlight the family of descendants of the famous Mameluke and adjutant of Napoleon I Bonaparte - Yanis Petroza (Hovhannes Petrosyan), a family from Karabakh received nobility from Napoleon, but later the title was lost, his direct descendants now live in the city of Shushi under the surname Petrosyan or Ionesyan (Hovhannesyan ???).
So the only thing that can help is the prefixes and endings - “Melik-”, “Ter-”, “...yants” and “...uni”. With surnames without these prefixes, the situation is more complicated and you can only believe in the family tree, documents, or, in extreme cases, family legends. Not to mention descendants through female lines...

Article by Prince Sergei Zhagat-Dadian.

I) Akhverdovs (Akhverdyans)- an ancient and noble Armenian noble family of the Tiflis province, according to some information, originates from the Lori prince Melik-Dai in the 16th century. They entered Russian service during the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna, in 1739. The first of the Akhverdovs in Russia was Isaiah Vasilyevich, who rose to the rank of captain and was dismissed as a major in 1753. The eldest of his two sons, Nikolai Isaevich Akhverdov, is a famous statesman.
The genus has several branches:
1) A well-known branch of the Akhverdovs in Russian service, descendants of Isai Vasilyevich.
From family archives* this branch is described as follows: “The Akhverdovs are a Russian noble family, originating from Armenia, who arrived in Moscow around 1739 and accepted citizenship. The genus is included in the genealogical book of the Moscow and Voronezh provinces.

Akhverdov Fedor Isaevich (1774-1820). General, commanded the artillery of the Caucasian Corps. Wife Praskovya Nikolaevna Arsenyeva. Daughters: Nina (1805-1828), husband since 1824 Golitsyn Andrey Borisovich (1791-1861); Sophia (1810-1830) husband, infantry general Nikolai Nikolaevich Muravyov-Karsky.
Akhverdova Nina Fedorovna (1805-1828), Kursk. Husband since 1824 Golitsyn Andrei Borisovich (1791-1861),” through Prince Golitsyn he is related to the Davydovs and through them to me.
Among the descendants of Isai Vasilyevich, the Minister of War of Armenia Akhverdov (Akhverdyan) Ivan Vasilievich (1873-1931) also stands out.
Armenian-Gregorian religion. From the nobles. He received his education in the 1st Cadet Corps. Entered service on September 1, 1890. Graduated from the 1st Pavlovsk Military School (1892). Released to the 147th Infantry. Samara regiment. Second lieutenant (08/04/1892). Lieutenant (art. 08/05/1895). Staff Captain (05/06/1900). Graduated from the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff (1902; 1st category). The camp training was served in the St. Petersburg Military District. The qualified command of the company was served by the 147th infantry. Samara Regiment (10/17/1902-02/17/1904). Participant in the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Chief officer for special assignments at the headquarters of the 1st Siberian Army. buildings (02/17/1904-06/27/1906). He took part in all the battles of the corps. Lieutenant Colonel (04/02/1906). Staff officer for assignments at the headquarters of the troops of the Semirechensk region. (27.06.1906-09.10.1909). The qualified command of the battalion was served in the 85th infantry. Vyborg Regiment (01.06.-27.09.1909). Art. adjutant of the headquarters of the Turkestan Military District (09.10.1909-23.07.1913). Colonel (art. 04/18/1910). Chief of Staff of the 1st Turkestan Kaz. divisions (from 07/23/1913). World War participant. Commander of the 3rd Finnish Infantry Regiment (from 05/01/1915). Awarded the Order of St. George, 4th class. (VP 02/03/1916) and St. George's weapon (VP 03/02/1916). Promoted to the rank of Major General (between 01.01. and 01.03.1916; Art. 22.10.1915). Chief of Staff of the 2nd Caucasian Cavalry. corps (07/26/1916-02/20/1917). From 20.02 to 24.06.1917 he served as chief of staff of the 7th Caucasus. Arm. Corps (renamed from the 2nd Caucasian Cavalry Corps). In 06.24-10.10.1917 he commanded the 5th Finland. page division. From 10/10/1917 he commanded the 3rd Finland. page division. Minister of War of Armenia (04.1918-03.1919). Then the chief of staff of the Armenian army. Assistant Minister of War (05.1920-11.1921). Lieutenant General of the Armenian Army (1919). An emigrant, he returned to the USSR (according to other sources, he was captured). Served in the Red Army. Then an accountant for Armentorg in Leningrad. Arrested in the Leningrad case (1930). Convicted in 1931.

Awards: Order of St. Anne, 4th class. (1905); St. Stanislaus 3rd Art. with swords and bow (1905); St. Anne 3rd Art. with swords and bow (1905); St. Vladimir 4th Art. with swords and bow (1906); St. Stanislaus 2nd Art. with swords (1906); St. Anne 2nd Art. with swords (1906).

2) The Karabakh family of beks of the Akhverdovs (more likely of the Muslim faith), of which Akhverdov Abdul-Rakhim-bek, a Turkic writer and playwright, is famous.
Abdurragim bey Akhverdov. Genus. in 1870 - in the city of Shusha, where he received his secondary education. At one time he was a member of the State Duma from Gandzhinskaya (formerly Elizavetpolskaya) province, an old teacher, theater figure. Akhverdov acted in Turkic literature as an ideologist of the liberal bourgeoisie. In his drama "The Collapsed Union" he gives a successful picture of the decomposition of the Russian nobility. In a number of stories he shows the life of old times, the types of “former people”. In one of his last works, “Marallarim,” published by the Azerbaijani Giz (Baku, 1927), he draws his material from Soviet reality. Language Bek Akhverdova is distinguished by simplicity and clarity. In his direction, he belongs to the group of Turkic writers united around Molla Nasreddin.

*The document about the Russian branch of the Akhverdov family was taken from the family archive of the family of princes Golitsyn, who are closely related to my great-grandmother Nadezhda Vasilievna Davydova through her mother, Princess Maria Andreevna Golitsyna.

SOME DATA ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF COUNT M.T. LORIS-MELIKOVA.

Much time ago, under the Georgian kingdom, the area of Lori, now part of the Borchalinsky district, Tiflis province, played a rather prominent role in the region. This corner abounded with nobles, among whom were the Armenians Kalantarovs, who bore their surname from their grandfather, who was once a local “kalantar”, which means ruler in Persian. One of these Kalantarovs, named Dai, who enjoyed great honor in society, was awarded the highest title of “melik” among the Armenians. Subsequently, Dai's descendants separated from the rest of the Kalantarovs and began to be called Melikovs. To distinguish themselves from other nobles - the Melikovs, who lived in different areas and were subordinate to the ruling khans, they added the word “loru” to the new surname, i.e. Lorian, and in this way the surname Loris-Melikov was formed. During one Persian raid on Lori, the Kalantarovs and Lora-Melikovs were forced to abandon their homeland and flee with all their goods to the present-day Batumi region. Here they settled in the village of Artvin, but not for long; Frequent raids by Persians and Lezgins forced them to abandon this village and settle in different places. Dai's descendants, the Loru-Melikovs, hid for some time in a huge cave located in a neighboring area, and then moved to Tiflis.

After some time, the rest of the relatives, the Kalantarovs, followed their example. With the establishment of Russian rule in the region, the Kalantarovs returned to Artvin and resumed their homes and households, while the Loru-Melikovs remained in Tiflis. Upon the arrival of Dai’s descendants in Tiflis, they were all approved by the Georgian king in the rank of nobility and given the surname “Loris-Melikov”. The particle “is” in Georgian is the ending of the parent case, so Loris-Melikov in translation means Lori Melikov, and in Armenian Loru-Melikov. Currently, the town of Artvin, inhabited exclusively by Armenians, as reported by the “Artsaganka” correspondent, is divided into two quarters, of which one is called “Kalantarovsky”, and the other is “Dayants” and belongs to the Kalantarovs and Loris-Melikov. Many of the local residents even now do not know about the existence of the Loris-Melikov family and call the members of this family simply Dayants, named Daya. In addition to Artvin, Count Loris-Melikov owns intact the villages of Akory and part of three villages: Chanakhchi, Vornak and Chochkani. All these estates went to him by inheritance and as a dowry. Two years ago, an Armenian church was built in Chochkan at the expense of the late count. The population of these villages always enjoyed the special love of the late count, who fatherly cared for the economic well-being of his fellow countrymen.

II) Serebryakovs (Artsagarodzyans)- an old noble family, according to one version, their ancestor was the Turkish Armenian Artsatagordzyan, a silversmith of the Turkish Sultan who moved to Crimea in the 18th century and received the nobility. According to another, more plausible, descendant of the Artsruni princes. His great-grandson, Russian admiral and hero of the Crimean War 1853-1856 Kazar Markosovich Artsatagorin, took the name and surname of Lazar Markovich Serebryakov (1775-1862). His descendants began to write themselves as Serebryakovs. The Serebryakov family is included in the genealogical book of the St. Petersburg province; they lived in Crimea, where they had land, as well as in the current city of Pushkino near St. Petersburg.

My grandfather Alexander’s cousin was Mikhail Serebryakov, who traced his origins back to Admiral Lazar Markovich Serebryakov; he also continued the work of his great-great-grandfather and was a naval military officer.

III) Zolotarevs (Zolotaryans)- a noble family according to family legends, descended from the Turkish military leader Zolotaryan Bey, according to some information, descended from the family of the Lori princes Argutyans (Argutinsky-Dolgoruky). In the 17th - 18th centuries, his descendants left for Russia, presumably with Archbishop Prince Hovsep Argutyan (Joseph Argutinsky-Dolgoruky). They lived and had land in the Kursk province and the region of the Terek Army. At the moment, the descendants of this family of Zolotarevs (Zolotoryans) are only through the female line.

My grandmother on my father’s side is Tatyana Danilovna Zolotareva, she was born, as far as I know, in Nizhny Novgorod. Her father Danil (Daniil?) Zolotarev, traced his family back to Zolotaryan Bey, a Turkish military leader (XVII century), he or his descendants were one of those who arrived in Novo Nakhichevan, according to genealogist K. Serebrenitsky, they could have originated and been vassals of the prince’s family. Argutyanov. Her ancestors were officers, like her father. Also, her ancestor had a small land of 36 acres of land (a small-scale nobleman). Danil himself was an officer with the rank of ensign (centurion). He served in the Caucasus and was married to an Armenian princess. Presumably from the Argutinsky-Dolgoruky family.

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How to find out a person’s nationality if there is no way to ask him himself? There are several ways: you can listen to the speech and take a closer look at the appearance, trying to identify characteristic features. Another simple but effective method is to analyze the surname. If it ends in “yang”, “an”, “ents”, it is likely that the person you are interested in is Armenian.

Armenian names and surnames

Initially, the inhabitants of this land did not have full names, since there was no need for them. The Armenians lived in small groups and knew each other very well. If there were several people in the village who had the same name, those around them found distinctive characteristics and added them to the family names: according to a similar principle, surnames appeared among many peoples, including Russians.

The origin of Armenian surnames can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when active trade began and craftsmanship was separated from agriculture. In this era, people no longer needed only a nickname. To understand who they were talking about, people, when talking about each other, added to the name the place where the person was from, or his type of activity, or a special trait.

If a craft in a family was passed down from generation to generation, then the young man would certainly inherit the name of his predecessors. Often the name of the authoritative founder of the clan was taken as a basis, and an affiliation suffix was added to it, for example, “uni”, “yang”, “ents”, “onts”, “unz” and others. Thus, the family names of the Armenians constantly developed and gradually turned into modern ones, familiar to the ear, but each has its own meaning.

Why do Armenians have a surname ending in yang?

For ordinary people, full names (in the format to which we are accustomed today) began to appear at the beginning of the 19th century. In the same era one can find the answer to the question, why do Armenians have a surname ending in Yang? This ending is very common for this nationality, although it is borrowed from the Iranian language. This suffix was used to indicate belonging to a particular genus, to express family ties. Ending with “yang”: Aramyan, Margaryan, Kartyashan, Mirzoyan, Baghdasyaran, Arshadyan, Ormanyan and other derivatives of proper names.

The prefix ter in Armenian surnames

This ancient prefix was used until the early 19th century. It was added to the full name of noble Armenians, clergy or nobles (and the former a priori belonged to a separate class and were chosen from noble princely families). The prefix ter is not found in the Armenian surnames of modern representatives, but it can be found among historical characters: for example, Ter-Yasayants, Ter-Asaturovs, Ter-Ovakimyans, Ter-Guksayans.

Do Armenian surnames decline

As linguists note, a flurry of questions about whether declination of Armenian surnames is possible comes to them in the summer or early autumn, when children begin to enroll in schools and students begin to enroll in educational institutions. The exact answer to the question can be found on the Gramota.ru portal or in the proven, reliable Rosenthal reference book.

The rule states that any word is subject to the laws of grammar and must be declined if the final element can be inflected. That is, you can understand whether an Armenian male surname is inclined by the letter of the ending. If it ends with a consonant, it is declined, if it ends with a vowel, it does not. Women's Armenian surnames (like any indeclinable ones) do not change under any circumstances. That is, it should be written like this: “To Armen Muradyan,” but “to Anna Muradyan.”

Armenian Jews - surnames

Jews have lived in Armenia for more than 2,000 years: they once made up a significant part of the urban population and were engaged in trade and crafts. If we talk about Armenian Jews, their surnames are very unique, often derived from the names of biblical characters. For example, Petrosyan, Matevosyan, Tadevosyan, Ghukasyan, Ananyan... The list of Armenian surnames of this variety can be continued indefinitely; in addition, you need to take into account that names could have sounded different earlier, but changed over time.

Armenian male surnames

For those who are not familiar with the language, alphabet and culture of the country, the names of Armenians mean nothing. However, almost each of them has a specific meaning. If you turn to onomastics, you can learn a lot of interesting things. As an example, here are some Armenian male surnames that mean something specific.

So, my first post that is not a copy-paste from a magazine on Pokeliga. And it was thanks to which my blog appeared (as written about in the first blog post).

It all started when one day my friend Zoana, who, like me, is fond of writing fan fiction, asked me: what do the prefixes to the surnames of some characters in this or that work mean? I was also interested in the question, but at first I didn’t really want to delve into it. However, literally a day later I asked myself a question: why do some characters have more than one or two names? The answer to my friend’s question did not give any results, and I finally decided to go online and puzzle myself with these two questions, simultaneously writing down the results of the “research” for her and other interested acquaintances.

Also, in fairness, I will point out that a considerable part of the information presented here was gleaned from the Internet, and together with my own thoughts, it turned out to be a kind of mini-abstract.

Number of names

I decided to start with “my” question - why some characters have one or two names, and some have three, four or more (the longest one I came across was in a story about two Chinese boys, where the poor one was simply called Chong, and the rich man’s name took up a line probably five).

I turned to Mr. Google, and he told me that the tradition of several names today takes place mainly in English-speaking and Catholic countries.

The most obvious is the UK 'naming' system, presented in many books. According to it, according to statistics, all English children traditionally receive two names at birth - a personal name (first name), and a middle name (second name). Currently, the middle name plays the role of an additional distinctive feature, especially for persons who bear widely common first and last names.

The custom of giving a child a middle name, as I found out there, goes back to the tradition of assigning several personal names to a newborn. It is known that, historically, a person’s name had a special meaning, as a rule, indicating the life purpose of the child, and was also associated with the name of God (or another Supreme Patron), on whose patronage and protection the parents counted...

Digressing - at this point I made a slight hesitation and giggled a little at the thought that if someone cannot find the meaning of their life, then perhaps they need to study their name in more detail and act based on it? Or (seriously), on the contrary, you can give your next character a name that will clearly or covertly indicate his purpose (which, by the way, is what some famous authors did, giving the heroes of their works meaningful names and/or surnames).

In addition, as I read when I interrupted my thoughts, one’s importance in society could also depend on one’s name. Thus, often, if the name did not contain the idea of patronage, the bearer was considered to be of low pedigree or insignificant and was not respected.

Several names, as a rule, were given to an important person recognized to perform several glorious deeds - as many as he has names. For example, the emperor, king, prince and other representatives of the nobility could have several names. Depending on the nobility and the number of titles, the full form of the name could be a long chain of names and exalting epithets. For royalty, the main lifetime name was the so-called “throne name,” which officially replaced the name received by the heir to the throne at birth or baptism. In addition, a similar tradition is observed in the Roman Catholic Church, when the elected Pope chooses a name by which he will be known from that moment on.

Of course, the church system of names and denominations is much broader, and can be considered in much more detail (which is only the system “worldly name - church name”), but I am not strong in this and will not go into deep detail.

It should also be noted that the church is traditionally the custodian of such customs. For example, a custom, partially preserved in the already mentioned Catholic Church, when a person often has three names: from birth, from baptism in childhood and from confirmation for entry into the world with the grace of the Holy Spirit.

By the way, at this same stage there was once an additional – “nominal” – social stratification. The problem was that, historically, for each extra name, at one time the church had to be paid.

However, poor people cunned, and this “restriction” was circumvented - partly thanks to this, there is a French name that unites the patronage of all saints - Toussaint.

Of course, for the sake of fairness, I would recall in this regard the saying “seven nannies have a child without an eye”... It’s not for me to decide, of course, although a good story could come out about the fate of a character with that name, whose patrons could not agree on joint patronage. Or maybe there are even such people - I haven’t read many works in my life.

Continuing the story, it is worth noting that middle names can also indicate the type of activity or fate of the person bearing them.

As middle names, both personal names and geographical names, common nouns, etc. can be used. The middle name can be significant “generic” - when a child is called a name that his immediate relatives did not have, but which appears from time to time in family, foreshadowing a person’s role. The name can be “family”: when children are named “in honor” of one of the relatives. Any direct association of a name with an already known bearer certainly connects the beneficiary with the one after whom he or she was named. Although the coincidences and similarities here are, of course, unpredictable. And, often, the more tragic the dissimilarity is perceived in the end. In addition, the surnames of the people in whose honor they are assigned are often used as middle names.

There is no law limiting the number of middle names (or at least I haven’t found any mention of it), but more than four additional middle names, as a rule, are not assigned. However, traditions and rules are often created in order to break them. In fictional worlds, the “legislator” is generally the author, and everything written lies on his conscience.

As an example of several names for a person from the real world, one can recall the fairly famous professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.

Another illustrative - but fictitious - example is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (Joanne Rowling - Harry Potter series).

In addition, I recently learned an interesting fact that in some countries the “gender” of the middle name does not matter. That is, a female name can also be used as the middle name of a man (male character). This happens, as I understand, all from the same fact of naming in honor of the highest patron (patroness in this case). I haven’t come across any examples to the contrary (or don’t remember), but logically, there can also be women with average “masculine” names.

As an example, I only remember Ostap-Suleiman -Bertha Maria-Bender Bey (Ostap Bender, yeah)

On my own behalf, I will add the fact that nothing, in principle, prevents the author of a particular work from coming up with and justifying his own naming system.

For example: “in the world of Randomia, the number four is considered especially sacred and, in order for the child to be happy and successful, parents try to give him four names: the first is personal, the second is after his father or grandfather, the third is in honor of the patron saint and the fourth is in honor of one of great warriors (for boys) or diplomats (for girls) of the state.”

The example was invented absolutely right away, and your fictional tradition can be much more thoughtful and interesting.

I'll move on to the second question.

Family prefixes

A question that my friend Zoana puzzled me with, and that I once asked myself, although I was too lazy to find out what it was all about.

To begin with, the definition of " Family consoles– in some world nominal formulas, components and integral parts of the surname.

Sometimes they indicate aristocratic origin, but not always. They are usually written separately from the main family word, but sometimes they can merge with it.”

At the same time, as I found out for myself from reading, family prefixes differ from country to country and can have different meanings.

I will also note that in this part of the article there was much more copy-paste and excerpts, since this issue has a much closer connection with history and languages, and my non-core education on the topic is unlikely to be enough for a retelling in a more free style.

England

Fitz - "son anyone", distorted fr. Fils de(eg: Fitzgerald, Fitzpatrick) .

Armenia

Ter- ter [տեր], in the ancient Armenian original tearn (Armenian տեարն), “lord”, “lord”, “master”. For example: Ter-Petrosyan.

This prefix can have two generally similar meanings and mean:

1) The title of the highest Armenian aristocracy, similar to the British lord. This title was usually placed before or after the family name, for example tern Andzewats or Artzruneats ter, and most often referred to nahapet (Head of a clan or leader of a tribe in ancient Armenia), tanuter (In ancient Armenia, the head of an aristocratic family, patriarch) or gaherets iskhan (In ІX-XI centuries, the head of a noble family, corresponding to the earlier naapet and tanuter) of this family. The same title was used when addressing a person from the highest aristocracy.

2) After the Christianization of Armenia, this title also began to be used by the highest clergy of the Armenian Church. In contrast to the original designation of an aristocrat, the title “ter” in church use began to be added to the surnames of clergy. In such a combination, “ter” is similar to the church “father”, “lord” and is not an indicator of the noble origin of the bearer of the surname. Nowadays it is present in the surnames of those who had a priest in their male ancestors. The word “ter” itself is still used today when addressing an Armenian priest or when mentioning him (akin to the more familiar to our ears address “[holy] father”).

Germany

Background(For example: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

Tsu(For example: Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg)

Basically a family prefix "background", as it turned out, is a sign of noble origin. It expresses the idea of land ownership of representatives of the ancient nobility, for example, “Duke von Württemberg”, “Ernst August von Hanover”. But there are also exceptions. In northern Germany, many "common people" are called "von", which simply indicates their place of residence/origin. Also, the granted nobles, originally of burgher origin, who were elevated by the sovereign to the dignity of nobility with the presentation of a copy of the charter of nobility (Adelbrief) and the grant of a coat of arms (Wappen), were given the family prefix “von” and Mr. Müller turned into Mr. Von Müller.

Unlike the "background" predicate "tsu" necessarily included a relation to a certain inherited land holding, mainly a medieval castle - for example, "Prince von und zu Liechtenstein" (Liechtenstein = principality and family castle).

Currently, aristocratic titles have become parts of compound surnames in Germany. Such surnames often include the preposition particle “von”, “von der”, “von dem” (translated as “from”), less often “zu” (translated as “in”) or a mixed variant “von und zu”.

It is generally believed that "von" indicates the place of origin of the surname (family), while "zu" means that the given territory is still in the possession of the clan.

With the particle " und“No matter how much I read, I still didn’t fully understand it. Although, as far as I understand, it simply plays the role of a link, denoting either a mixture of family prefixes, or the unification of surnames in general. Although perhaps it’s just my lack of knowledge of the language that’s holding me back.

Israel

Ben- - son (presumably following the example of the English Fitz) (for example: David Ben-Gurion)

Ireland

ABOUT‘ - means "grandson"

Poppy- means "son"

That is, both prefixes in Irish surnames usually indicate their origin. Regarding the spelling of the prefix “Mak”, I read that in most cases in Russian it is written with a hyphen, but there are exceptions. For example, the combined spelling of such surnames as MacDonald, McDowell, Macbeth, etc. is generally accepted. There is no general rule, and the spelling is individual in each case.

Spain

In the case of Spain, the situation is even more complicated, since, based on what I have read, Spaniards usually have two surnames: paternal and maternal. Moreover, the father's surname ( apellido paterno) is placed before the mother ( apellido materno); so, when officially addressed, only the father's surname is used (although there are exceptions).

A similar system exists in Portugal, with the difference that in a double surname, the first is the mother’s surname, and the second is the father’s.

Returning to the Spanish system: sometimes the paternal and maternal surnames are separated by an “and” (for example: Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

Further, in some localities there is a tradition of adding to the surname the name of the locality where the bearer of this surname was born or where his ancestors come from. The particle “de” used in these cases, unlike in France, is not an indicator of noble origin, but is only an indicator of the place of origin (and, indirectly, the antiquity of origin, since we know that places sometimes tend to change names for one reason or another ).

In addition, when married, Spanish women do not change their surname, but simply add the husband’s surname to “apellido paterno”: for example, Laura Riario Martinez, having married a man with the surname Marquez, can sign Laura Riario de Marquez or Laura Riario, Señora Marquez, where is the particle "de" separates the surname before marriage from the surname after marriage

The “revelry of naming” is limited by the fact that, according to Spanish law, a person can have no more than two names and two surnames recorded in his documents.

Although, of course, any author, creating his own story and guided by the Spanish naming model for his characters, can simply ignore this law, coupled with the above-mentioned tradition of middle names. Remember such entertainment as double names? What about the tradition of double surnames in some languages (Russian, for example)? Have you read the above information about the number of names? Yes? Four double names, two double surnames – can you imagine it already?

You can also come up with your own naming tradition, as I wrote above. In general, if you are not afraid that your character will look too extravagant, you have a unique opportunity to reward him or her with a family name design for at least half a page.

Italy

In Italian, historically the prefixes meant the following:

De/Di- belonging to a surname, family, for example: De Filippo means “one of the Filippo family”,

Yes- belonging to the place of origin: Da Vinci - “Leonardo from Vinci”, where Vinci meant the name of a city or locality. Subsequently, Yes and De became simply part of the surname and now do not mean anything. It is not necessarily an aristocratic origin.

Netherlands

Wang- a particle that sometimes forms a prefix to Dutch surnames derived from the name of a locality; often it is written together with the surname itself. Corresponding in grammatical meaning to the German “von” » and French "de" » . Often found as van de, van der and van den. It still means “from”. However, if in German "von" means noble origin (with the exceptions mentioned), then in the Dutch naming system the simple prefix "van" has no relation to nobility. Noble is the double prefix van...tot (for example, Baron van Vorst tot Vorst).

The meaning of other common prefixes such as van den, van der- see above

France

French prefixes, for me personally, are the most famous and indicative

In France, surname prefixes, as mentioned earlier, denote noble origin. Translated into Russian, the prefixes indicate the genitive case, “iz” or “…skiy”. For example, Cesar de Vendôme- Duke of Vendôme or Vendôme.

The most common prefixes:

If the surname begins with a consonant

If the surname begins with a vowel

d‘

Other

In addition, there are a number of different family name prefixes, the origin of which, unfortunately, I was not able to find out.

Below are just a few of them.

Le(?)
Yes, do, shower (Portugal, Brazil)
La (Italy)

So, as I eventually found out, the traditions of naming and “collecting” surnames are quite extensive and varied, and most likely I only looked at the tip of the iceberg. And even more extensive and varied (and, often, no less interesting) can be the author’s derivatives of these systems.

However, in conclusion, I’ll add: before you raise your hands over the keyboard in anticipation, think about it: does your character really need a half-page name? In itself, a long character name is an unoriginal idea and, if there is nothing behind it other than the author’s “wish”, quite stupid.

Armenian surnames are a relatively new phenomenon. Officially, surnames began to be recorded only in the 19th century, during the first population censuses, when the need arose to register people. Later, passports appeared, where along with names, surnames were also indicated.
We can say that before the 19th century there were no surnames in our current understanding. Meanwhile, the word “azganun” (surname) itself in translation means “name of the clan” (“azg” - clan, “anun” - name). Basically, the surnames of Armenians come from the name of an authoritative ancestral ancestor, to whose name suffixes were added to express affiliation. In ancient Armenian it was mostly the suffix "eants", which was then transformed into "ents", and in modern Armenian - into the phonetic form "yants", and then only "yan" remained. For example, if they said about someone that he was from the clan of Aram, then in order to show belonging to this clan they said Arameants or Araments. In Armenian villages this phenomenon exists to this day, that is, to the question “whose will you be?” the answer is Davidents or Ashotents.
When surnames began to be written down in the 19th century, the ending “ts” was automatically dropped. Meanwhile, some Armenians, whose ancestors left Armenia a long time ago and moved to Russia (where surnames appeared earlier than in Armenia), retained the ending “yants” in their surnames.
Until now, in the south of Armenia in the Zangezur region, a large number of surnames ending in “ents”, “unz”, “onts” have been preserved, for example, Adonts, Bakunts, Kalvarents. According to scientists, these are dialect forms of education that have been preserved in the area.
In addition to the most common form of forming surnames from given names, some Armenian surnames come from the names of certain professions. The craft, as a rule, passed from generation to generation, and the name of the craft passed on to the name of the clan or family. It also happened that one of the family or several representatives became so famous for their skill that they became famous jewelers, masons or bakers and their descendants were given the same surnames Voskerchyan ("voskerich" - jeweler), Kartashyan ("kartash" - mason) , Ekimyan (“ekim” - doctor), Zhamagortsyan (“Zhamagorts” - watchmaker), etc.
It is worth mentioning here the origin of Western Armenian surnames. For centuries, the Eastern and Western parts of Armenia developed separately from each other and were part of different empires. Eastern Armenia was under the rule of Persia and then Russia, and Western Armenia was under Ottoman Turkey. The separate existence of the two parts of the Armenian people was also reflected in the surnames. Thus, in many Western Armenian surnames, many of which are now worn by representatives of the Armenian diaspora, the ending “ean” was replaced not by “yan”, but by “ian”. In addition, very often this type of surname, which indicates a craft, has Turkic roots, and there are many such roots in Armenian surnames. This is due to the fact that the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire very thoroughly occupied the niche of artisans. Therefore, the surnames of many Armenians, whose ancestors come from Western Armenia, mean the name of crafts, and in Turkish.
For example, the surname of the former Armenian communist leader and later Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Karen Demirchyan comes from the Turkish word “demirci”, that is, blacksmith. Most likely, the ancestors of the former Armenian leader came from Western Armenia, part of Ottoman Turkey, and were blacksmiths.
According to corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, ethnographer Levon Abrahamyan, the presence of the letter “ch” in Armenian surnames, and there are a lot of them, as a rule, indicates craft, because in Turkish this ending “chi” is an indicator of craft. For example, the surname Bardakchyan comes from “bardakchi”, that is, potter.
One of the quarters of Yerevan, in which at the beginning of the century a Muslim population lived in significant numbers, is still popularly called Silachi, translated from Turkish “silachi” means dyer. Dyers once lived in this area of the Armenian capital.
Some surnames were also formed from nicknames. For example, the surname Shatvoryan comes from the word “shat”. Apparently the ancestors of the current Shatvoryans got their nickname because they had many children.
But, if villagers and artisans did not have surnames until the 19th century, because it was assumed that ordinary people did not need surnames, then the situation was different with noble families. In contrast to commoners, the names of noble families went back to ancient times. But the form of education was the same, that is, it indicated belonging to one or another clan, and in the case of kings, to one or another dynasty.
Already in ancient times and in the Middle Ages, noble families necessarily bore the surnames - Mamikonyan, usually representatives of this family were military leaders, Khorkhoruni - the king’s bodyguards, Gnuni were the royal butlers, etc.
Belonging to a noble family was indicated by the suffix “uni”. Thus, surnames with the suffix “uni” in ancient times and in the Middle Ages were characteristic of noble families - Amatuni, Bagratuni, Rshtuni, Artsruni, Khorkhoruni, etc.
A number of scientists believe that surnames of this type come from the Urartian language, in which affiliation was indicated by the ending “uni”. Meanwhile, the people have their own, far from scientific, but original interpretation of the origin of the names of the Armenian nobility. According to folk etymology, the ending "uni" comes from the word "unenal" - to have, in this case to have wealth. According to Levon Abrahamyan, this is an incorrect interpretation, since wealth was in no way expressed in names or surnames: “This is not typical for the formation of surnames.”
Some of the Armenian surnames were formed from the name of the locality; often such surnames were borne by ancient or medieval Armenian scientists and writers. For example, Anania Shirakatsi is an Armenian geographer, mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 7th century, Grigor Tatevatsi is a philosopher and theologian who lived in the 14th century. Other Armenian scientists also bore surnames, such as the creator of the Armenian alphabet and writing, Mesrop Mashtots, who lived in the 5th century.
Some Armenian surnames still retain the prefix “melik”, indicating noble origin, and “ter”, which was used by clergy and has the meaning of “father”, “lord”, “father”. Now many of those whose grandfathers, fearing the wrath of the Soviet regime, got rid of the prefixes “melik” and “ter” are again regaining their original surnames. Some Armenians gave their children surnames based on their grandfather's name, but this tradition later disappeared due to problems associated with paperwork. There is another tradition that remains unchanged: the vast majority of Armenian women, when married, continue to bear their maiden names as a sign of respect for their parents.

Armenia is a very small country. Its population is just over 3 million inhabitants, and its territory does not reach 30,000 km². And although the history of the state dates back thousands of years, the dictionary of Armenian surnames contains no more than 2-3 thousand entries.

According to some historical information, ancient Armenian surnames, like given names, had a totemic meaning. If the name was considered the totem of one person, then the surname, as a more capacious meaning, was the totem of the whole clan (Vaghraspuni - tiger, Artsvi - eagle, Varazhnuni - wild boar), the totem of the tribe (Syuni - lake tribe).

Armenian surnames in a more modern sense began to emerge and be assigned to people during the Middle Ages. Until this time, Armenians, like many other nations, made do with names. And if there was confusion with the same names, then people added to the person’s name some characteristic feature or the name of his father, mother, grandfather (Lusine, who has 8 children, or Aram, the son of Ismail). If a person was a newcomer, the name of the place where he was from (Khandut Nakhichevan, Hasmik Bayazet) could be added to his name. Later, the association of the name of an Armenian with his profession spread (Vardan Nalbandyan (from “blacksmith”), Armen Kertoh (from “builder”).

On the pages of biblical legends, the origin of Armenian surnames is attributed to the times of the rise and reign of the first Armenian kings - the Gaikids. The ancient Armenian scholar historians Moses Khorensky, Katina, Agafangel also agree with these data. In their works they mention the tribes inhabiting the territory of Armenia (Janari, Aguvans, Kartmanians, Dzotians, etc.), who were assimilated by the Armenians.

The same thing happened to the million-strong people - the Semites, after they were conquered by the Armenian king Gracia. This people subsequently gave rise to a whole dynasty of Armenian and Georgian kings, the Bagratunis. The Armenians and Chinese settlers assimilated, giving them ownership of lands adjacent to Georgia. The famous Armenian dynasties Mamikonyan and Orbelian originate from them.

Analyzing the sources, it can be argued that “Azganun” - an Armenian surname - originally appeared among the inhabitants of Armenia of noble origin. Bearing a surname then was an indicator of a distinguished family: Ermantuni, Alnevuni, Aramyan, Varnuni, Gison, Gaik. The list of noble Armenian surnames is quite long. The most typical form for aristocratic surnames is the one with the ending -uni: Norbeluni, Rshtuni, Khatuni.

Peasants and commoners of Armenia began to receive their surnames by the end of the 19th century. Then they began to introduce a population census and the issuance of passports. The roots of Armenian family forms are very diverse in origin, since Armenia has always been a tasty morsel for conquerors. It was visited by Persians, Turks, Georgians, Greeks, Russians, and Arabs. Hence the completely contrasting root set: Berberyan, Ropsyan, Piruzyan, Baghdasaryan, Kirakusyan, Yablukyan, Jamalyan, Ghasaboghlyan, Mkrtchyan.

Common Armenian surnames, as you can see, have the endings -yan, -an.

This ending in the studies of linguists is explained by Indo-European influence (in English “Russian”), and some argue that it is a derivative of the more archaic family form -ants, -yantz, -unts (although this form is also preserved in the south of Armenia - Yesayants, Sevunts, Bryants).

The dictionary of Armenian surnames contains some surnames with the prefixes “melik” and “ter”. The first (“melik”), according to historians, was attributed to the nobility, people of the noble class. The second (“ter”) indicates that the person belongs to the church and denotes the spiritual rank - “father”, “holy father”.

During the era of Soviet power, many Armenians deliberately refused to bear such surnames, fearing persecution and oppression, and now their descendants are trying to return their ancient family surnames. Also, a surname with the ending -uni, found among contemporaries, cannot always be attributed to an ancient Armenian noble family, since foreign conquerors, when assigning surnames to people, were not at all interested in their meaning and affiliation.

Distinctive features of female and male Armenian surnames

As such, gender division is not observed in Armenian family forms. If the man is Baghdasaryan, then the woman is Baghdasaryan, if the father is Mekhnuni, then the daughter is Mekhnuni. Children inherit their father's surname; when girls get married, they take their husband's surname. Although in the modern world there has been a tendency for Armenian women getting married to leave their maiden name. This is due to the desire of the descendant girls not to give up belonging to their family tree. The only difference is only when declension of male and female surnames by case:

Mirzoyan Arsen - Mirzoyan Arsen - Mirzoyan Arsen, but Mirzoyan Anahit - Mirzoyan Anahit - Mirzoyan Anahit. Or Gogarats Tigran - Gogarats Tigran - Gogarats Tigran, but Gogarats Naira - Gogarats Nair - Gogarats Naira.

It is noteworthy that this change does not occur in male family forms with the ending -uni. Kajberuni Aram - Kajberuni Aram - Kajberuni Aram.

Beautiful Armenian surnames

For people who do not know the Armenian culture and language, Armenian surnames heard in the bustle will not say anything. Although many, if not all, surnames are endowed with some meaning and have hidden meaning.

Here is a selection of just some of them, amazing, unusual and beautiful:

Abanyan - “breath of water”;
Aghababyan - “father’s mountains”;
Adimanyan - “first soul”;
Aladzhajan - “the birth of man is divine”;
Ambartsumyan - “heavenly radiance”;
Baghdasaryan - “strength and grace”;
Bagdishyan - “happiness in fate”;
Bamazyan - “blessed moon”;
Bakhtamyan - “holy faith”;
Dzhigarkhanyan - “Glory to the winners”;
Durinyan - “strong head”;
Zhamkharyan - “beloved relative”;
Kaputikyan - “dove”;
Ukhurlyan - “divine light”;
Kokandyan - “red lotus”.

Owners of the surnames Gadzhiyan - “elephant” (especially girls), Dushukyan - “disgraceful”, Longuryan - “tailed”, Makaryan - “crocodile” - were not very lucky.

It is interesting to know the meaning of the surnames of famous Armenians: composer Aram Khachaturyan, actor and director Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, actor and presenter Mikhail Galustyan, showman and presenter Garik Martirosyan, magicians Hmayak and Harutyun Akopyan, French singer Charles Aznavour, artist and writer Yevgeny Petrosyan, famous intelligence brothers Alexander, Mikhail and Ivan Agayantsev.

Dzhigarkhanyan - “Glory to the winners.”
Galustyan (Galstyan) - “coming to the house.”
Martirosyan - “martyr”, “suppressed”.
Khachaturian (Khachatryan) - “bearer of the cross.”
Petrosyan - “fatherly”.
Agayants (Agayan) - “mountain”.
Hakobyan (Hakobyan) - “God bless.”
Aznavour - “courageous, loud, simple.”

Of course, Armenian culture is not limited only to special surnames and given names. This ancient freedom-loving people has made and continues to make a huge contribution to the development of humanity. Armenians honor their history and are faithful to their religion. They respect and enhance folk traditions and cultural acquisitions. Many peoples of the Earth should learn this.