Georgian surnames end. Georgian surnames: rules of construction and declension, examples

It is quite easy to recognize Georgian surnames among others. They are distinguished by their characteristic structuring and, of course, famous endings. Surnames are formed by merging two parts: the root and the ending (suffix). For example, a person well versed in this topic will be able to easily determine in which area certain Georgian surnames are common.

Origin

The history of the country goes back several thousand years. In ancient times, it did not have a name, and Georgia was divided into 2 regions: Colchis (western) and Iberia (eastern). The latter interacted more with its neighbors - Iran and Syria - and had virtually no contact with Greece. If in the 5th century Georgia adopted Christianity, then by the 13th century they were talking about it as a powerful country with reliable ties with European continent and the East.

The history of the country is steeped in the struggle for sovereignty, but, despite the difficulties, the people were able to create their own culture and customs.

It is generally accepted that real Georgian surnames should end in “-dze”, and they come from the parent case. But a person with a surname ending in “-shvili” (translated from Georgian as “son”) was added to the list of those who do not have Kartvelian roots.

If the interlocutor’s family name ended in “-ani,” people knew that in front of them was a representative of a noble family. By the way, Armenians have surnames with a similar suffix, only it sounds like “-uni”.

Georgian surnames(masculine) ending in “-ua” and “-ia” have Mingrelian roots. There are many such suffixes, but they are rarely used now.

List by region

Whatever one may say, surnames ending in “-shvili” and “-dze” are considered the most common in Georgia. Moreover, the last suffix is ​​the most common. Often people with a surname ending in “-dze” can be found in Imereti, Guria and Adjara. But in the eastern region there are practically no such people.

On this moment surnames starting with “-dze” are attributed to old genealogies, respectively, “-shvili” - to modern or young ones. The latter (the suffix is ​​also translated as “born”) are widespread in Kakheti and Kartli ( eastern regions countries).

The meaning of some surnames

A special group of generic names are those that have the following endings:

• -eti;
• -ati;
• -iti;
• -ate.

For example, Rustaveli, Tsereteli. Also on the list of the most common surnames in Georgia are Khvarbeti, Chinati and Dzimiti.

Another group consists of surnames ending in “-ani”: Dadiani, Chikovani, Akhvelidiani. It is believed that their roots belong to famous Migrelian rulers.

Surnames ending in:

• -uli;
• -uri;
• -ava;

By the way, among them there are many famous stars: Okudzhava, Danelia, etc.

The suffix “-nti” with Chan or Svan origin is considered a rare example. For example, Glonti. These also include surnames containing the participial prefix “me-” and the name of the profession.

Translated from Persian, nodivan means “advice,” and Mdivani means “scribe,” Mebuke means “bugler,” and Menabde means “burka-making.” Most Interest The surname Amilakhvari evokes. Having Persian origin, it is a non-suffixed formation.

Construction

Georgian surnames are built according to certain rules. During the baptism of a newborn child, he is usually given a name. Most of surnames begin with it, and the necessary suffix is ​​subsequently added to it. For example, Nikoladze, Tamaridze, Matiashvili or Davitashvili. A considerable number of such examples can be given.

But there are also surnames formed from Muslim (usually Persian) words. For example, let's study the roots of the surname Japaridze. It originated from the common Muslim name Jafar. Translated from Persian dzapar means “postman”.

Quite often, Georgian surnames are tied to a specific area. Indeed, often their first bearers became the origins of the princely family. Tsereteli is one of them. This surname comes from the name of the village and fortress of the same name, Tsereti, located in the northern region of Zemo.

Russification of some Georgian surnames

Despite the length and unusual combination of letters and sounds, Georgian surnames that penetrated into Russian linguistics (in particular, onomastics) were not distorted. But, as practice shows, sometimes, albeit very rarely, there are cases when Russification occurred: Muskhelishvili turned into Muskheli.

Some surnames now have suffixes that are uncharacteristic for Georgia: -ev, -ov and -v. For example, Panulidzev or Sulakadzev.

Also, when Russifying some surnames into “shvili”, shortening very often occurs. Thus, Avalishvili turns into Avalov, Baratov - Baratashvili, Sumbatashvili - Sumbatov, etc. We can name many other options that we are accustomed to taking for Russians.

Declension of Georgian surnames

Inclination or indeclinability depends on the form in which it is borrowed. For example, a surname ending in -iya is inflected, but a surname ending in -ia is not.

But today rigid framework does not exist in relation. Although there are 3 rules according to which declension is impossible:

1. The male form is similar to the female one.
2. The surname ends in unstressed vowels (-а, -я).
3. Has the suffixes -ia, -ia.

Only in these three cases is neither male nor female surname are not subject to inclination. Examples: Garcia, Heredia.

It should also be noted that it is undesirable to decline surnames ending in -ya. Let’s say there is a person named Georgy Gurtskaya who received a document that says: “issued to citizen Georgy Gurtsky.” Thus, it turns out that the person’s last name is Gurtskaya, which is not entirely typical for Georgia, and the name loses its flavor.

Thus, linguists do not advise inflecting Georgian surnames and recommend writing the endings correctly. There are often cases when, when filling out documents, the letters at the end changed. For example, instead of Gulia they wrote Gulia, and this surname no longer has anything to do with Georgia.

Popularity of surnames in numbers

Below is a table showing the most common endings of Georgian surnames. Let's look at them in more detail and find out in which regions they are most often found.

Endings -shvili and -dze in surnames (Georgian)

At the moment, linguists identify 13 main suffixes. In many areas, surnames with -dze, which translated means “son,” have become very common. For example, Kebadze, Gogitidze, Shevardnadze. According to statistics, in 1997, 1,649,222 residents of Georgia had a surname with this ending.

The second most common suffix is ​​-shvili (Kululashvili, Peikrishvili, Elerdashvili), which translates as “child”, “child” or “descendant”. As of 1997, there were approximately 1,303,723 surnames with this ending. They became more widespread in the regions of Kartli and Kakheti.

Among all the others, Georgian surnames are recognized quite easily. They have a characteristic structure and are easy to identify at the end. Georgian surnames are made up of two parts: the ending and the root. If you look into this a little, then in more than half of the cases you can tell which region of Georgia a given genus comes from. There are a total of 13 types of endings for Georgian surnames.

General description of Georgian surnames and possible options

The most common endings are “-shvili” and “-dze”. “-dze” can be found almost throughout the entire territory of Georgia, especially in Adjara, Guria and Imereti, less often in the eastern part. But “-shvili”, on the contrary, is found mainly in the eastern part of Georgia: in Kakheti and Kartli. In Russian this can be translated as “son” or “born”, respectively. Currently, it is generally accepted that “dze” is the ending for the oldest genealogies, and “shvili” is the ending for more modern ones. According to unofficial statistics, there are about three million people with such surnames.

Some Georgian surnames originate from the names that a newborn receives at baptism. For example: Matiashvili, Davitashvili, Nikoladze, Georgadze, Tamaridze and many others. Another part of the surnames comes from Muslim or Persian words. A controversial point arises when studying the roots of the Japaridze surname. Perhaps it comes from the Muslim name Jafar, and perhaps from the Persian name for the profession - postman - dzapar. Apart from these two main types of Georgian surnames special group represent surnames ending in “-eli”, “-iti”, “-eti”, “-ati”. For example, we can cite the well-known people of this world: Tsereteli, Rustaveli, and simply common Georgian surnames: Dzimiti, Khvarbeti, Chinati.

The next group of Georgian surnames are represented by surnames ending in “-ani”: Chikovani, Akhvelediani, Dadiani. These genealogies originate from the rulers of Megrelia. Less common, but still existing surnames of this group have the endings “-uri”, “-uli”, “-ava”, “-ua”, “-aya” and “-iya”. There are even more representatives of this group of “star” surnames: Danelia, Beria, Okudzhava.

Many roots of Georgian surnames, as in the anthroponymy of other peoples of the world, carry a certain semantic load. It is often possible to trace centuries-old ethnic processes, which actively took place in the context of contacts between Georgians and neighboring peoples. For example, the roots of the surnames Khurtsidze and Sturua are clearly of Ossetian origin (respectively, the Ossetian khurts “hot” and styr “big”, “great”); among Georgian surnames of Abkhaz origin, one can indicate not only one like Abkhazava, which does not need etymology, but also Machabeli from the Abkhaz surname Achba; surnames of Adyghe origin include Abzianidze, Kashibadze and some others. There are many surnames in Eastern Georgia Dagestan origin, for example Lekiashvili from leki - the common name for Dagestanis in the Georgian language; Vainakh - Malsagashvili, Kistiauri; Azerbaijani - Tatarishvili; Armenian - Somkhishvili from Somekha - the Georgian name of the Armenians.

Georgian male middle names are formed by adding the word dze “son” to the father’s name in the genitive case: Ivan Petresdze. Female middle names in Georgian they also retained an archaic form in the form of adding to the father’s name in the genitive case an ancient Georgian word that almost went out of use in modern speech, -asuli (adequate to the old Russian daughter): Marina Kostasasuli. However, patronymic names are practically excluded in live communication between Georgians. They are usually used in official documents. In party and Soviet institutions, often in official business situations they refer to the word amkhanagi “comrade”, calling the person only by his last name. In family and everyday communication, as well as in academic circles, the address predominantly contains the word batono (most equivalent to the Russian sir and the Polish pan) in combination exclusively with the name, regardless of age, rank, position and the person being addressed.

Ossetian and Abkhaz groups and the Russian-speaking environment

In the 90s of the last century, some Ossetians who were on the territory of Georgia were forced to change their surnames in the Georgian manner. In remote villages and settlements, not particularly literate officials did not know how to correctly write down Ossetian surnames, so they wrote them in the Georgian way. And there were also those among the Ossetians who wanted to get lost among the local population, and changed their surnames to more euphonious ones for Georgians. This is how new Georgian surnames appeared, with some accent: Mardzhanov, Tseretelev, Tsitsianov, Tsitsianov. Enormous changes were taking place. For example, the Driaevs were registered as Meladzes.

In Georgian “mela” means fox, in Russian it would be the surname Lisitsin.

The population of Abkhazia, and only about 15% of them are blood Abkhazians, have surnames ending in “-ba”: Eshba, Lakoba, Agzhba. These surnames belong to the North Caucasian Mingrelian group.

When entering the Russian-speaking environment, Georgian surnames, as a rule, are not subject to distortion, even despite the complex combination of sounds and significant length. But in some cases there is still an influence of the Russian language: Sumbatov came from Sumbatashvili, Bagration from Bagrationi, Orbeli from Orbeliani, Baratov from Baratashvili, Tsitsianov from Tsitsishvili, Tseretelev from the well-known Tsereteli.

Georgian surnames

True Georgian surnames start with “-dze”. If I'm not mistaken, these surnames come from genitive case.

Surnames with “-shvili” often, but not always, belong to people with not entirely Kartvelian roots. This suffix comes from the Georgian word for "son".

Surnames starting with “-ani” and “-oni” belong to people of VERY noble origin. These are very ancient surnames in origin, and Armenians have similar ones (with “-uni”).

Surnames starting with “-ia” and “-ua” are of Mingrelian origin.
There are also a number of family suffixes, but they are used much less frequently.

All Georgian surnames consist of 2 parts - the root and the ending. At the end of the test, in 70% of cases, you can understand what part of Georgia the person is from. There are 13 types of endings:

1. Dze - a total of 1,649,222 people (data taken from the book "Surnames of Georgia" for 1997).
This ending is the most common, found almost everywhere, less often in the east. Basically, such surnames are common in Imereti, Guria, Adjara, and are also found in Kartli and Racha-Lechkhumi. Translated, the ending means Son.
Examples: Gongadze (Imereti), Dumbadze (Guria), Silagadze (Lechkhumi), Archuadze (Racha). Due to the wide distribution of this ending, it is difficult to determine the origin; in this case, you need to pay attention to the root of the surname.

2. Shvili - a total of 1,303,723 people. In translation it means - Descendant (in Russian there is no direct analogue of this word, it is the combined concept of son and daughter, although, as far as I know, back in the 19th century this word meant simply son, but later the meaning of the word expanded). This ending is found mainly in eastern Georgia. In Kakheti, most surnames have this ending. There are also many such surnames in Kartli. Less common in western Georgia.
Examples: Aslanikashvili (root Aslan), Gligvashvili (this is the surname of Kistov - Ingush living in Kakheti), Peikrishvili, Kululashvili, Elerdashvili (Kakheti), etc.

3. Iya - as you noticed, this is a Megrelian ending. A total of 494,224 people. I don’t know exactly what it means, but I’m sure it’s the Mingrelian equivalent of Dze or Shvili.
Examples: Chanturia, Zarandia, Kvaratskhelia and so on.

4. Ava - 200,642 people. Also Mingrelian ending.
For example: Eliava, Kuprava, Lemonjava and so on.

5. Iani -129204 people. This is a Svan ending, but now it is also found in other regions of western Georgia. Mainly in Lechkhumi, less often in Racha and Imereti. Not found in eastern Georgia.
Examples: Gazdeliani (Svaneti), Dadeshkeliani (Svaneti, princely surname), Mushkudiani (Lechkhumi), Akhvlediani (Lechkhumi), Gelovani (Lechkhumi, princely surname), Ioseliani (Imereti), Zhorzholiani (Imereti), Chikovani (Megrelia), Dadiani ( Megrelia is a princely family; they were the rulers of all of Megrelia). This surname, in principle, is a former title that later became a surname (I will talk about such surnames later).

There are also surnames that simultaneously come from different regions.
For example: Chkhetiani - this surname is both Svan and Lechkhumi. The root of the Svan surname “Chkheti” means “Pebble” (in Georgian “Kenchi”), but in the Middle Ages part of the clan (the Svans lived in clans) went to Lechkhumi. And the family was divided. Nowadays, the halo of natural distribution of Chkhetiani (except for large cities - Tbilisi, Kutaisi) covers the Svan Chkhetianis - Mesti District (Upper Svaneti) and our long-suffering Kodori Gorge, and the Lechkhumi Chkhetianis live in the Tsageri region. Chikovani are divided in the same way - there are Megrelian Chikovani, and there are Lechkhumi ones. There are many such examples.

6. Uri - 76,044 people. This ending is found mainly among eastern highlanders, such as Khevsurs, Pshavs, Tushis, Mtiuls, Khevinians, and so on.
For example: Midelauri, Ketelauri, Patashuri (Erzo).

7. Ua - 74817 people, Mingrelian ending.
Examples: Chkadua, Todua, Gogua.

8. Eli - 55,017 people. This ending is found in Racha - Metreveli, Intskirveli. In Svaneti there is only one surname with this ending - Pirveli (translated as “first”). It is also found in Imereti and Guria. Also in Kartli, but as an exception, is the princely family of Machabeli, which I have already mentioned.

9. Uli - 23,763 people. This ending is found mainly among eastern highlanders, such as Khevsurs, Pshavs, Tushis, Mtiuls, Khevinians, and so on.
For example: Chincharauli, Iarajuli, etc.

10. Shi - 7263 people in total. Mainly found in Adjara and Guria.
For example: Khalvashi (Adjara), Tugushi (Adjara-Guria).

11. Skiri - total 2375, Mingrelian ending. I know only one such surname, Tsuleiskiri, maybe there is more, but I don’t remember.

12. Chkori - total 1831, Mingrelian ending.
I only remember: Gegechkori.

13. Kva - total 1023, Mingrelian ending.
For example: Ingorokva.

Before the revolution, due to the prevailing circumstances, Ossetian surnames in South Ossetia, with rare exceptions, were written with Georgian endings (“-shvili”, “-dze”, “-uri” (*), etc.), moreover, they were often deformed beyond recognition . This is confirmed by many historical documents, as well as inscriptions on gravestones. For employees of the Georgian diocese, such distortions of Ossetian surnames were in the order of things.

This is what historian G. Togoshvili writes in the book “Georgian-Ossetian relations in the 15th-18th centuries”: “On the territory of Georgia, especially in regions where the plain prevailed, the Christian religion of the Ossetians was one of the reasons for their settlement on these lands. Salary books often emphasize the fact that this or that Ossetian is a “new Christian,” “naosari” (who came from Ossetia) or “oskhopila” (former Ossetian). In all three cases, this means that the Ossetian to whom these concepts refer belongs to the Christian faith. This also means that the residence of such an Ossetian among the Christian Georgian population is natural and very desirable, because if he is a Christian, then the Ossetian will in every sense this word is no longer, he is already considered a Georgian (Sabchota Sakartvelo Publishing House, Tbilisi, 1969, p. 205).

Georgian clerical officials also contributed to the transformation of Ossetian surnames into Georgian ones, in order to speed up the process of assimilation of Ossetians. To this should be added the lack of necessary literacy of some deacons and registrar officials in remote Ossetian villages, who simply did not know how to adequately write this or that Ossetian surname in Georgian, since the phonetic laws of these languages ​​differ significantly from each other. And another important reason for the transformation of Ossetian surnames is the desire of a certain part of the Ossetians, who found themselves as a result of migration processes among Georgians, to be recorded under Georgian surnames. Perhaps they believed that the Georgian sound of their surnames would give them certain privileges and would be more honorable. This is tantamount to how it seemed to the Georgians themselves Russian sound their surnames (Tsitsianov, Tseretelev, Andronnikov, Mardzhanov, etc.) are more honorable.

There is information that as a result tragic events in the early 1990s in South Ossetia, some Ossetians who remained in Georgia were also forced to change their surnames. All this has led to the fact that many Ossetian surnames today are so distorted in the Georgian nomenclature that it is difficult to establish their authenticity. The Driaevs' surname was especially affected - more than half of them were recorded as “Meladze” (Georgian “mela” - “fox”, i.e. translated into Russian the surname means “Lisitsins”). (See also “Okroperidze” and others).

Georgian surnames have characteristic structure and are easily recognized due to their finite elements. In most cases, the etymology is unclear. The most common elements are “-dze” and “-shvili”. The first of them originally meant “born”, the second - “son”. Nowadays, however, the semantic differences between them have been erased, and both of them play the role of patronymic suffixes. There is also a chronological difference between them: “dze” is found in more ancient surnames, “-shvili” - in more modern ones. In general, we can say that surnames with “-dze” and “-shvili” are not formed in parallel from the same roots.

Some surnames are formed from baptismal names, that is, given at birth: Nikoladze, Tamaridze, Georgadze, Davitashvili, Matiashvili, Ninoshvili, etc. There are surnames formed from Muslim names of various origins: Japaridze (“jafar”, unless this surname is formed from the Persian dzapar - “postman”), Narimanidze, etc. Most surnames (especially with “-dze”) are formed from other less clear roots: Vachnadze, Kavtaradze, Chkheidze, Enukidze, Ordzhonikidze, Chavchavadze, Svanidze (from “Svan”) , Lominadze (lomi- “lion”), Gaprindashvili, Khananashvili Kalandarishvili (from Persian kalantar - “first person in the city”), Dzhugashvili (“dzug” - “flock”, “flock” / Osset./ G. Kolodaev, Ch . Bagaev. “Who are you, Stalin?”, 1995, p. 5) In addition to these two main types (patronymic in origin), there are other, less common, but also very fully represented types of surnames, indicating a place or family, from which their bearer comes. One of these types are surnames ending in “-eli” (rarely “-ali”): Rustaveli, Tsereteli, etc. A number of surnames end in “-eti”. “-ati”, “-iti”: Dzimiti, Oseti, Khvarbeti, Chinati, etc.

Another type consists of surnames starting with “-ani”: Dadiani (rulers of Megrelia), Akhvelediani, Chikovani, etc. Megrelian surnames are characterized by specific endings “-iya”, “-aya”, “-ua”, “-ava”, “-uri” "(-uli): Beria, Kvirkelia, Danelia, Zhordania, Gulia, Shengelaya, Dondua, Sturua, Khuchua, Okudzhava, Lezhava, Eliava, Tsiklauri, Sulakauri.

Surnames starting with “-nti”, quite rare, are of Svan or Chan origin: Glonti, Zhgenti. Among them, a group of profession names with the participial prefix “me-” (“m-”) stands out: Mdivani
- “scribe” (from the Persian “divan” - “advice”); Mebuke - “bugler” (“buki” - “horn”); Menabde - “burka maker” (“nabadi” - “burka”). The surname "Amilakhvari" - "horsemaster", Persian
origin, is also a suffixless formation.

Penetrating into Russian onomastics, Georgian surnames usually did not undergo distortion, despite their length and unusual combinations of sounds. However, individual cases their “Russianizations” still occur: Orbeliani - Orbeli; Shengelaya (Shengelia) - Shengeli; Muskhelishvili - Muskheli; Bagrationi - Bagration; Iashvili - Yashvili; Eristavi (literally “head of the people”) - Eristovs. Some Georgian surnames were appended with the suffixes “-ov”, “-ev”, “-v”: Panchulidzev, Sulakadzev, In surnames, “-shvili” is often abbreviated during Russification: Avalishvili - Avalov, Andronikashvili - Andronnikov, Javakhishvili - Javakhov, Sumbatoshvili - Sumbatov, Tsitsishvili - Tsitsianov, Manvelishvili - Manvelov, Shalikoshvili - Shalikov, Baratashvili - Baratov. Examples with a different type of surname: Gamrekeli - Gamrekelov, Tsereteli - Tseretelev.

To the considered Kartvelian surnames, Abkhaz surnames should be added. Abkhazian language belongs to the North Caucasian group. Currently, Abkhazians make up only about 15% of the population of Abkhazia. This is probably explained by the fact that many Abkhazians have Georgian or Mingrelian surnames. There are, however, specifically Abkhaz surnames with the final element “-ba”: Lakoba, Eshba, Agzhba.

Many people don’t even realize how many different endings Georgian surnames have, because everyone is used to the fact that a Georgian surname should end in -DZE or -SHVILI. However, this is not the case:)

Dze - the ending corresponds to the Russian ending “-ov”. Most common in Western Georgia (Guria, Imereti, Adjara). As a result of migration, their speakers appeared in Racha-Lechkhumi and Kartli. Gongadze (Imereti), Dumbadze (Guria), Silagadze (Lechkhumi), Archuadze (Racha) - if you pay attention to the root of the surname, then by some signs you can determine it exact origin. Excl.: Japaridzes are mainly Svans.

-shvili - translated as “child, child.” It is usually found in Eastern Georgia (Kartliya, Kakheti, Meskheti, Javakheti). The surname Maharashvili is found mainly among Kakhetians. In frequent cases, bearers of surnames starting with “-shvili” (especially with “-ashvili”) are of non-Kartvelian (including Jewish) origin: Aslanikashvili (root “Aslan”), Gligvashvili (this surname is found among the Kists - Vainakhs living in Kakheti ), Saakashvili (from Jewish name Isaac, or from the Armenian Sahak). Georgianized surnames were formed using this suffix.

Ia (-iya), -aia (-aya) - diminutive ending of nouns. Distributed in Megrelia and Abkhazia. Often found in Abkhazia. Example: Beria, Gulia, Gurtskaya, Tsviritskaya, Chanturia, Kvaratskhelia. Excl.: Jewish surname Luria (Loria), originating from the name Italian. cities. It is possible to distinguish between Abkhazian and Mingrelian surnames with these endings only by the origin of the root of the surname.
The ending comes from the complex suffix /-i-an-i/, which was reduced to /-ia-/

Ava (-va) is also a Mingrelian ending, probably corresponding to the Slavic “-sky”, but it is usually not pronounced by Mingrelians. Example: Girgolava - Girgola, Okudzhava, Lemonjava, Eliava.

Ani(s)
Svan ending (analogous to “-ski”), now common in Svaneti, Lechkhumi, Imereti and Racha.
In Eastern Georgia there is a consonant Georgian ending “-iani”, indicating a very noble birth. The difference can only be determined by knowing equally the Svan and Georgian languages ​​based on an analysis of the root of the surname.
Armenian surnames on “-yan” in Georgian transcription they are read with the ending “-iani” - Petrosiani.
Examples: Gordesiani (Svaneti), Dadeshkeliani (Svaneti, princely surname), Mushkudiani (Lechkhumi), Akhvlediani (Lechkhumi), Gelovani (Lechkhumi, princely surname), Ioseliani (Imereti), Zhorzholiani (Imereti), Chikovani (Megrelia), Dadiani ( Megrelia, a princely family, they were the rulers of the entire region), Orbeliani (princely family), Kitovani.

Uri - this ending is common in Mountainous Georgia among the peoples of the Pkhov group (Khevsurs, Mokhevians, Tushins). For example: Dzidziguri, Apkhazuri, Patashuri.

Ua (-uya) is a Mingrelian ending most often found in Abkhazia and, less frequently, in the rest of Georgia. For example: Gogua, Todua. By origin - Abkhazian ending.

Eli (-el) - endings are usually found in Racha; outside its borders only Pirveli (Svaneti) and Machabeli (Kartliya) are known. Example: Rustaveli, Tsereteli, Mitreveli. The surname Gverd-tsiteli is compound and may not be related to Racha

Uli is a phonetic variant of “-uri”, common among the peoples of the Aragvi group (Mtiuls, Gudamakarians, Pshavs) in Mountainous Georgia.

Shi (-sh) is a Laz ending. Found in Adjara, Guria and Abkhazia. Kind plural numbers. For example: Khalvashi, Tugushi.

Balaz is the analogue of Mingrelian “-ava”. A very rare ending. Not to be confused with the Abkhazian “-ba”.

Skiri (-skiria) is a rare Mingrelian ending. For example: Tsuleiskiri, Panaskiri, Kvekveskiri.

Chkori is a rare Mingrelian ending. For example: Gegechkori ("Servant of Gege")

Kva is a rare Mingrelian and Gurian ending. For example: Ingorokva, Helekva, Rokva. “Kva” – “stone” (Georgian), “son” (Cherc.). There is a version that the bearers of these surnames are of non-Georgian origin

Enti (-onti) is a Laz and Adjarian suffix. For example: Glonti, Zhgenti

Skua (-skaya) is the Megrelian version of “-shvili” (son). Found in Megrelia. Uchascua, Curascua

Ari is a rare ending for any term to become a surname. Example: Amilakhvari (military position), Emukhvari.

Ki, -zi, -avi, -bi, -asi, -esi, -iri are very rare Georgian endings. For example: Abameliki, Abkhazi, Eristavi, Amirejibi, Khavtasi, Megvinetukhutsesi, Mujiri.

There are also Georgian surnames ending in “-ovi”, “-evi”, “-ski” (Tarkhanovi, Barataevi, Gruzinski). The endings have Russian origin, and this means that once upon a time they tried to Russify surnames, that is, surnames Georgian origin added Russian ending, however, over time, the surnames still switched to the Georgian way. It should not be confused with Russian or Russified surnames, which in Georgian transcription are read with the ending “i”.

The surnames of Pontic Greeks starting with “-idi”, “-adi”, “-iki” and “-aki” (Romanidi, Andriadi, Khomeriki, Kandelaki) are often considered Georgian.