What is the reason why most of our last names end in "ian"???

[djsinister]

Could anyone enlighten me please. Thanks in advance.

[Thai-Samurai]

I think it means 'that's what you are' Like I'm a Bagdasarian, and you're a 'somethingian' see. That's a complete and total guess though.

Cuz we're Armenian. Hey there we go.

[sad_eyes]

"ian" means belonging to in old armenian. I believe it has something to do with the country name. armenia, for example, I am from canada, so I am canadian. Ehhh, actually....ahh, I dont know. I am interested though, can somebody answer the question above???

[jgm1975]

One answer I found, and which I think is quite credible, is that the "-ian" ending is a Ancient Persian suffix meaning "from the family of". So "Danielian" means from the family of Daniel. There are many Farsi names today that also end in "-ian". The original Armenian ending of family names is actually "ouni" as in "Bagratouni". But centuries of Persian influence over the Armenian language also influenced the way in which family names end.

[Hayq]

ive heard it is a turkish suffix meaning, "one who", given to Armenians by Turks...I dont think Armenians have had last names until a thousand years ago...

[Metsamor]

It's not really "ian", it's "yan"

[MadHandle]

It's not really "ian", it's "yan"

It can be both and jgm1975 was right on point. Like my last name means Stranger/Outsider or somethin like that. And ian doesn't come from Armenia...Armenia is called Hayastan...Armenia is just the english term, Hayastan is the one accepted by Armenians in Armenia.

[Metsamor]

It can be both

Yes, but I think that (correct me if I'm wrong), "ian" is for mostly the Middle-eastern Armenians and "yan" is for Armenian Armenians, (so called "Russian-Armenins). It goes without saying that "yan" should be the right model as being the one adopted my our fatherland! ...

[xBaron Dants]

Yes, but I think that (correct me if I'm wrong), "ian" is for mostly the Middle-eastern Armenians and "yan" is for Armenian Armenians, (so called "Russian-Armenins). It goes without saying that "yan" should be the right model as being the one adopted my our fatherland! ...

The reason why Hayastantsis write "yan" (with a "hi" in Armenian) is because of the spelling change that occured at Stalin's request in the 20s. This is why the great linguist Hrachya Ajarian decided to sign his name as "Hrachia Ajar". ever since the spelling rules changed, and actually requested that his name be written with a "yech" on his grave. The "yech" version would therefore be the "correct" one, so actually, it doesn't go without saying..

[Che_Ka]

Thank you, Mister Pear.

However, even in the 'correct' spelling scheme, Armenian last names may end in "yan" -- as when the last letter of the root word of the last name is a vowel. Example: Dadoyan.

BTW: The Ian/Yan suffix basically means "of." In the case of last names, it historically meant "son of." But even in modern Armenian, we use the suffix commonly for proper words. For example, "Yerevanian amarneru shad dak en"..."Araradian tashdi hogheru haroosd en snoontnerov"...or quite simply "Amerigian Miatsial Nahankner" (USA).