Last names

[Inna]

i have always wandered this and nobody has ever given me an exact answer...so maybe ya'll can help me

why is it that most (almost all) Armenian last names end with a
-yan or -ian?

another question: my last name ends with -ts, well it ends with -iants, but how come mine ends with -ts rather then just -ian, does anybody know any history behind it?

and don't say that my last name is the only last name that ends with -ts, b/c one of my very close friends (who is Armenian) last name also ends with -ts and i've heard and read of several other Armenians whose last name ends with -ts or -tz

please solve the mystery

[xBaron Dants]

I wouldn't know how there are last names that don't end in -yan, but the two other "minority" endings would probably be the "ts" and "ni".

Most royal families had last names that ended with -ni, such as Arshagouni, Knouni, Bakhlavooni, Siuni, etc. There were of course the ian-s too, like Mamigonian for example.

And their kingdoms were referred to as Arshagooniants takavorootyoon, Knounyants takavorotyooon, yevayln.

Therefore, the -nts ending probably shows from what region you come from, or from which family you're descended.

It's deeeeefinitely Armenian though. Nobody can say anything about that. Just less common...

[dstyle]

Also I think some Armenian didn't have last names, and they were called using there dads name, like if your dads name was Hagop theyd be like Souren Hagop, after a while families started adding ian to what there last name would be, instead of Souren Hagop, it would be Souren Hagopian.

[Inna]

so does that mean my family was part of a kingdom???
hehehe.....so does that make me a princess

Princess Inessa..now doesnt that just fit perfectly together



ahhhhhh....that would be the day

[PASAMONSTER]

hey my last name was originally Zeitlints.

some of my relatives evolved it to Zeitlian and Zeitlian.

My dad has it as Zetilyan. I kept it short Zetlyan.


The root of the last name is the important part, the rest is due to time and regional bullxxxx.

[fstkhnan]

Armenian last names rule man....in a lot of cases its the only way u could tell if someone is Armenian or not....its so awesome.....although some of em are too long, but whatever they're so unique!

[dstyle]

a little off topic, well not really, i was at the hawaii vs usc fball game this year, and on the hawaii team there was a player with a last name that sounded armenian. and he was playing defense so he kept getting burned so it would be like mike williams 12 yards on edgarian. im like wow thats cool. but it came out 2 be edgariam or something, but it made me pay attention to that guy 10 times more.

[violette829]

I personally get excited when during my first day of school. When the professor calls out names and stuff, I listen carefully for Armenian names...unless it's like Gago Gagoyan...then I try to make friends with him/her. Janaaa I'm so nice! My last name is actually the first name of my great great great great great grandfather, with a "yan" at the end. I used to think that all Armenian last names were like that, but then I heard that Armenians from Turkey and some other Mid-East countries use the profession of the ancestor, and add a "ian" at the end. Por ejemplo, my best friend's last name is Tatloyan.....Her ancestors owned a sugar company....Tatle (which means sugar) coms from that. I think.

Alright that's enough!

[jahannam]

hahhaha
or during the first day of class, when the teacher stares at a last name and kinda stops there, and I KNOW FOR A FACT it's MY last name without her/him pronouncing even the first letter.
can't beat DEKERMENJIAN.
lol
yup
that would be my last name in English.
terrible.
yet another reason I should reconsider getting married

[Mischa]

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