Hi!
I'm not armenian myself but I know a family who claims there roots in Armenia. My intrest in thiss issue is that I want to know something about the name.
The surname is bek-Arakelow. I know that the name from the begining must have been bek-Arakelian. Some members of the family says that the origin name was bek-Arakel. I know that Arakel is a christian name and that "ian" means "son of". What I would like to know is what "bek" stands for (if it exist in armenian) and what Arakel means (apostel?).
One member of the family says that his father had a title as a "prince" but due to the revolution in 1917, they had to escape from Armenia and give themselves a more russian look-alike-name in order to survive; that´s why they today their name is bek-Arakelow.
Is their anyone who knows something, I would really be grateful.
Matías Conejero
