soukia

Johannes - yes and it can have other related meanings. I have made contact with people (via the Net) with the same name mostly in Syria , some in Lebanon and one in Palestine, but each seems to have a different explanation of the name. The different derivations of the name advanced so far revolve around: from (Arabic) - a trader who traveled to sell cloth in the markets of Damascus and hence : a marketer/merchant; from (Arabic) - Palestine - they had ancestors who were excommunicated/ driven out of the clan for a misdemeanor, hence they were called Soukia, as they were driven out/exiled; from (Turkish) - people in Syria who claim the name derives from a Turkish name "saouk" (?) which was then made into an Arabic sounding name. The only thing we all have in common at the moment is the spelling of the name. Regards

Hi I am an Australian whose parents came from North Lebanon in the mid fifties. This part of the world was part of the Ottoman empire till 1918, then it was part of French mandate Syria till August 1920, and then part of Greater Lebanon from 1 September 1920 onwards. After the death of my father in 2006, I began piecing together all the information at my disposal about our family. I was surprised about how little we knew about my father's side. My family name is pronounced Soukia. My father knew little about his father. Nothing is known of my father's paternal grandparents or relatives. I have noticed some Armenian surnames such as Soukiassian or Facebook. Can you tell me what Soukia or Soukias means in Armenian? I wrote to Garik who advised that, to his knowledge, 'soukias' doesn't mean anything in the modern Armenian language. It's possible that the word is borrowed from neighboring languages and refers to some kind of profession. He suggested that I submit this question under the Language section, as there are some members very knowledgeable in the Armenian language who would be able to provide more information on this subject. He suggested, Arpa and Johannes as two members who are well qualified to provide some guidance on this matter. Thanks in anticipation. Regards