Help with the meaning of surname

[Guest]

Hello -

 

My son needs to find the meaning of his last name - Avakian - for school project. Any sites that he can access to help find the meaning of his name or even a general information page about Armenian names and how & when they came about?

 

Thanks,

[Guest]

I think Avakian (or Avagian) comes from the name Avag which means "the oldest".

But usually Armenian last names comes from either just first names (like Sahakyan, Galstyan, Movsesyan, Muradian ...) or from the profession name (Berberian, Paboujyan,...). There are some exceptions of course. If it begins with Ter- (like Ter-Minasyan, Ter-Petrosyan, Ter-Simonyan) that means one of his/her ancestors was in church.

I think these 3 rules cover almost 99% of Armenian last names. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I had a small book in Armenia (I think it was Anvanagirq) that was explaining the meaning of every Armenian name. Maybe someone has it here. It'll be useful for him.

 

 

[This message has been edited by Garo (edited April 27, 2000).]

[Guest]

Also the names originate form the geographical situation of the family. Also the Turks and the Arabs gave last names to the armenian peasents making it easier to collect taxes.

And AVAK or AVAG means big or old. So one of his descendants was a big man in the community he lived in.