Matías Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artaxias Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 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 style_images/master/snapback.png Arakel does mean apostle. -ow is the Slavic -ian Bek means duke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Bek was a Turkish title, but usually it comes after a name, as far as I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matías Posted January 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Thanks Dave! I guessed before that bek had something tod do with the turkish. In fact, the title seems to appear in other caucasian languages with similar meanings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artaxias Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Thanks Dave! I guessed before that bek had something tod do with the turkish. In fact, the title seems to appear in other caucasian languages with similar meanings. style_images/master/snapback.png Turkic is more proper. It comes from the word atabek, meaning noble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armen Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Turkic is more proper. It comes from the word atabek, meaning noble. style_images/master/snapback.png Wouldn't' "atabek" mean "father of the dukes" (ot chief duke) if translated from Turkic? The nomads had such titles before the Caucasian nobelty started using those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 (edited) You can find bek in Bosnian or Albanian names too. Usually -ow is for Polish families, but I'm not sure. In the Middle-Ages after the conquest of the Armenia by the Turks, many Armenians escaped and went to Poland, Crimea, and that area. Edited January 7, 2005 by Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armen Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 I think Bek-Arakelov is a typical name of a Russified Armenian from 19 century Tiflis (Tbilisi), Saint-Petersburg or Rostov. Or maybe some Russian city in Nothern Caucasus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iran01 Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 What I know, there is not such a word as "bek" in Turkish. (They use combined word such as "Atabek". Ata is definitly Turkish, meaning father. A lot of the title used in the army, for nobles etc during Othomans period were from Persian, and a few were Turkish one) They have the word "bey" meaning lord. In old persian there is a word "bag/bak" meaning God. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kakachik77 Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 (edited) Bek - I am pretty sure more Caucasian than from the Western Armenian, I even think some of the Artsakh dynasties had their names begin or end in Bek, I have a feeling it has roots in native Caucasian languages as opposed to Turkish. ian - DOES NOT mean son of, it means belonging to, just like in English. Son in Armenian is VORDI or ZAVAK and Armenian names never were based on that concept, it's more like if you are Danielian - you descended from Daniel's family, one of your forefathers was named Daniel. I have a friend in Armenia who is Arakelova and they are Armenians from Tiflis, mostly Russian speaking. Arakel means Aposle like in Hay Arakelakan Egeghetsi is Armenian Apostolic Church. Edited January 8, 2005 by kakachik77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormig Posted January 9, 2005 Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 Beg/bek/bey, same thing, different dialects/regions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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