Armenian name

Personal names are diverse in origin. The primordial Armenian and Urartian names make up a large stratum (the language existed until the 6th century BC). Some of them are associated with the pantheon of pagan Armenian gods and mythology .

Since the beginning of the IV century, Christianity has become the official religion of the Armenian state and the biblical names of Jewish and, less often, Greek origin have come into use. After the first partition of Armenia, part of the country belonged to Persia (Iran) in the 4th – 7th centuries, which gave the names of Persian (Iranian) origin. In the 7th century, the country was captured by the Arabs and several Arab names came into use by the Armenians. From the beginning of the XI century, Armenia was subjected to the invasion of Turkic-Seljuk tribes and the population adopted Turkic names. From the beginning of the 18th century, Armenia became closer in the Russian Empire and began to introduce the names common in Russia and later in the USSR.

In the twentieth century, the use of names of characters in literary works and cinema (Hamlet, Ophelia) was found.

According to the National Statistics Service of Armenia, the most popular names for newborns in the country are: ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Until 2012, for a long time, the most popular children's names in Armenia were Milena and Narek.

Suffixes

Modern Armenian surnames usually end with the suffix -yan ( -յան and -եան ), indicating affiliation, and are most often patronymics . ^[4] Very rarely, such surnames are formed from an indication of any quality or attribute.

Several families have the suffix -uni ( -ունի ), similar in meaning to the suffix -yan , ^[5] and belong to the ancient aristocratic family names of city states of the 1st millennium BC. e. ( Arshakuni , Bagratuni , Pahlavuni ).

The suffix -nts ( Arm. -Նց , the ending of the genitive plural in ancient Armenian ) can be used both separately and added to -yan and -uni . ^[6] The suffix expresses belonging to a genus originating from an ancestor whose name is used as a surname ( Tonunts ). So, the surname “Sargsyan” expresses the closest kinship (daughter or son of Sarkis) - this form came into use from about the XVIII century, when the Ottoman government began to conduct regular censuses. In its turn, the surname “Sargsyants” expresses belonging to a whole clan originating from Sarkis - this form arose most likely during the establishment of feudal relations in the era of Great Armenia and was a sign of belonging to a privileged class.

Before -yan and -uni there can be suffixes -li ( Armenian- арм ) and -chi / -ji ( Armenian- арм ), meaning that the surname is formed from the name of the profession or geographical name.

The surnames of many Eastern Armenians after the accession of Transcaucasia to the Russian Empire received a Russified version and end with suffixes ( Sarkisov , Oganesov , Arutyunov , etc.).

Some descendants of immigrants dropped the suffixes ( Charles Aznavour and Andy Serkis ).

Roots

The roots of last names by origin may be:

• Arab, ^[7]
• Jewish
• Greek
• Iranian ( Nalbandyan , Baghramyan , Edigaryan , Shakhnazaryan , Migranyan , Arshakuni , Pakhlavuni , Tigranyan , Artashesyan , Shahbazyan , Zargaryan),
• Turkic ( Ozanyan , Karakhan , Kocharyan , Kaputikyan , Shaginyan , Kardashian , Gyulbenkyan , Demirchyan , Parajanov , Dolukhanova , Igityan .

The prefix Ter- / Der- ( Տեր ) meant an appeal to the priest.