Origin of Armenian surnames. Elements of antiquity in young Armenian surnames Armenian surnames with the ending ov

Where do the surnames Dzhugashvili and Tsereteli come from? What connects Armenian surnames with Turkish? Why do Azerbaijanis abolish “Russian” endings in their surnames? We answer these and other questions.

Georgian surnames

Ethnographers date the origins of Georgian surnames to the 7th-8th centuries. They most often came from the area of residence, a little less often - from professions, names, patronymics or family rank (for example, Amilakhvari or Eristavi).
The structure of Georgian surnames is the same as most others: root + suffix. In many cases, by the surname suffix you can understand what region it comes from and what ethnic group its bearer belongs to. For example, among Mingrelians, surnames often end in “-ua” (Todua, Gogua) or “-iya” (Gamsakhurdia, Beria), and among Lazs, they often end in “-shi” (Khalvashi, Tugushi).
Linguists identify 13 main types of suffixes. In many regions of Georgia, mostly in Imereti, Guria, Adjara, Lechkhumi, surnames with the suffix “-dze”, which translates as “son” (Gongadze, Shevardnadze, Dumbadze), are common. As of 1997, 1,649,222 people had surnames with this ending.

The second most common suffix is “-shvili”. Its translation is very close to the previous suffix - “child”, “child”, but sometimes it is simply “descendant”. By 1997, there were 1,303,723 surnames with the suffix "-shvili". This ending is very common in Kakheti and Kartli (Peikrishvili, Kululashvili, Elerdashvili).

The suffix “-iani” is also popular in Georgian surnames. This is a “Svan” ending, which is more typical for the western regions of Georgia. Often such a suffix indicates the noble origin of the ancestor. For example, Dadeshkeliani, Dadiani and Gelovani are princely surnames.
The formation of Georgian surnames has various sources. Some of them come from baptismal names - Nikoladze, Georgadze, Davitashvili. Some surnames originate from Muslim names. For example, the surname Jalagonia is derived from the Muslim male name Jalal (“greatness”, “supremacy”) and the Georgian noun “drive” (“mind”, “reasoning”). There are surnames associated with animals - Lominadze (“lomi” - “lion”), Dzhugashvili (“dzug” - “flock”, “flock”).
Quite often, Georgian surnames are tied to a particular locality. Its first bearer often became at the origins of the princely family. This is exactly what the surname Tsereteli is, which comes from the name of the fortress and the village of the same name, located in the north of the Zemo region - “Tserete.”

Armenian surnames

Armenian surnames are a relatively new phenomenon. At least, they began to be officially registered only in the 19th century, when the population census began and the need for documents arose. However, in aristocratic families, surnames appeared in the Middle Ages - Mamikonyan, Artsruni, Amatuni, Rshtuni. Traditionally, noble surnames were preceded by the words “azg” (“clan”) or “tun” (“house”). It sounded like “Clan of Mamikoyans” or “House of Artsruni”.
Before the appearance of surnames among the common people, in order to distinguish two people with the same name they could say, for example, like this: “Ike is the grandson of Arno” and “Ike is the grandson of Garnik.” Sometimes a person was given a characteristic nickname - “lame Amayak”, or “Anait with twelve children”. The need to form surnames arose with the development of society and increased migration of the population.
For the most part, Armenian surnames come from a family ancestor, to whose name an ending was added to indicate affiliation. This ending has undergone a noticeable evolution: in ancient Armenian it was the suffix “-eants”, which was transformed into “-ents”. In modern Armenian, it took the phonetic form “-yants”, which later lost the “ts”, becoming “-yan”.
If earlier, in order to show belonging to a particular family, they said, for example, Daviden, now it sounds like Davidian. However, the last “c” has not disappeared from all surnames. So some Armenians who moved to Russia in the 19th century retained this ending. But in Armenia itself, in particular, in the Zangezur region, such surnames are still found - Adonts, Bakunts, Kalvarents.
The most common form of formation of Armenian surnames from given names, but often they come from the names of professions and crafts - Atstukhyan (“baker”), Voskerchyan (“jeweler”), Ekimyan (“doctor”), Kartashyan (“mason”) or are based on characteristic feature human – Chakhatyan (“fox”), Karchikyan (“dwarf”).
The surnames of residents of western Armenia have their own peculiarity. The entry of this part of the country into the Ottoman Empire affected the fact that the roots of many Armenian surnames are of Turkish origin. Thus, the surname Demirchyan comes from the Turkish word “demirchi” - “blacksmith”. Ethnographer Levon Abrahamyan notes that the letter “ch” in Armenian surnames usually indicates a craft, because in Turkish the names of crafts end in “chi,” for example, “bardakchi” (“potter”). The Armenian surname derived from this word is Bardakchyan.
A curious feature of some Armenian surnames is the prefix “melik”, indicating noble origin (Melik-Hakobyan), as well as “ter”, which was used by clergy and meant “father”, “lord” (Ter-Petrosyan).

Azerbaijani surnames

The appearance of surnames among Azerbaijanis dates back to the beginning of the 20th century - mainly in the first years of the establishment of Soviet power in Azerbaijan. Back in the 19th century, the anthroponymic model of Azerbaijanis consisted of the main name and the name of the father. For men, they added the words “oglu” or “zade” (both meaning “son”), for example, Ibrahim Sattar oglu, and for women - “kyzy” (“daughter”) - for example, Reyhan Kurban kyzy.
However, such names were typical for representatives of the privileged classes; they were the first to receive surnames since the formation of Soviet Azerbaijan. For some time, ordinary people retained a two-part anthroponymic model - a distinguishing nickname and a name attached to it: for example, Kechal Mamed (“bald Mamed”), Cholag Abdullah (“lame Abdullah”) or Uzun Hasan (“long Hasan”).
The first Azerbaijani surnames were often based on the name of the father or grandfather. Such a name was added without changes, but a word denoting a son or daughter was merged with it, for example, Aliaga Selimzade. Similar surnames can still be found today - Jafaroglu, Safaroglu, Ramazanzade. However, already in the first years of Soviet power, Azerbaijanis began to take Russified versions of surnames - Aliyev, Samedov, Vezirova, Mansurov.
Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of Azerbaijani surnames are patronymics, surnames are occasionally found that are associated with the type of activity, for example, the surname Vekilov comes from the word “vekil” (“lawyer”, “defender”).
Surnames that contain the word “khan” - Talishkhanov, Gubakhanov, Shekikhanov - imply belonging to a noble family. For example, the surname Bakikhanov originates from the “Baku khans.”
Azerbaijani surnames are widely used outside the country. According to the Civil Registry Agency of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, in 2011, the top five most common surnames in Georgia included two Azerbaijani ones - Mamedov (25,968 people) and Aliyev (17,605 people).
In March 2013, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice decided to return Azerbaijani surnames to their original sound. From now on, as before, they will end in “-zade”, “-oglu” and “-kyzy”. The Ministry explained this decision by the fact that the Turkic, Iranian and Arabic roots of Azerbaijani surnames do not combine with the Russian suffixes “-ov” and “-ev”.

In a conversation you can come across the following statement: “Here, his last name ends with -in, which means he is a Jew.” Are Susanin, Repin and even Pushkin really Jewish surnames? It’s some kind of strange idea among the people, where did it come from? After all, the suffix -in- is often found in possessive adjectives formed from first declension nouns: cat, mother. While adjectives from words of the second declension are formed using the suffix -ov-: grandfathers, crocodiles. Is it really true that only Jews chose words of the first declension as the basis for their surname? It would be very strange. But probably everything that is on people’s tongues has some basis, even if it has been distorted over time. Let's figure out how to determine nationality by last name.

Ending or suffix?

Calling the familiar -ov/-ev endings is not entirely correct. The ending in Russian is the variable part of the word. Let's see what inclines in surnames: Ivanov - Ivanova - Ivanov. It can be concluded that -ov is a suffix and is followed by a zero ending, as in most masculine nouns. And only in cases or when changing gender and number (Ivanova, Ivanovy) endings are heard. But there is also a folk, and not linguistic, concept of “ending” - what it ends with. In that case, this word is applicable here. And then we can safely determine the ending of surnames by nationality!

Russian surnames

The range of Russian surnames is much wider than those ending in -ov. They are characterized by the suffixes -in, -yn, -ov, -ev, -skoy, -tskoy, -ih, -yh (Lapin, Ptitsyn, Sokolov, Soloviev, Donskoy, Trubetskoy, Moskovskikh, Sedykh).

There are actually as many as 60-70% of Russian surnames with -ov, -ev, but only about 30% with -in, -yn, which is also quite a lot. What is the reason for this ratio? As already mentioned, the suffixes -ov, -ev are added to second declension nouns, most of which are masculine. And since in Russian surnames often originate from the name or occupation of the father (Ivanov, Bondarev), such a suffix is very logical. But there are also male names ending in -a, -ya, and it was from them that the surnames Ilyin and Nikitin arose, the Russianness of which we have no doubt.

What about Ukrainians?

Ukrainian ones are usually formed using the suffixes -enko, -ko, -uk, -yuk. And also without suffixes from words denoting professions (Korolenko, Spirko, Govoruk, Prizhnyuk, Bondar).

More about Jews

Jewish surnames are very diverse, because Jews have been scattered throughout the world for centuries. A sure sign of them can be the suffixes -ich, -man and -er. But even here confusion is possible. Family endings -ich, -ovich, -evich are characteristic of the Poles and Slavic peoples living in East Germany. For example, one of famous poets in Poland - Mickiewicz.

But the basis of a surname can sometimes immediately suggest the Jewish origin of its bearer. If the basis is Levi or Cohen/Cohan, the clan originates from the high priests - the Kohanim or his assistants - the Levites. So everything is clear with Levi, the Levitans, and the Kaganovichs.

What do surnames in -sky and -tsky tell you?

It is incorrect to assume that surnames ending in -sky or -tsky are necessarily Jewish. This stereotype developed because they were common in Poland and Ukraine. In these places there were many family estates; the surnames of the noble owners were formed from the name of the estate. For example, the ancestors of the famous revolutionary Dzerzhinsky owned the Dzerzhinovo estate on the territory of modern Belarus, and then Poland.

Many Jews lived in these areas, so many took local surnames. But Russian nobles also have such surnames, for example, noble surname Dubrovsky from Pushkin’s work is quite real. There are more interesting fact. In seminaries they often gave a surname derived from church holidays- Preobrazhensky, Rozhdestvensky. In this case, determining nationality by the end of surnames can lead to errors. Seminaries also served as the birthplace of surnames with a root unusual for the Russian ear, because they were formed from the Latin words: Formozov, Kastorov. By the way, clerk Ivan Velosipedov served under Ivan the Terrible. But the bicycle had not yet been invented! How is it possible - there is no object, but there is a surname? The solution was this: it turned out to be a tracing paper from the Latin “swift-footed”, only with the original Russian suffix.

Last name starting with -in: revealing the secret!

So what about ending your last name with -in? It is difficult to determine nationality on this basis. Indeed, some Jewish surnames end like this. It turns out that in some of them this is just an external coincidence with the Russian suffix. For example, Khazin descends from the modified surname Khazan - this is the name in Hebrew for one of the types of servants in the temple. Literally this translates as “overseer,” since the hazan monitored the order of worship and the accuracy of the text. You can guess where the surname Khazanov comes from. But she has the “most Russian” suffix -ov!

But there are also matronyms, that is, those that are formed on behalf of the mother. Moreover, the female names from which they were formed were not Russian. For example, the Jewish surname Belkin is a homonym for a Russian surname. It was formed not from a furry animal, but from female name Beila.

German or Jew?

Another interesting pattern has been noticed. As soon as we hear surnames like Rosenfeld, Morgenstern, we immediately confidently determine the nationality of its bearer. Definitely, this is a Jew! But not everything is so simple! After all, these are words of German origin. For example, Rosenfeld is a “field of roses”. How did this happen? It turns out that on the territory of the German Empire, as well as in the Russian and Austrian Empire, there was a decree on assigning surnames to Jews. Of course, they were formed in the language of the country in which the Jew lived. Since they were not passed down from distant ancestors from time immemorial, people chose them themselves. Sometimes this choice could be made by the registrar. This is how many artificial, bizarre surnames appeared that could not have arisen naturally.

How then can one distinguish a Jew from a German if both have German surnames? This is difficult to do. Therefore, here you should not be guided only by the origin of the word; you need to know the pedigree of a particular person. Here, you can’t just determine nationality by the end of your last name!

Georgian surnames

For Georgians, it is not difficult to guess the ending of their last names by nationality. If the Georgian is most likely -shvili, -dze, -uri, -ava, -a, -ua, -ia, -ni, -li, -si (Basilashvili, Svanidze, Pirtskhalava, Adamia, Gelovani, Tsereteli). There are also Georgian surnames that end in -tskaya. This is consonant with Russian (Trubetskaya), but this is not a suffix, and they not only do not change by gender (Diana Gurtskaya - Robert Gurtskaya), but also do not decline by case (with Diana Gurtskaya).

Ossetian surnames

Ossetian surnames are characterized by the ending -ty/-ti (Kokoyty). The ending of the surname in -ev (Abaev, Eziev) is also typical for this nationality; it is usually preceded by a vowel. Often the basis of a word is not clear to us. But sometimes it can turn out to be homonymous or almost homonymous with a Russian word, which is confusing. Among them there are also those that end in -ov: Botov, Bekurov. In fact, these are real Russian suffixes, and they are attached to the Ossetian root according to the tradition of conveying surnames in writing. These are the fruits of the Russification of Ossetian surnames. At the same time, it is stupid to think that all surnames ending in -ev are Ossetian. The ending of a surname with -ev does not determine nationality. Surnames such as Grigoriev, Polev, Gostev are Russian and they differ from similar ones ending in -ov only in that the last consonant in the noun was soft.

A few words about Armenians

Armenian surnames often end in -yan or -yants (Hakopyan, Grigoryants). Actually, -yan is a truncated -yants, which meant belonging to a clan.

Now you know how to find out your nationality by the end of your last name. Yes, it is not always easy to do this with guaranteed accuracy, even with a developed linguistic sense. But as they say, the main thing is that the person is good!

Why do Armenians have last names ending in “yan”?? and got the best answer

Answer from Grigory Davidyan[guru]
This is why many Russian surnames end in “-in”.
The Armenian ending "-yan" (in the original "-yan") indicates possessiveness. This is a common ending in Indo-European languages (-ian, ien, -an, -en, -in, etc.), its analogue in Russian is the ending “-in” for possessive adjectives (for example, mother, father, etc.) .
That is, the meaning is the same as in Russian surnames with “-in” - it indicates belonging, connection.
Historically, the surnames of Armenians were formed by the name (profession, nickname, some personal quality, name of the place of birth/residence, etc.) of the grandfather. That is, an ordinary Armenian surname is a derivative of a man’s name, less often from a profession, the name of a locality, personal qualities, etc. Of course, in practice there are numerous exceptions and distortions.

Reply from Lilia Mustafina[guru]
Because they are Armenians. Slovenian surnames start with “ov”, Belarusians have “ich” so as not to be confused.

Reply from From the Cat[guru]
ARMENIAN

Reply from Irina[guru]
Because -DZE and -SHVILI are already occupied by the Georgians!

Reply from Hamburger[guru]
Armenians have blue blood in Yangtze.

Reply from "AnZoRRo"[guru]
oh Borya!! first learn to write in Russian! and then remember the Armenians!!

Reply from Asya Oganesyan[guru]
This is who we are.)))
But there are also rare Armenian surnames that end in “UNI” - royal surnames.
For example Artsruni.

Reply from Bill Bilalov[newbie]
Armenian

Reply from Karen Hayrapetyan[newbie]
Attention Correct answer!
The ending is Yang or Janz.
In the Armenian language there is the concept of founder of the clan! He is counted from Father to grandson and above.
How?
In the Armenian language, it is customary to name this or that person from a given family in honor of the Founder of the family.
Example Hayrapetyan clan (my last name) I belong to the Hayrapet clan. And in a literal translation, my last name is translated as follows: He is from the clan of Airapet. Thus, YAN is known as< он ИЗ рода>And the word Hayrapet itself in Armanian Hayrapet is translated as Father of Glov. (my family is written about on Wikipedia!) He is my direct ancestor!
here is the link
link

Reply from HARUT AMIRYAN[newbie]
So, -ants (-yanc) is the ending of the genitive plural (compare “nrants” - theirs). In modern Armenian, the suffix -yan is used to form adjectives, for example, “Moskovyan” - Moscow, “Kievyan” - Kiev. Thus, the surname “Sarkisyan” means belonging to the Sarkis family.

The surname, in Armenian “azganun”, means the name of the clan. In the Middle Ages, generic names practically did not exist. If there was a need for a name, it happened like this: if several Arams or several Anaits lived in one settlement, then the residents defined them in different ways: for example, Aram, the grandson of Garnik, or Aram, the grandson of Hayk. Sometimes, for nicknames, worldly nicknames were used, characterizing a recognizable feature of a person, for example, the lame Amayak or Anahit, who has twelve children.

The need to form surnames arose due to the development of society and increased migration of the population. People began to move more often from one area to another, so it became necessary to give people “stable” nicknames, which over time evolved into Armenian surnames. In those days, a tradition arose along with the name to indicate the place where the person came from, for example: Grigor Tatevatsi, Anania Shirakatsi, etc. Or, to name a person, they used his profession - Mkrtich Nakhash, Nikohayos Tsakhkarar, David Kertoh, Grigor Magistros and etc.

Over time, already in the Middle Ages, surnames began to appear in aristocratic Armenian families - Mamikonyan, Artsruni, Amatuni, Rshtuni. When mentioning noble families, the words “azg” (“clan”) or “tun” (“house”, “smoke”) were added to the surnames. For example, “Clan of Mamikonyans”, “Clan of Rshtuni”, or “House of Artsruni”, etc. Over time, family nicknames appeared among peasants and artisans. For example, Khatstukhyan (baker), Voskerchyan (jeweler), Kartashyan (mason), etc.

Armenian surnames also reflect a person’s nickname, characterizing his appearance or character traits (Chakhatyan - fox, Karchikyan - dwarf) and others. In most cases, Armenian surnames are derived from the name of the founder of the clan, to which a prefix or suffix was added to express kinship or affiliation - “yan”, “yantz”, “ents”, “unz”, “onts”, “uni”. The most common surnames ending in “yan” (Chakhalyan, Aramyan, Zhamkochyan), etc. “Yan” was formed from the form “yants” and also means “ents” (Margaryan - Margaryants - Margarents, that is, belonging to the Margara family). Armenian surnames with the suffix “uni” were characteristic of Naharar families (Bagratuni, Amatuni, Rshtuni) as a feature of belonging to a noble Armenian family. Armenian surnames with the suffixes “ents”, “unz”, “onts” are common in Zangezur, for example, Adonts, Bakunts, Mamunts, Kalvarents and also mean belonging to a noble family.

During the census and certification of the population, the surnames of some Armenians living in Russia “Russified”, the ending “ts” was sometimes discarded. This happened for two reasons: either as a result of a copyist's error, or as a result of a conscious choice. The history of each Armenian surname is interesting and original. Surnames did not just appear. Every surname is based on interesting story its formation with its principles, stages of evolution, in every Armenian surname lies certain meaning, the solution of which is being studied by modern philological science - onomastics.

Origin of Armenian surnames

The surname, in Armenian “azganun”, means the name of the clan. In the Middle Ages, generic names practically did not exist. If there was a need for a name, it happened like this: if several Arams or several Anaits lived in one settlement, then the residents defined them in different ways: for example, Aram, the grandson of Garnik, or Aram, the grandson of Hayk. Sometimes, for nicknames, worldly nicknames were used that characterize a recognizable feature of a person, for example, the lame Amayak or Anahit, who has twelve children.

The need to form surnames arose due to the development of society and increased migration of the population. People began to move more often from one area to another, so it became necessary to give people “stable” nicknames, which over time evolved into Armenian surnames. In those days, it became common to indicate along with the name the place where the person came from, for example: Grigor Tatevatsi, Anania Shirakatsi, etc. Or, to name a person, they used his profession - Mkrtich Nakhash, Nikohayos Tsakhkarar, David Kertoh, Grigor Magistros and etc.

Similar processes occurred during the formation of surnames among almost all peoples of the world. For example, from the names of the area where a person was from, Russian surnames such as Kazantsev (from the city of Kazan), Novgorodtsev (from the city of Novgorod) were derived. From a person’s profession came such Russian surnames as Kuznetsov, Goncharov, or the Ukrainian surname Kovalenko (Koval means blacksmith in Ukrainian).

Types of Armenian surnames. Endings in Armenian surnames

Over time, family nicknames appeared among peasants and artisans. For example, Khatstukhyan (baker), Voskerchyan (jeweler), Kartashyan (mason), etc.

Armenian surnames also reflect a person’s nickname, characterizing his appearance or character traits (Chakhatyan - fox, Karchikyan - dwarf) and others.

In most cases, Armenian surnames are derived from the name of the founder of the clan, to which a prefix or suffix was added, expressing kinship, or affiliation, or - “yan”, “yantz”, “ents”, “unz”, “onts”, “uni”.

The most common surnames ending in “yan” (Chakhalyan, Aramyan, Zhamkochyan), etc. “Yan” was formed from the form “yants”, and also means “ents” (Margaryan - Margaryants - Margarents, that is, belonging to the Margara family).

Armenian surnames with the suffix “uni” were characteristic of Naharar families (Bagratuni, Amatuni, Rshtuni), as a feature of belonging to a noble Armenian family.

Armenian surnames with the suffixes “ents”, “unz”, “onts” are common in Zangezur, for example, Adonts, Bakunts, Mamunts, Kalvarents and also mean belonging to a noble family.

Evolution of Armenian surnames

During the census and certification of the population, the surnames of some Armenians living in Russia “Russified”, the ending “ts” was sometimes discarded. This happened for dubious reasons, either as a result of a copyist's error, or as a result of a conscious choice. The history of each Armenian surname is interesting and original. Surnames did not just appear. Each surname is based on an interesting history of its formation with its own principles, stages of evolution; each Armenian surname has a certain meaning, the solution of which is being solved by modern philological science - onomastics.

History of Armenian surnames, using the example of the surname Chakhalyan

The Research Institute “Center for the Study of Surnames” has been engaged in scientific research of the surnames of the peoples of the world, including Armenian surnames, for many years. Our Center has carried out work to study several hundred Armenian surnames. We invite you to familiarize yourself with an example of the Armenian surname Chakhalyan that we researched.

At the Research Institute "Center for the Study of Surnames" you can order a scientific study of the Armenian surname, as well as the surnames of other peoples of the world as a gift to yourself, your family, friends and loved ones!!!

The surname Chakhalyan is one of the very rare Armenian surnames, the origin of which is associated with the borrowing of words from the languages of the peoples neighboring Armenia.

Armenians (self-name - hai) - one of ancient peoples world, the formation of which as a nation began in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. The ancient core of Armenia was the population of the northeastern part of Asia Minor. This country was called Armatana in Hittite inscriptions (XVI-XV centuries BC), and later (XIV-XIII centuries BC) Hayasa. Since ancient times, Armenia had to fight with numerous conquerors. They were the Cimmerians, Scythians, Persians, Romans, Parthians, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks. In the fight against them, the Armenian nation strengthened and developed. The era of Turkish rule left the most difficult mark on the history of the Armenian people. But despite everything, the Armenian people created a high and unique culture that entered the treasury of world culture.

According to the time of their origin, Armenian surnames are among the most ancient in the world. The surname (“azganun”) in Armenian means the name of the clan. Armenian surnames, as a rule, are formed from the name of the revered ancestor, to which is added an ending expressing belonging to the clan - “yan”, “yantz”, “ents”, “unz”, “onts”, “uni”. The most common surnames are those ending in “Yang”. “Yan” was formed from the form “yantz,” which goes back to the ancient form “ents,” which means “from such and such a family.” The surname Chakhalyan therefore means “from the Chahal family.”

However, neither the word nor the name Chahal is in the Armenian language. The nickname Chahal, apparently, was formed on the basis of other languages. There are two versions of the origin of the Chakhalyan surname: Crimean Tatar and Persian.

It is known that even in ancient times, Greek colonies were formed on the banks of the Crimea, Kuban and the Caucasus. They existed until the Middle Ages, and some, for example, in Crimea, much longer. They were multinational in composition. Communities of Armenian merchants and artisans were also a prominent ethnic group. From the Greek word “chukalas” the Crimean Tatar word “chakala” was formed, which in the Crimean cities was used to describe skilled pottery masters who made clay vessels of the finest workmanship, very popular among the Crimean Tatar nobility. It is possible that the nickname Chahal may go back precisely to the word “chakala”, and means “skilled potter”. What is surprising is that in this case the surname Chakhalyan is close in origin and even consonant with such a well-known Russian surname too Tatar origin, worn by the great Soviet pilot Valery Chkalov. His surname is also derived from the Crimean Tatar word “chakala”.

Another, more romantic and, perhaps, even heroic version of the origin of the Chakhalyan surname is quite probable. Translated from Persian, the word Chahal, which, by the way, entered the Turkish language, means “jackal.” We must assume that this is exactly what the Persian and Turkish conquerors called the Armenian rebels who tried to fight with arms in their hands for the independence of their homeland. Among them was the founder of the Chakhalyan family, who took the nickname Chahal. After all, it is well known that an insult from the lips of an angry enemy is the best praise for a warrior.

Over the long centuries of our bright and eventful history, much has been forgotten, ancient traditions and customs have become a thing of the past, crafts have disappeared, and the language has changed. It is all the more important and interesting for descendants to preserve the memory of the reasons for the appearance of a name or nickname that became the basis of their surname - a precious monument of national culture.

Bibliographical sources:
Garibyan A.S. Short course of the Armenian language. Yerevan, 1960

Bryusov V.Ya. Chronicle of the historical destinies of the Armenian people. M., 1918

Baskakov N.A. Introduction to the study of Turkic languages. M., 1969