Names in my family and etymology of Armenian names.

    Ever since I can remember, I was interested in names, their origins, etymology. I grew up in a Russian-speaking town in Ukraine and let's say my name was very unusual for local people. When I was growing up I literally loathed my name and wished I had a different name...like Olga or Natasha, or any other name that sounded Russian. Whenever I won school awards, my name was always spelled wrong. Even in my birth certificate it was spelled wrong. My neighbors, teachers and friends created different variations of my name to make it easier - Susanna, Suzanna, Shush, Shushy, Shanna, Shushka, Shanka, Shu etc.
   I made a little research to study the origin of my name. The name Shushanna comes from Hebrew. It means Graceful Lily (a flower). There are different variants of my name - Shoshanna, Shoshannah, Susanna, Sosanna. According to one Armenian website it came to the Armenian language from Assyrian. Assyrians have a similar name - šušan or šošan. Also, my name is mentioned in the Bible. Shushan or Susa (in Greek) was an ancient capital of Elam, a province in Mesopotamia. The events of Esther's story occurred there.


      Esther 1:2 The throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace


      Esther 8:15 And the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad


      Esther 2:8 When the king's order and edict had been proclaimed, many girls were brought to        the citadel  of Susa and put under the care of Hegai.


     Ezra 4:9 The Elamites of Susa.


     Daniel 8:2 I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam.

    This past month I've been reading a lot about Armenian names. I'm studying my genealogy and trying to build my family tree and some of my ancestor's names are mouthful. I asked my parents to explain me the meaning of their names and they didn't know. Most Armenians don't know much about the origin of their names, surnames. And I'm sure a lot of them would be unpleasantly surprised to discover that the majority of Armenian first names have Persian, Assyrian, Parthian, Hebrew, Greek origins. I refer to typical Armenian names that have been widespread for centuries. Nowadays there's a tendency to give their children European names that they hear in songs, movies, books, etc. For instance, both of my nieces are called Angelica (French), my aunt's and cousins' name is Alisa (French), my other cousin's name is Marina (Greek "sea daughter").
    Now I'm going to give you a list of male and female names of some of my family members. In the brackets I will explain the meaning and the origin of their names. You can see that many names were borrowed from neighboring countries. I list them in no particular order.

                                                             Female names:

1.  Anahit (cousin) - Parthian Anahit which is the name of an old Persian goddess also worshiped in Armenia. "Pleasant", "pure".
2. Anush (aunt) - Parthian anoš - "immortal" later "pleasant", "sweet".
3. Ani (cousin) - comes from Armenian Middle Age capital Ani. It is in use now.
4. Rehan (great grandmother) -  from Arabian raihan plant name, which is in use in Armenia since XVII c.
5. Lusineh (cousin) - from Armenian lusin "moon" and eh particle which makes it female.
6. Rita (mom) - is the diminutive form of the Greek name Margarita that is also used in German, Russian. Means "Pearl".
7. Sona (aunt) - comes from Indian (Sanskrit), means Gold.
8. Arevik (aunt) -  from Armenian arev "sun" +ik diminutive suffix. It appeared in XIII c. and is used till now.
9. Anna (cousins) - it is of Hebrew origin, and the meaning of Anna is "He (God) has favored me".
10. Fidan (my grandmother) - Fidan is a female name of Turkish origin meaning "sapling."
11. Karineh (cousin) - Probably it came from the name of the town Karin in XIX c.
12. Manushak (cousin) - from Armenian manushak "violet" flower name which is borrowed from Persian.
13.Gayaneh (cousin) - is the female variant of the Latin name Gaianus.
14. Gohar (aunt) - As a name it appeared in XII c. from Persian guhar, "diamond".
15. Siran (mom's aunt) - from Armenian "lovely".
16. Tamar (aunt) - is a female name of Hebrew origin, meaning "date" (the edible kind), "date palm" or just "palm tree".
17. Seda (aunt) - from Arabian seyda "mistress" which is in use in Armenia since IX c.
18. Mariam (cousin) -  it is a Hebrew name.  It may mean "wished-for child", "bitter", "rebellious" or "strong waters".
19. Haykanush (cousin) - from Armenian name Hayk and anush female particle.
20. Ripsime (aunt) -  Rhipsime was an Armenian virgin and martyr of Roman origin. She and her companions in martyrdom are venerated as the first Christian martyrs of Armenia.
21. Hatun (great grandmother) - is a Persian-Turkish name. In the Ottoman period the term "hatun" was used as an honorific for women, equivalent to the English term "lady".
22. Sanam (great grandmother) - the origin of the name Sanam is Arabic. It means Beloved, Mistress.


                                                             Male names:    


1. Esai (dad) - comes from Hebrew, it's an Armenian version of the name Isaiah.

2. Levon (brother) - from Greek leon "lion" (Latin Leo, Russian Lev, French Leon etc.)
3. Vahram (cousin) - from Parthian name Vahram "spring".
4. Kirakos (my great grandfather)-  from Greek kuriakos "state".
5. Martiros (my other great grandfather) - is a Greek name, which means "martyr".
6. Toros  (my grandfather) -  is the short form of the name Teodoros. Means "gift of God" from Greek.
7. Suren (my grandfather) - from Parthian name Suren which consists of Zend sura "strong" and en suffix.
8. Ruben (my uncle) - means "behold, a son" in Hebrew.
9. Hacob (uncle) - it is of Hebrew origin, and the meaning of Hacob is "he who supplants" (English Jacob).
10. Hoseph (uncle) - it is of Hebrew origin and the meaning 'God will increase' (English Joseph).
11. Hamlet (cousin) - came by means of literature ("Hamlet" by Shakespeare).
12. Gevorg (cousin) - from Greek georgos "farmer"(Greek ge "ground ", "earth")
13. Harutyun (cousin) - from Armenian harutyun "rise from the dead" or "resurrected".
14. Khachik  (cousin) -  from Armenian khach "cross" + ik diminutive suffix.
15. Zacharia (great great grandfather) - from Hebrew name Zakharia "having good memory".
16. Mkrtich (great grandfather) - from Armenian verb mkrtel "baptize".
17. Samvel - (great grandfather) - from Hebrew name Samuel "appointed by God", "tribute to God".
18. Gagik (uncle) - from Assyrian name Gag + ik Armenian suffix.
19. Rostam (mom's uncle) - from Parthian name Rustam "flood", "deluge" which came through Persian.
20. Tovmas (mom's uncle) - it is of Aramaic origin, and the meaning of Thovmas is "twin" (Thomas).

     I don't know if this information would be of any use for you. But writing this post was very interesting for me. I believe that our names can have an influence on our personalities and even our destiny. So, when choosing a name for your child, try to make as much research as possible. Because they will have to live with this name their whole life. Have a great day, everyone!
Love,
Shushanna.