Decoding -yan: The History Behind Armenian Surnames

Turn on the television, scroll through a movie credit reel, or scan the spine of a book in a library, and you are almost guaranteed to encounter it: the suffix -ian or -yan. From reality TV moguls the Kardashians to the heavy metal icons in System of a Down, and from chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov (born Weinstein, mother Gasparyan) to the legendary singer Cher (born Sarkisian), these three letters act as an instant cultural identifier.

For Armenians, a surname is more than a legal tag; it is a coordinate system. It tells a story of ancestry, geography, trade, and survival. While English speakers have “Johnson” and “Smith”, and Scandinavians have “Larsson”, the Armenians possess one of the most consistent and recognizable patronymic markers in the world.

But where did this suffix come from? To decode the Armenian surname is to study the history of a people who have lived at the crossroads of empires for millennia. Here is the linguistics and history behind the “Yan.”

The Etymology of Belonging: What Does “-ian” Mean?

In the expansive world of linguistics, Armenian is a unique branch of the Indo-European language family. However, its naming conventions share a functional similarity with many other cultures.

The suffix -ian (Armenian: յան) or -yan translates roughly to “issued from”, “family of”, or simply “son of.” It indicates possession or belonging. Therefore, a name like Petrosian literally translates to “Petros’s family” or “Son of Petros.”

Linguistically, this functions similarly to the English -son (Harrison), the Gaelic Mac- (MacDonald), the Slavic -ov/-ev (Ivanov), or the Semitic Ben/Ibn. However, unlike some cultures where surnames were reserved for the aristocracy until the modern era, the Armenian use of distinct family names has deep roots, though they notably evolved from clan names into the fixed modern surnames we see today largely during the 19th century.

Deconstructing the Name: The Root Word

If the suffix provides the grammar, the root of the name provides the history. You can usually classify Armenian surnames into four distinct linguistic categories. By looking at the root word before the “-ian”, you can often determine what a family’s ancestor did for a living or where they hailed from.

1. Patronymics (The Father’s Name)

This is the most common category. The surname is derived directly from a male ancestor’s first name. Since Christianity became the state religion of Armenia in 301 AD, many of these roots are Biblical or distinctively Armenian variants of Judeo-Christian names.

• Grigoryan: Son of Grigor (Gregory).
• Hovhannisyan: Son of Hovhannes (John).
• Sarkisian: Son of Sarkis (Sergius).
• Davtyan: Son of Davit (David).

2. Occupational Surnames (The Trade)

Just as the English have “Baker”, “Miller”, and “Smith”, Armenians have a vast repository of trade-based names. Interestingly, many of these roots borrow from Turkish, Persian, or Arabic, reflecting the centuries Armenians lived under the Ottoman and Persian empires. While the language of the home was Armenian, the language of the market was often distinct.

• Najarian: Using the root najar (carpenter), this is “Son of the Carpenter.”
• Boyajian: Root boyaji (one who paints or dyes), meaning “Son of the Painter.”
• Demirjian: Root demir (iron), equating to “Smith” or “Son of the Blacksmith.”
• Kardashian: A combination of kar (stone) and dash (carver/mason). This name signifies a lineage of stone masons—prophetic, perhaps, for a family that built a modern empire, though of a different sort.

3. Geographic Surnames (The Toponyms)

When families migrated, they often took the name of their hometown with them. These names are vital historical records, often pointing to villages in Western Armenia (modern-day Eastern Turkey) that no longer exist or have been renamed.

• Vanetsian: Someone from the city of Van.
• Marashlian: Someone from the city of Marash.
• Shirakian: Someone from the Shirak region.

4. Trait-Based Surnames

Sometimes, a defining physical or personality trait of an ancestor stuck.

• Topalian: From the root topal, meaning “lame” or “limping.”
• Chobanian: Meaning “shepherd” (also an occupation, but often associated with the lifestyle).
• Meldonian: Derived from Melkon, usually associated with one of the Biblical Magi, often implying wisdom or nobility.

-Ian vs. -Yan: Is There a Difference?

One common question linguistic enthusiasts ask is: “Why are some spelled -ian and others -yan?”

The answer lies in transliteration and geopolitics, not in different meanings. In the Armenian alphabet, the sound is represented by a single letter: Յ (hiwn) in Classical naming or the combination generally producing the ‘y’ sound.

The split occurred due to the diaspora:

• The “-ian” spelling: This is most common in the Western Diaspora (United States, France, Lebanon, Syria). Influenced by French and English transliteration norms, Western Armenians (many of whom fled the 1915 Genocide) typically use -ian.
• The “-yan” spelling: This is typical of Eastern Armenian and families who lived under the Soviet Union. The Russian language transliterates the sound as -yan. Consequently, Armenians from the modern Republic of Armenia mostly use this spelling (e.g., Pashinyan, Mkhitaryan).

Aristocracy and the “-uni” Suffix

While -ian is the hallmark of the masses, it wasn’t always the only suffix. Historically, ancient Armenian nobility used the suffix -uni (ունի) or -yants.

Families like the Bagratuni (a royal dynasty that ruled parts of Armenia and Georgia) and the Arshakuni used this structure to denote dynastic power. Over centuries, as the feudal structure dissolved and naming conventions were democratized, the -ian suffix became the universal standard, though you will still find families ending in -unts or -ents in specific regions like Zangezur and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

The Diaspora and Changed Names

The history of Armenian surnames is also a history of adaptation and, tragically, concealment. Following the Armenian Genocide of 1915, survivors scattered across the globe. To avoid discrimination, gain safe passage, or assimilate into new cultures, many truncated or altered their names.

In Turkey, following the 1934 Surname Law, many Armenians were forced to replace -ian with the Turkish patronymic -oğlu. In Russia, some names were Russified with -ov (e.g., Kaprielov). In the United States, names were often anglicized by immigration officers or the families themselves. The famous French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour was born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian. In these cut stems, the phantom limb of the “-ian” often remains visible to those who know where to look.

A Suffix as a Flag

Today, the suffix serves as more than a linguistic tool; it is a point of connection. When two strangers meet—one from Los Angeles, the other from Beirut or Yerevan—and exchange names ending in “-ian”, a shared history is instantly acknowledged without a word being spoken.

From the stone masons (Kardashian) to the sons of priests (Derderian) and the blacksmiths (Demirjian), these surnames are linguistic fossils. They preserve the memory of towns lost, trades practiced, and ancestors who survived, carrying their identity in three simple letters at the end of a name.