These names are drawn from the Defter-i Mufassal-ı Livā-i Sivas, the 1574/1575 listing of every adult male (aged 15 and up) and the taxes they owed. Sivas had a sizable Shi’ite population, as well as an Armenian population. Abbas Abdal Abdi Abdül Abdülaziz Abdülcabbar Abdülcelil Abdülfettah Abdülgaffar Abdülgani Abdülhalil Abdülhalim…
This section is under development and full of holes. I offer it in the name of giving you a jumping-off point for your own research, since there is so little in English about period Armenian names. Each source has its own transliteration method and unique oddities, so until I’ve done…
Source: Catalogue of the Armenian Manuscripts in the Bodleian Male Names Abdalhath, 1564 Abel, 1453 Abraham, 1324 Aḷbraseḷ Phirbashkh, 1631 Alfath, 1609 Alfay Thun, 1609 Amir Asath, 1587 Amirdschan, 16th century Amir Ezdin, 16th century Amirkher, 16th century Amirzade, 1641 Andreas, 1453, 16th century, 1511 Andrias, 16th century, c. 1618…
Source: Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art Male Names Amirbek, 1460 Anton, 1268-9 Ar.akel, 1268-9 Aslan, 1329 Astuadsatur, 1520 Awag, 1356-8 Awetik, c. 1420-32 Awetis, c. 1262-66 Barsegh, 11th century Daniel, 1419 Davit, 1626 Dser, 1419 Eghian, 986 Esayi, 1318 Ewargris, 1038 Ewdok’s-Ewt’im Grigor, 986, 1173,…
Source: The Chester Beatty Library: A Catalogue of the Armenian Manuscripts [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] Male Names Abraham, 12th century Alek’sanos, 1489 Alik’sianos, 1489, 1600 Alexander, before 1588 Alt’un, 1624 Aprelus, 12th century Arak’el, 1364, 1446, 1541 Arghut’a, 1357 Arsen, 1574 Arta, c. 1273 Aslan, 1601 Astvadsatur, 1364,…
Source: Colophons of Armenian Manuscripts, 1301-1480 Everyone in this list was an Armenian-born Christian, despite the occasional presence of Muslim names like Abdǝl-Aziz. This source uses the 1913 version of the Hübschmann-Meillet transcription system. Male Names Female Names Because of the rarity of women’s names in this source, the list…
Male Names Amirdovlatʽ: Arabic amir “commander” + Persian dowlat “wealth” Amir-Pʽašʽay: Arabic amir “commander” + Turkish paşa “high-ranking lord” Aṙakʽel: Armenian aragil, “stork” [source] Ǝṙǝstakēs, Aristakes: St. Aristakes was the second son of St. Gregory the Illuminator, the founder of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He succeeded his father as second…
Source: A Catalogue of Armenian Manuscripts in the British Museum This source was mined mainly for female names and unusual male names, and is not a complete list of all names in the source. Male Names Akhratin, 1436 Aḷadschan, 1582 Aḷa (Agha) Mir, 1553 Aḷámir, 1553 Aḷawêlin, 1582 Alexianus, 1460…
[in progress] Family Names Although not all Romaniote Jews had family names, the practice was well established by the 15th century. There were several types of family names: Patronymics. These were originally the bearer’s father’s real name, but by the time the names entered the records in the 15th and…
Avna’im: Hebrew Afnaim, “truly agreeable.” [link] Possibly Sephardic. Başçı: Transliterated in Hebrew as Bashaytzi or Bashaychi. Turkish, “teacher, scribe.” Beni: Possibly a nickname for Benjamin. Benveneste: Spanish “Benveniste,” indicating marriage into a Sephardic family. Finzi: An Italian Jewish family name dating to at least the 12th century. From the Italian pinchas via the Latin finca.…