Your Armenian last name may preserve an ancestor’s first name, a family trade, or the town where a family once lived. Once you understand its parts, a familiar name can take on a whole new meaning.
Petrosyan connects to the name Peter. Najarian points to carpentry. Marashlian carries the name of a place. These are useful starting points for understanding how Armenian surnames were formed—and why families continue to carry them with pride.
What do -ian and -yan mean?
Many Armenian surnames end in -ian or -yan. These endings express a family connection, commonly explained as “descendant of” or “from the family of.”
When the first part is a person’s name, the meaning is easy to follow. Petrosyan comes from Petros, the Armenian form of Peter. Think of it as “the family of Petros,” much like the English surname Peterson.
The ending became part of a surname passed down through generations. Someone called Petrosyan today carries that inherited family name; their father does not need to be named Petros.
You will see both Petrosian and Petrosyan in English. The -ian and -yan spellings represent the same familiar Armenian family ending.
Names that began with an ancestor
A first name is behind many Armenian surnames. Here are three examples:
- Petrosyan / Petrosian: from Petros, or Peter.
- Hovhannisyan / Hovhannisian: from Hovhannes, the Armenian form of John.
- Vartanian: from the given name Vartan.
Knowing the first name makes the surname easier to understand. Hovhannisyan and Johnson, for example, follow a similar idea in different languages: a family name built from John.
Names that preserve a family trade
Other surnames grew from the work people did. A craft or occupation could become the way a household was known, then remain as its family name.
- Najarian: connected to a word for carpenter.
- Nalbandian: connected to shoeing horses—a skilled trade carried out by a farrier.
- Ekmekjian: connected to making or selling bread.
These names bring everyday life into view: people building things, caring for working animals, and feeding their neighbors. An occupation that once identified a household could stay in the name long after later generations chose different work.
Armenian surnames also contain words from languages spoken alongside Armenian, including Turkish, Persian, and Arabic. They reflect the places and communities in which Armenian families lived and worked.
Kardashian and the stonecutter connection
Kardashian is connected to the Armenian surname also written Kartashyan. Its root is the Armenian word kartash, meaning stonecutter or stonemason. With the family ending added, it points to a family associated with that craft.
The two English forms reflect differences in Armenian pronunciation and the way sounds are written in English. Kardashian follows Western Armenian pronunciation. Kartashyan more closely reflects the Eastern Armenian form.
Seeing the names together makes the connection clearer: different spellings can preserve the same surname root.
Names that carry a place
Some surnames identify where a family came from. Marashlian, for example, points to Marash, a city with a historic Armenian community.
A place-based surname can keep a hometown in daily use, even when descendants live far away. Learning that place’s history adds something concrete to the name: a location, a community, and a setting for earlier generations’ lives.
What do Ter- and Der- mean?
The prefixes Ter- and Der- can indicate descent from an Armenian priest. Ter-Petrosyan is one example. These forms reflect Eastern and Western Armenian usage.
Here, the surname preserves another kind of family connection: a link to the Armenian Church and someone who served within it.
Why does the same name have different spellings?
Armenian uses its own alphabet. Writing an Armenian name in English means choosing letters to represent its sounds. Different pronunciation traditions and spelling choices help explain why related forms appear in records.
Families also settled in countries with different languages. Some kept a long-established spelling; others shortened or adapted their names. Looking at several forms together can help you recognize a connection that is easy to miss when reading only one version.
Explore your own Armenian last name
CIF’s surname search is a place to start learning about your name’s meaning and background. Enter the spelling you use, then explore the explanation and any related forms it gives you.
To connect that meaning to your particular family, dates, places, and family records can help identify the people who carried it. The name gives you a starting point; those details help fill in the family history.
Explore your Armenian last name →
Understanding a familiar surname can make it feel more personal. A name you have written thousands of times may also carry an ancestor’s name, a craft, or a hometown worth knowing.
