A Georgian name consists of a

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a ...

and a surname used by ethnic Georgians.

Given names

According to the Public Service Hall the most common Georgian names are:Georgian names
Public Service Hall Males: Giorgi, Davit,

Zurab Zurab ( Georgian: ზურაბ) is a Georgian masculine given name. It derives from the Persian Sohrab, a name of the legendary warrior from Ferdowsi's ''Shahnameh''. It may refer to: *Zurab Adeishvili (born 1972), Georgian jurist and politicia ...

, Levan, Aleksandre,

Irakli Irakli, Irakly ( ka, ირაკლი), or Erekle ( ka, ერეკლე) is a Georgians, Georgian version of the Greek name Heracles, and is a popular masculine name in Georgia (country), Georgia. Notable people with these names include: Erek ...

Mikheil Mikheil ( ka, მიხეილ) is a masculine Georgian given name. It may refer to: * Mikheil of Georgia, Georgian royal prince, son of King George XII *Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgian politician, former President of Georgia * Mikheil Janelidze, Ge ...

, Tamaz, Nikoloz and Avtandil. Females: Nino, Tamar, Mariam, Maia,

Nana Nana, Nanna, Na Na or NANA may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nana (given name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Nana (surname), including a list of people and characters with the surname * Nana ( ...

, Ketevan, Natela, Manana, Natia and Ana.

Surnames

CoA of the Most Serene Prince Dadian of Mingrelia

Georgian surnames are derived either from

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

s or, less frequently, from

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

s, with addition of various suffixes. Georgian suffixes vary by region. The most common Georgian suffixes are: * -shvili (-შვილი): meaning " child": from western and eastern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. E.g.

Baratashvili Baratashvili ( ka, ბარათაშვილი) is a Georgian noble family, appearing at the end of the 15th century as a continuation of the Kachibadze (ქაჩიბაძე), which were possibly related to the Liparitids-Orbeli. The ...

Andronikashvili The Andronikashvili ( ka, ანდრონიკაშვილები), sometimes known as Endronikashvili (ენდრონიკაშვილები), was a countly family in Georgia who claimed descent from emperor Andronicos I of th ...

Guramishvili Guramishvili ( ka, გურამიშვილი; russian: Гурамишвили; Гурамов) is a Georgian noble family derived from the House of Zevdginidze and known since the 16th century in the eastern provinces of the country. The ...

, etc. * -dze (-ძე): meaning "

son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

": from western and eastern

. E.g.

Abashidze The Abashidze ( ka, აბაშიძე) is a Georgian family and a former princely house. Appearing in the 15th century, they achieved prominence in the Kingdom of Imereti in western Georgia in the late 17th century and branched out in the ea ...

Arveladze Arveladze ( ka, არველაძე) is a Georgian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Shota Arveladze (born 1973), Georgian footballer *Archil Arveladze (born 1973), Georgian footballer, identical twin of Shota * Revaz Arvelad ...

, Kaladze, etc. * -eli (-ელი): meaning "

from From may refer to: * From, a preposition * From (SQL), computing language keyword * From: (email message header), field showing the sender of an email * FromSoftware, a Japanese video game company * Full range of motion, the travel in a rang ...

(place)": from eastern and western

. E.g.

Jaqeli The House of Jaqeli ( ka, ჯაყელი) was a Georgian princely (''mtavari'') family and a ruling dynasty of the Principality of Samtskhe, an offshoot of the House of Chorchaneli. History "Jaqeli", literally meaning "of/from Jaqi", was o ...

Tsereteli The Tsereteli family ( ka, წერეთელი), also known as Tsertelev (Russian), is a noble family in Georgia (and partly, a Russian noble family) which gave origin to several notable writers, politicians, scholars, and artists. History ...

, Amashukeli, etc. * -uri and -uli (-ური) and (-ული): from mountainous eastern

. E.g.

Donauri Donauri ( ka, დონაური) was a Georgian noble family to which belonged two ruling princes of the eastern province of Kakheti in the ninth century, and which gave origin to the latter-day noble family of Vachnadze, and, possibly, to tha ...

, Burduli, etc. * -ani (-ანი): Svan surname from mountainous western

. E.g.

Dadeshkeliani The Dadeshkeliani or Dadishkeliani ( ka, დადეშქელიანი, დადიშქელიანი) was an aristocratic family from the mountainous western Georgian province of Svaneti. They ruled the Principality of Svaneti from ...

Dadiani The House of Dadiani ( ka, დადიანი ), later known as the House of Dadiani- Chikovani, was a Georgian family of nobles, dukes and princes, and a ruling dynasty of the western Georgian province of Mingrelia. The House of Dadiani Th ...

, Kipiani, etc. * -ia, -ua, -ava and -skiri (-ია), (-უა), (-ავა) and (-სკირი):

Mingrelian Mingrelian may refer to: *the Mingrelians *the Mingrelian language Mingrelian or Megrelian (, ) is a Kartvelian language spoken in Western Georgia (regions of Mingrelia and Abkhazia), primarily by the Mingrelians. The language was also called kol ...

surname from western

. E.g. Abakelia, Chichua, Gvazava, Kvekveskiri, etc. * -shi (-ში): Laz surname from western

. E.g. Tugushi, Khalvashi, Jashi, etc. * -khi (-ხი): from southern

. E.g. Meskhi, Lashkhi, etc. * -kva (-ყვა): from western

. E.g. Ingorokva, Rokva, etc. * -ioni (-იონი): from eastern and western

. E.g. Bagrationi, Kimerioni, etc. * -ti (-ტი): from western

. E.g. Glonti, Jgenti, Jibuti etc. The first recorded Georgian surnames date to the 7th–8th century. They were mostly toponymic in nature (such as Surameli,

Machabeli Machabeli ( sing. ka, მაჩაბელი; pl. მაჩაბლები, ''Machablebi'') was a Georgian princely house (''tavadi'') which held a large fiefdom (''satavado'') in the province of Inner Kartli (central Georgia) called Sa ...

etc.), patronymic, or derived from the profession, social status, position, or title, which was hereditary in the family (such as

Amilakhvari The Amilkhvari ( ka, ამილახვარი) was a noble house of Georgia which rose to prominence in the fifteenth century and held a large fiefdom in central Georgia until the Imperial Russian annexation of the country in 1801. They were ...

, Amirejibi,

Eristavi ''Eristavi'' (; literally, "head of the nation") was a Georgian feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine '' strategos'' and normally translated into English as "prince" or less commonly as "duke". In the Georgian aristocratic hierarch ...

etc.). Beginning from the 13th century, the surnames became more frequently based upon patronymics, a tradition which became almost universal in the 17th–18th century. Some of the Georgian surnames indicate ethnicity or regional origin of the family, and are also generated as patronymics. Examples are Kartvelishvili ("child of Kartveli", i.e.,

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

), Megrelishvili ("child of Megreli", i.e., Mingrelian), Cherkezishvili ("child of Cherkezi", i.e., Circassian),

Abkhazi Abkhazi ( ka, აფხაზი; also known as Abkhazishvili) was a princely family in Georgia, a branch of the Shervashidze family from Abkhazia. According to the genealogical treatise by Prince Ioann of Georgia (1768-1830), the ancestors of t ...

shvili ("child of Abkhazi", i.e., Abkhazian), Somkhishvili ("child of Somekhi", i.e.,

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

), Berdzenishvili ("child of Berdzeni", i.e.,

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

), Prangishvili ("child of Prangi", i.e., French). There are some very rare Georgian surnames like Jolbordi, Galogre, Lapachi, Molodini, Shermadini, Sivsive, Gverdtsiteli, Kiuti, Mujiri, Megvinetukhutsesi etc. According to the Public Service Hall the most common Georgian surnames are: Beridze, Kapanadze, Gelashvili, Maisuradze, Giorgadze, Lomidze, Tsiklauri, Bolkvadze, Kvaratskhelia and Nozadze.

References

{{Georgia (country) topics Names by culture