Georgian Surnames: Endings, Meanings and the Most Common Names

Georgians can tell where someone's family is from within a second of hearing their surname. Shengelia is Mingrelian, Margiani is Svan, Tsiklauri comes from the mountains, and Kapanadze is most likely from Imereti. It works because surnames formed region by region, and each region has its own suffix. Here is what the endings mean, which surnames are most common and where Russian versions like Tsitsianov and Bagration came from.

Georgian surname endings and regions

The root of a surname is usually an ancestor's name, nickname or trade. The ending says "children of so-and-so" or "people of such a place". The main types:

The rule is not absolute: people have moved for centuries, so today there are Gelashvilis in Batumi and Beridzes in Tbilisi. But as a clue to a family's roots, the ending is right most of the time.

-shvili vs -dze: what's the difference?

These are the two biggest types and cover most Georgian surnames.

-shvili (შვილი) means "child". Gelashvili is "children of Gela", Davitashvili "children of Davit". These names are typical of eastern Georgia: Kakheti, Kartli and the area around Tbilisi. On a trip to Kakheti's wineries, nearly every host will be a "-shvili".

-dze (ძე) means "son". Beridze is "son of a monk" (beri means monk), Lomidze "son of Loma". This type dominates western Georgia: Imereti, Guria, Racha and especially Adjara, where most residents carry -dze names.

Interestingly, "-dze" is the older, more literary form used in medieval charters ("Davit, son of Bagrat"), while "-shvili" is a living everyday word that took hold later.

Mingrelian surnames: -ia, -ua, -ava

Samegrelo is a western region by the Black Sea with its own Mingrelian language. It gives surnames ending in -ia (Shengelia, Kvaratskhelia, Gamsakhurdia, Danelia), -ua (Gogua, Jojua), -ava (Okujava, Chikobava) and -aia (Chachava). Football fans know one immediately: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is a classic Mingrelian surname.

Svan surnames ending in -ani

Svans live in mountainous Svaneti and speak the Svan language. Their surnames end in -ani or -iani: Margiani, Gurchiani, Liparteliani, Dadeshkeliani. It is a suffix of belonging to a clan. In Svaneti people still remember which family built which tower in Mestia or Ushguli, so the surname works almost like an address.

Mountain surnames ending in -uri and -uli

In the highlands of Khevsureti, Pshavi, Mtiuleti and Tusheti, surnames often end in -uri or -uli: Tsiklauri, Arabuli, Chincharauli. The suffix points to a place or community. Tsiklauri is one of the most common surnames in the country, and its bearers usually trace their roots to the mountains along the Georgian Military Road, the same road you take to Kazbegi.

The most common surnames in Georgia

According to the registry of Georgia's Public Service Development Agency, the top ten are:

1. Beridze — ბერიძე
2. Kapanadze — კაპანაძე
3. Gelashvili — გელაშვილი
4. Maisuradze — მაისურაძე
5. Giorgadze — გიორგაძე
6. Lomidze — ლომიძე
7. Tsiklauri — წიკლაური
8. Bolkvadze — ბოლქვაძე
9. Kvaratskhelia — კვარაცხელია
10. Nozadze — ნოზაძე

Beridze leads by a wide margin with about 29,000 bearers, followed by Kapanadze (over 19,000) and Gelashvili (over 18,000). The list is dominated by -dze names because that type is almost universal in western Georgia and Adjara. In total Georgia has tens of thousands of different surnames for a population of about 3.7 million.

Dictionary: 57 Georgian surnames with region

The region is inferred from the ending, so treat it as a hint rather than proof: families have moved for centuries. For princely houses, the historical land is given.

Surnames from trades, church ranks and nicknames

A surname's root often records an ancestor's occupation. With a few Georgian words you can "translate" it:

Many surnames come from an ancestor's first name: Giorgadze and Giorgobiani from Giorgi, Davitashvili from Davit, Lomidze from Loma ("lion"). That is why first names and surnames are so closely linked in Georgia.

Georgian, Armenian or Ossetian? How to tell

Tbilisi has always been home to Armenians, Ossetians, Azerbaijanis and Greeks, and many local families carry other endings:

• -yan, -yants are Armenian (Petrosyan, Ter-Petrosyants). In 19th-century Tbilisi Armenian surnames were often recorded with a Russian -ov: Tumanov, Argutinsky-Dolgorukov.
• -ti, -ty are Ossetian (Kokoity; Gagloev in Russian spelling).
• -li, -ev are common among Azerbaijanis of Kvemo Kartli (Mammadli, Aliyev).
• -shvili, -dze, -ia, -ani are unmistakably Georgian.

Mixed cases exist too, such as Georgian surnames in Armenian families long settled in Tbilisi. In the history of Tbilisi that is perfectly normal: the city has always been multi-ethnic.

How to trace Georgian ancestors by surname

If your family has a Georgian surname, you can start the search from home:

1. The National Archives of Georgia keep 19th and early 20th-century church registers of births, marriages and deaths. Requests can be sent in writing, in English or Russian.
2. Public Service Halls issue birth and marriage certificates from Soviet-era records. A relative with proof of kinship can apply.
3. Surname + village. Georgian surnames are strongly tied to place. Knowing the ending and region, you can often find the ancestral village and even relatives with the same name. In villages, every neighbour knows the surname.

We have taken guests to the villages their families came from in Kakheti, Imereti and Racha. If you would like the same, message Timur in advance to plan the route.

Princely houses and noble surnames

Georgian noble surnames often differ from peasant ones. Many come from an estate or a title:

• Bagrationi, the royal dynasty that ruled Georgia for almost a thousand years.
• Dadiani, the ruling princes of Samegrelo, whose palace museum stands in Zugdidi.
• Gurieli, the rulers of Guria; the name literally means "of Guria".
• Eristavi, from the title eristavi, a regional governor.
• Chavchavadze, a Kakhetian family that produced the poet Alexander Chavchavadze, owner of the Tsinandali estate, and Ilia Chavchavadze.
• Tsereteli, Orbeliani, Amilakhvari, Tsitsishvili, old princely families of Kartli and Imereti.

Famous bearers of Georgian surnames

• -shvili: philosopher Merab Mamardashvili, historian Ivane Javakhishvili, politician Mikheil Saakashvili. Joseph Stalin was born Ioseb Jughashvili.
• -dze: writer Nodar Dumbadze, singer Vakhtang Kikabidze, politician Eduard Shevardnadze.
• -ia, -ava: footballer Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, film director Giorgi Danelia, singer-songwriter Bulat Okudzhava.
• -eli: poet Shota Rustaveli, sculptor Zurab Tsereteli.

Male and female forms

A common question: what is the surname of Mr Beridze's wife? Also Beridze. Georgian surnames do not change with gender: Nino Beridze and Giorgi Beridze, Tamar Gelashvili and Davit Gelashvili. When she marries, a Georgian woman may take her husband's surname, keep her own or hyphenate both.

How to read and pronounce Georgian surnames

Georgian has sounds English lacks, so one surname can be spelled several ways in Latin letters. A few rules help:

Stress in Georgian is light and usually falls on the first syllable, though many foreigners stress the second-to-last (Shevardnádze, Saakashvíli). Georgians will understand either. Official documents use the national romanisation, so the passport spelling is Ghambashidze or Qaukhchishvili even where common usage drops the extra letters.

Russified surnames: Tsitsianov, Bagration

In the 19th century, when Georgian nobility joined the Russian aristocracy, many surnames were adapted to Russian:

• Tsitsishvili → Tsitsianov (General Pavel Tsitsianov);
• Bagrationi → Bagration (General Pyotr Bagration);
• Amilakhvari → Amilakhorov;
• Orbeliani → Orbelianov.

So if your family tree has a Russian -ov name with a Georgian-sounding root, it may once have been Georgian. Georgian first names and why there are no patronymics are covered in our guide to Georgian names, and the Georgian alphabet guide will help you read any surname on a shop sign.