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Emmanuel : Stories : The Family Surname (1800 - present)
The Family Surname (1800 - present)
This is how we got our surname. The story tells how the family surname evolved over time, from Moskhonisiotis to Emmanuel. The separation of the text into tentative time-periods and some of the explanatory notes within the body of the text are by Gregory C. Emmanuel.
By Dimitri G. Emmanuel, March 2001
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1800 - 1853 Our family name was Moskhonisiotis (which means, from Moskhonisia). Our progenitor Nicholas however was also known as Manolendis (a contraction of the words MANOL ENDI, which in Turkish means son of Manolis, which is derived from Emmanouil, or Emmanuel in English). In those days the Ottomans didn’t use surnames as such, but used the patronymic (the father’s name) instead. Thus our progenitor’s name was Nicholas Emmanuel Moskhonisiotis.
1853 - 1895 When my grandfather Constantine settled in Tenedos in 1853, the locals dropped the first part of his surname, Moskho, and simply called him Nisiotis for convenience. Grandfather adopted this abbreviated form and enrolled his children at school under this surname.
1895 - present At some later date grandfather applied to the authorities in Kydonies where Moskhonisia administratively belonged, for a “nufus”, a Turkish name for a certificate confirming that his father and himself were registered there. The answer came back that the name under which they were recorded was MANOL ENDI. This compelled him to adopt Emmanouil (Emmanuel).
So our surname comes from the Christian name of my great-great grandfather, Manolis, Nicholas’ father.
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