View Message

This is a reply within a larger thread: view the whole thread

[Surname] Re: greek last names
Guesses here ...Germanos seems obviously related to the word 'German' ...which could be translated to "spear - man" ...Kroupis, the closest thing I found was on a Russian site (Krupa (m) -- "groats.") which I doubt ... Anyone else?I'd really like to know a good Greek translation site ...thanks!
vote up1vote down

Replies

It looks like nobody really knows, what "German" means. "Spear man" is not likely, because the older form of "ger" is "gaiza" (in those times, when the "Germans" were first called so (Tacitus?)).
The most probable translation is "neighbour". The Celts used this name for the Teutons as well as for a tribe in northern Spain.
vote up1vote down
A good point ...I've also heard of the "neighbor" translation ...it just seems that so often the 'ger' in names like "Gerald" gets translated in most books as "spear" ...
vote up1vote down