Armenian Name Generator

Armenian names are instantly recognizable by their surnames. Almost every family name ends in -yan or -ian, a patronymic suffix meaning "of" or "son of": Petrosyan is the family of Petros, Hakobyan the family of Hakob, Sargsyan the family of Sargis. Many others come from trades or nicknames borrowed under Ottoman and Persian rule, which is why Demirjian (ironsmith), Boyajian (dyer) and Kouyoumdjian (goldsmith) sit alongside saint-derived names like Grigoryan and Hovhannisyan.

The spelling tells you where a family comes from. In Armenia and the former Soviet world, Eastern Armenian gives -yan and names like Davit, Gevorg, Hovhannes, Lusine and Tatevik. In the diaspora of Lebanon, Syria, France and the United States, Western Armenian gives -ian and shifts the consonants: Dikran for Tigran, Bedros for Petros, Garabed for Karapet, Hagop for Hakob. Both are correct; a convincing character just needs to be consistent.

First names draw on three deep wells: the Bible (Hakob, Mariam, Sahak), pre-Christian gods and kings (Vahagn, Anahit, Tigran, Ara) and nature and poetry (Hasmik means jasmine, Lusine moon, Arevik little sun, Nare pomegranate). This generator mixes all of them with the surnames real families carry.