My Name FAQ
1.What kind of name is that?
It's Greek.
2.Which one is your first name?
the first name is the first.
3.How is it written in greek?
4.Is it pronounceable?
Surprisingly the answer is yes (well, not so surprisingly if you happen to be Greek).
A small guide is below:
For Aggelos
breakdown:
A
(a short "Ah" sound)
+
gge
(like the german word "GEsundheit")
+ lo
(as in "LOttery")
+ s
(a light “s” sound as you would say "Sea" or “Sailor” - not “SHip”)
The accent is on the Ah-sound.
For Kiayias:
Start with the word "yaya"
harden the first sound of
the above word with a k as in "karate."
add an "s" in the end (in the same way as above).
The accent is on the second syllable.
5. What does it mean?
Aggelos is a Greek word that means angel or messenger (old use).
Kiayias is a bit more complicated. Most likely derived from a Turkish word for "supervisor” and likely a nickname of the great*grandfather (we are bossy people :-).
6.Where is it (am I) coming from?
My last name is rare and thus relatively easy to trace. My family tree and the name of Kiayias traces back to Sfakia in the island of Crete. As the story goes, almost 2 centuries ago, one of three Kiayias brothers mortally wounded a prominent figure in a fight/duel and the three Kiayias brothers dispersed to different places. One in the village of Livadia, close to Heraklion in Crete where apparently his lineage thrived, another one in Rethymnon, Crete where his name was changed to Kiayiadakis, and the third one in the island of Naxos, from where his line later moves to Smyrna in Asia minor; this latter one is my lineage. My great grandfather with his two oldest sons died fighting in the mountains around Smyrna during the war of 1919-22. With Smyrna’s destruction my grandfather Aggelos Kiayias, as a very young child, moves to Athens and eventually Thessaloniki where my father Yiannis Kiayias (and myself) are born. My mother (Heleni Evpraksia Chryssou Fragiadaki) lineage comes from Andrianople another famed old Greek city of the North East (today Edirne, Turkey) and incidentally Smyrna and Crete again! Myself, I grew up in Athens in Ano Patisia and Marousi.
If you have happen to be a Kiayias (or Kiayiadakis) (Κιαγιάς / Κιαγιαδάκης in Greek) and you are reading this write me a note and we will meet to have some raki.