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The -ides ending is certainly Greek, as I'm sure you know.
That's the factual bit, now for a heap of speculation -
Tepe means "hill" in Turkish, tepeli might mean "hill dweller". The -li suffix gives that sense (e.g.,dag, "mountain", dagli, "mountain man"). There are problems with this suggestion. For instance, I can't recall seeing the -ides ending tacked on to anything other than Greek male forenames. Anatolian Greeks do sometimes have surnames with Turkish components, but usually we see the Turkish -oglu ending on those names.
I would expect to see a basically Greek name with a Turkish ending, rather than the other way round.
That's the factual bit, now for a heap of speculation -
Tepe means "hill" in Turkish, tepeli might mean "hill dweller". The -li suffix gives that sense (e.g.,dag, "mountain", dagli, "mountain man"). There are problems with this suggestion. For instance, I can't recall seeing the -ides ending tacked on to anything other than Greek male forenames. Anatolian Greeks do sometimes have surnames with Turkish components, but usually we see the Turkish -oglu ending on those names.
I would expect to see a basically Greek name with a Turkish ending, rather than the other way round.
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Afterthought.
If the patronymic ending was added to Tepeli wouldn't that result in the name Tepeliades, not Tepelides? I'm not sure.
If the patronymic ending was added to Tepeli wouldn't that result in the name Tepeliades, not Tepelides? I'm not sure.
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Hello Tepelides - interesting! My Grandmother is Athena Tepelides, born circa 1910 in Saranda Ecclesies, came to US age 9. She is still living. Would you have a link with her? Email harveygenealogy at yahoo.com! Ann
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