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ArchivesRe: meaning of and origin
in reply to a message by Tepelides
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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