Submitted Surname Revision History

Erkiletian is an ancient surname possibly derived from an ancient translation of “Achilles”. Family tradition holds that during the first century AD a businessman quarreled with his son because he wanted his son to work in their family business, but the son wanted to work as an artist instead, and after the argument the son ran away and to the town Erkilet, located in modern day Kayseri, Turkey. The son took the name of the town and added the traditional “ian” to the end meaning “Son of”. It is not certain if the town Erkilet originated from an ancient translation of Achilles, but if it did then the surname means "Son of Achilles". The surname has likely evolved overtime, but it remains in the original family that created it since the first century CE.

Note: The surname may have originally been something similar to "Akhilisyan", "Akhilisēan", or "Akiletēan" if the towns initial translation of the name Achilles was something in Aramaic and local Koine Greek like "Akhilis" or "Akiles"