Family name origins & meanings
- Origin uncertain. It is probably an Americanized spelling of North German or Dutch Jurian, a diminutive of the personal name Joris, a Dutch form of George. The notion that it is Armenian seems to be based on nothing more than the -ian ending, which is characteristic of Armenian surnames. It is not known as an Armenian surname.
- Matthias Jerian or Jurian arrived in Philadelphia from the Palatinate, Germany, on the ship Pleasant, in October 1732.