Updated June 9, 2019

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Family name origins & meanings

  • Greek : ethnic name for an Aromanian. The Aromanians are traditionally nomadic pastoralists throughout the southern Balkans, speaking a language closely related to Romanian. The Greek name Vlakhos is derived from an Indo-European stem meaning ‘foreigner’; it is cognate with Welsh and Walloon. See also Vlach. Through ethnic stereotyping, the Greek term came to denote a highlander, and thence acquired the meaning ‘uncouth’. Any of these senses could be involved in the development of the surname. It can also be a reduced form of compound surnames beginning with Vlacho-, for example Vlachogiannis meaning ‘John the Aromanian’, ‘John the hillbilly’, or ‘John the uncouth’.