When is a Greek, not a Greek?

When he is Macedonian!

I was researching my Australian niece's husband's family of 'Merakis' of Greek extract. I knew the name of the Merakis father (Michael) and sought help in taking the line back further as Greek Genealogical research is far from easy, especially without command of the language.

I learned of a Merakis Grandfather John who had emigrated to Australia, but was thrown rather when told that his Grandfather (Chris) had the surname Terkalovski. So I asked my niece for an explanation and this is what was passed on.

Macedonia was sub-divided after the Balkan Wars (1912/3) with Greece getting the largest portion. Although Macedonian (language speaking) enclaves remained, some of the original Macedonian population were moved to Greek speaking areas.

In old Macedonia surnames did not exist as we know them but were largely given by virtue of a man's trade or occupation. Chris made cart wheels and the Macedonian name for 'wheel' was Terkalovski. (So, if you like, 'Chris (the) Wheel').

Chris and wife Kirajia (not sure of a western equivalent) were moved to a Greek speaking area and retained their surnames for a while but when son Phillip came along they chose to change their surname to its nearest Greek equivalent which was 'Merakis' (literally desire or pride in wheels).

Phillip Merakis married Basilika (again not sure of a western equivalent) and had a son John who after marrying Elle decided to emigrate to Australia where they were registered as Merakis and so began the significant Merakis clan.


(The moral of the story is to seek out family elders before they are no longer around. I learned in fact that the entire family only heard of this from a very elderly John Merakis a few months before he died in 1994. It was a Christmas family get together and my niece –with family translations taking place as he was far from fluent in English – asked about his life in Greece/Macedonia. It turned out to be a revelation to all, and the stories went far beyond the change of surname).