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SOME FAMILY NAMES
The European, and eventually also American, families that saw an expatriate branch founded in the Levant between 1600 and 1922 must amount to some tens of thousands. Despite the paucity of official records, research will lead one to many of these families' names in books, press reports, family documents, church registers and the like, as well of course as on gravestones at the remaining cemeteries. Undoubtedly many are lost for good, especially those that may have flourished for a while in the 17th and 18th centuries. I thought it useful to compile a simple list of such family names with the aim of stimulating recollections, helping to provide some orientation to the social history side of the Levantine phenomenon and, of course, preserving the memory of those who drove it forward from generation to generation.
It seemed a good idea to adopt some sort of criterion to ensure that the names listed reflected a true Levantine community, i.e., people to whom the Levant was home even though their passports identified them as citizens of some distant land. In other words, they should not just have been passing through or carrying out some temporary assignment. The standard for inclusion decided upon is evidence that the family was represented in the Levant by at least two generations of descendants of the first member who settled there.
That said, the names in the list that follows are just ones which I personally happen to have come across. Some will be recognized as practically iconic by anyone who has developed any lively degree of interest in Levantine social history, especially of the 19th century, while others are less well-known. There must be many more especially of the second category waiting to be added, and readers who know of them are invited to submit them.
Names and nationalities (to the best of my knowledge):
| Name | Nationality | Notes |
| Aliberti | It | |
| Aliotti | It | |
| Arkas | ? | |
| Atkinson | Br | |
| Balladur | Armenian | |
| Baltacci | It | |
| Barff | Br | |
| Bargigli | It | |
| Barker | Br | |
| Blackler | Br | |
| Borell | Br | |
| Boscovich | Austrian | |
| Braggiotti | It | |
| Buttigieg | Maltese | |
| Caporal | Fr | |
| Charnaud | Br | |
| Chasseaux | Fr | |
| Cooke | Br | |
| De Cramer | Austrian | |
| De Hochepied | Du | |
| De Jongh | Du | |
| Du Veluz | Fr? | |
| Dutilh | Du | |
| Edwards | Br | |
| Faruggia | Maltese | |
| Fidao | It | |
| Filipucci | It | |
| Fonton | Fr | |
| Forbes | Br | |
| Gallia | Maltese | |
| Giraud | Fr | |
| Giustiniani | It | |
| Gout | Br | |
| Guys | Fr | |
| Haydn | Austrian? | |
| Helzel | Austrian | |
| Hadkinson | Br | |
| Holton | Br | |
| Icard | Fr | |
| Issaverdens | Armenian | |
| Joly | Br | |
| Keun | Du | |
| Keyser | Br | |
| La Fontaine | Br | |
| Langdon | Am | |
| Lawson | Br | |
| Maltass | Br | |
| Marracini | It | |
| Missir | Persian | |
| Offley | Am | |
| Pagy | Fr | |
| Paterson | Br | |
| Peacock | Br | |
| Pengelley | Br | |
| Psiachis | Gr | |
| Purser | Br | |
| Ralli | Gr | |
| Rees | Br | |
| Reggio | It | |
| Russo | It? | |
| Sadjian | Armenian | |
| Sarell | Br | |
| Tarrazi | Fr | |
| Testa | Du | |
| Timoni | Gr | |
| Turrell | Br | |
| Van der Zee | Du | |
| Van Heemstra | Du | |
| Van Lennep | Du | |
| Von Eichstorff | Austrian? | |
| Von Heidenstam | Swedish | |
| Werry | Br | |
| Whittall | Br | |
| Wilkin | Br | |
| Wilkinson | Br | |
| Williamson | Br | |
| Wolff | Br? | |
| Wood | Br |
Willem Daniels, February 2004
