Apostolos

Family name origins & meanings

• Greek : from apostolos ‘apostle’, which was used as a personal name, or a reduced form of patronymics from this name, such as Apostolakis, Apostolidis, Apostoliadis, and Apostolatos. The term apostolos was adopted by early Christians in honor of Christ’s twelve apostles and as a symbol of their own commitment to spreading the Christian message. The original meaning of the Greek word apostolos is ‘messenger’, ‘one sent with a message’, from apostellein ‘to send’. The word was used in the Septuagint as a translation of Hebrew saleh ‘messenger’, ‘apostle’.