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Updated January 24, 2024

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Family name origins & meanings

  • Greek : nickname for a short man, from kontos ‘short’; also a reduced form of any of various surnames formed with Konto- as a prefix, e.g. Kontogiannis ‘short John’.
  • Hungarian (Köntös) : from köntös ‘gown’, ‘short fur coat’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a furrier or a maker of coats.

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