Varghese

Varghese / Varughese / Verghese, Geevarghese ,Varkey, Varughis,and Vergis are Syriac–Malayalam variants of George in India. It is given as first name or last name among the Syrian Christians / Saint Thomas Christians, an ancient community of Christians in India. The name Georgios, whose origin is from the Greek root word 'geō', means a 'farmer'. This Greek name became popular in Eastern Orthodox Churches due to the legend of Saint George who was a Roman soldier of Greek descent killed for his Christian faith. He was considered to be a saint. In Middle Eastern regions, especially within Assyrian Christian community the saint's name was spelt as Gewargis or Gevergis. The Syrian Orthodox community within Kerala had a Malayalam variant spelt as Geevarghese. With time the name 'Geevarghese' began to sound like two conjoined names Gee Varghese'. Finally the name got shortened into 'Varghese'.