South Ossetia adopts law on surnames
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 31 October 2012 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, South Ossetia adopts law on surnames, 31 October 2012, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/509b8b06c.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
October 31, 2012
The parliament of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia has adopted a law on Ossetian surnames, according to regional media.
The chairwoman of South Ossetian parliament's Committee for Political and Cultural Issues, Mira Tskhovrebova, told journalists that the law introduced a mechanism for creating traditional Ossetian surnames for those wishing to do so.
According to Tskhovrebova, the traditional Ossetian surnames will end with suffixes "-ty," "-ti," and "-on."
Those would replace the Georgian endings "-shvili" and "-dze" and the Russian endings "-ov" and "-ova."
Tskhovrebova says any South Ossetian citizen can now make the change.
Russia officially recognized South Ossetia's independence from Georgia in August 2008 after a short Russian-Georgian military conflict.
Georgia still considers the region its territory.
Based on reporting by osradio.ru and RES
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
