Gheorghiu

Gheorghiu (pronounced [ɡe̯orˈɡi.u]) is a Romanian surname, of Greek language origin, deriving from Greek Γεωργίου. Among Greeks, the Greek surname form Γεωργίου is usually or always Romanized in other ways, either as Gheorghiou or Georgiou.

The Gheorghiu surname is patronymic (from the Greek genitive), meaning "son of George". In Romanian, the name George exists in two spellings and two different pronunciations: George with two soft g sounds (George, written as g in Romanian) and Gheorghe with two hard g sounds (Gheorghe, written as gh in Romanian, as in Italian and some other languages), the hard g sounds that are also found in Gheorghiu.

In Romanian, the name George is a two-syllable name pronounced jor'je (written George), not a one-syllable name as in English jorj (written George). The name Gheorghe is also two-syllable, pronounced with hard g sounds: gior'ge, and with an added "i" (gior-) sound not found in jor'je.

People with the surname Gheorghiu include:

Adrian Gheorghiu, Romanian footballer
Angela Gheorghiu (born 1965), Romanian operatic soprano
Constantin Virgil Gheorghiu (1916–1992), Romanian writer
Cristache Gheorghiu (born 1937), Romanian writer and painter
Cristian Gheorghiu, Romanian contemporary artist
Dumitru Gheorghiu (1904-?), Romanian bobsledder
Ermil Gheorghiu (1896–1977), Romanian Air Force General
Florin Gheorghiu (born 1944), Romanian chess player
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (1901–1965), Romanian communist leader
Luminița Gheorghiu (1949–2021), Romanian actress
Mihail Gheorghiu Bujor (1881–1964), Romanian socialist and communist activist
Natalia Gheorgiu (1914–2001), Moldovan and Soviet pediatric surgeon
Ştefan Gheorghiu (1926–2010), Romanian violinist
Ştefan Gheorghiu (1879–1914), Romanian trade unionist
Vasile Gheorghiu (1872–1959), Romanian theologian
Virgil Gheorghiu, Romanian (1903–1977) avant-garde poet

See also