The story goes that a few families from the Mixalakiani clan (aka Michalakianikos/Michalakianoi/…) of the Mani progressively arrived on Kythera from the late 1700s and, to differentiate themselves, one lot adopted, or brought with them, or had thrust upon them, the nickname Tsikalas (meaning potter). Only a few descendants practiced the trade but most carried on the name.

Other families in the the clan included Aggelakos, Androutsakos (or Gerakarakos?), Diakaikos, Drakoularakos, Kalapothakos, Kleptogiannis (love that one!), Michaleas, Michaleakos, Mitsakos, Patsilinakos, Sigkikos, Tzouanakos, Xarxakos (or Arfanakos?), Xanthakos (or Katsakos?) and Zekakos. Some of these probably got recalibrated in Cerigoese.

At Potamos in 1866 Fr Nikolaos Magoulas, son of Antonaos Bavaeas, blessed the coupling of Spyro Ioannis Mixalakakis (Tzikalas) and Maria George Tzouanaki (Pavlakou), in front of witnesses Panagiotis Nikolaos Fardouli and Antonaos Panagiotis Diakakis. Fourteen years later Spyro and Maria begat their 8th and last child, George, so dubbed by his Godmother, Maria Emmanual Katsoulis, and endorsed by Fr Kosmos Trifyllis and confirmed by witnesses Andonis Panayotis Diakakis and Minas Theodore Nenes. The DNA was passed on when George begat Spyro in Bangalow and Spyro begat me in Lismore. And I potter about in Mullumbimby and sometimes muck about with clay. (That should satisfy the lawyers.)