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• George Poulos
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"Hlihlis" - Tzortzopoulos - Karavas.

My Grandfather - Yeoryios Dimitrios Tzortzopoulos` - George James Poulos - was born in Karavas Kythera in the 1860's. His nickname was "Hlihlis".
It is a commonly held family myth amongst his descendants - which includes those with family names such as Tzortopoulos, Poulos, Levantis, Peters, Dermatis & Coroneos...to name only a few - that either he or an ancestor had a speech impediment - and because he could not enunciate words properly - was taunted with the nickname - hlihlis.

It is also a commonly held belief that all Tzortopouli derive from a common ancestor who migrated from the town of Karavas in Cyprus - and established the town of Karavas on Kythera.
Each "clan" of Tzortopouli have their own nickname, however - some of which I am aware of, and will reveal in separate entries.

George C Poulos
Dover Heights
Australia.

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1 Comment

Peter Georgopoulos
on 07.01.2026

Dear George, Tzortzopoulos families of Karavas are not descened from Cyprus. It is just a myth. Tzortzopoulos came into use as a byname of Koronaios family of Potamos. We are descended from Koronaios. A search of registry records and census shows Tzortzopoulos became a byname in Potamos around 1730. Karavas was founded in late 1790's by a fraternity of around 40 families, which included around six Tzortzopouli families. The region was called Karavas due to many shipwrecks along the wood eater coast as it was known. From Karavi we get Karavas. Again nothing to do with Cyprus. Peter Tzortzopoulos (Georgopoulos) Canberra

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