Gheorghiu
Gheorghiu (pronounced ɡe̯orˈɡi.u, see IPA pronunciation details) 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:
- Adrian Gheorghiu - footballer
- Angela Gheorghiu (b. 1965) - operatic soprano
- Constantin Virgil Gheorghiu (1916-1992) - writer
- Cristache Gheorghiu (b. 1937) - writer and painter
- Cristian Gheorghiu -contemporary artist
- Dumitru Gheorghiu (1904-?) - bobsledder
- Ermil Gheorghiu (1896-1977) - Air Force General
- Florin Gheorghiu (b. 1944) - chess player
- Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (1901-1965) - communist leader
- Luminița Gheorghiu (b. 1949) - actress
- Mihail Gheorghiu Bujor (1881-1964) - socialist and communist activist
- Ştefan Gheorghiu (b. 1926) - violinist
- Ştefan Gheorghiu (b. 1971) - physicist
- Ştefan Gheorghiu (1879-1914) - trade unionist
- Vasile Gheorghiu (1872-1959) - theologian
- Virgil Gheorghiu - (1903-1977) avant garde poet
- Vladmir Gheorghiu