Mysterious Origin of Greek surname ΜΟΥΛΩΤΑΣ (Moulotas/Moo-lo-tas) (?)

[joanna_38]

So, apparently, we have a relative in our family from the past (2-3 people) with the last name ΜΟΥΛΩΤΑΣ.
And since i was curious and didn't hear about the origins of the surname, i went to
https://apps.vrisko.gr/apo-pou-krataei-i-skoufia-sou
to search the surname in hopes that the last name will be visible somewhere in Greece. Guess what. The last name was extinct, nowhere to be found. No evidence, nothing. Googled the surname multiple times in hopes that i'll found someone and yes, i found records of a relative that was killed off in the past for being a Jehovah Witness. He was a Greek person who was enslaved and asked to change his religion, he refused, and so they killed him in a painful way. Since then, i've only found him & 2 people in my dad's MyHeritage family tree with that specific surname.
So, i'm asking all of you guys in this forum. Do you perhaps have any clue where this surname could be from? Or even, which region?Why are there so many extinct surnames that have no record in my country/your country?

[TheMaestro]

So, apparently, we have a relative in our family from the past (2-3 people) with the last name ΜΟΥΛΩΤΑΣ.
And since i was curious and didn't hear about the origins of the surname, i went to
https://apps.vrisko.gr/apo-pou-krataei-i-skoufia-sou
to search the surname in hopes that the last name will be visible somewhere in Greece. Guess what. The last name was extinct, nowhere to be found. No evidence, nothing. Googled the surname multiple times in hopes that i'll found someone and yes, i found records of a relative that was killed off in the past for being a Jehovah Witness. He was a Greek person who was enslaved and asked to change his religion, he refused, and so they killed him in a painful way. Since then, i've only found him & 2 people in my dad's MyHeritage family tree with that specific surname.
So, i'm asking all of you guys in this forum. Do you perhaps have any clue where this surname could be from? Or even, which region?Why are there so many extinct surnames that have no record in my country/your country?

I hate snakes.

[Dorian]

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/muloter#French https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mulotas
French word for hunter maybe?

On the other hand If it's origin is Greek it sounds like a combination of the slur moulos + otas suffix.

There were also misspellings sometimes back then ,both in diaspora and here.. could it be Moulatos instead?on google one Δημήτρης Μουλάτος appeared.
Surnames can get extinct also so If you were to find any info you should search for old paperwork.

What else do you know about them?like birthplaces&ancestry?

[joanna_38]

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/muloter#French https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mulotas
French word for hunter maybe?

On the other hand If it's origin is Greek it sounds like a combination of the slur moulos + otas suffix.

There were also misspellings sometimes back then ,both in diaspora and here.. could it be Moulatos instead?on google one Δημήτρης Μουλάτος appeared.
Surnames can get extinct also so If you were to find any info you should search for old paperwork.

What else do you know about them?like birthplaces&ancestry?

Sadly, we don't know much further than that. I'm expecting my MyHeritage results any time soon, currently its at "Raw Data Produced"
We have photographs until my grandma's grandfather and that's it.
And absolutely nothing apart from this:

The April 8, 1948, Awake! reported on the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Greece. A special letter was sent to the Greek minister of public order protesting the March 5, 1948, execution by guerrillas of 37-year-old Christos Moulotas, father of four children, for his refusal to render services to them. It also stated that government authorities had executed John Tsoukaris of Karytsa, Larissa, on February 9, 1949.

The brothers in the Larissa Congregation had tried in vain to obtain his release. During the few days before his death, they were able to get some letters through to him. In his final letter, dated February 7, 1949, Brother Tsoukaris wrote:

“My dear brother, my situation rests in the hands of Jehovah of hosts. This morning . . . they took me to Mizourlo [the place of execution], but they did not execute me, as they said the hour was too late. Still, they saw my courage, and this impressed them. I don’t know if my execution will be tomorrow morning, but let us always have confidence, and let us entreat Him. Do not let us fear man because the Bible says: ‘Trembling at men is what lays a snare, but he that is trusting in Jehovah will be protected.’ Let us have such faith as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who said quite clearly: ‘O King, if it is so, the God whom we worship can deliver us from the fiery furnace, however, if he does not, then let it be known to you that the image of gold that you have set up we will not worship and your gods we will not worship.’”

On the 9th of February, he was led to Mizourlo and executed. Awake! readers sent thousands of letters to government ministers, embassies, and consulates to protest such executions. But a Greek Orthodox theologian and professor at Athens University supported the execution of Brother Tsoukaris, saying: “To refuse to take up arms because of conscience is a thing entirely unknown and inconceivable among us.” Sadly true, those words!

[Dorian]

Sadly, we don't know much further than that. I'm expecting my MyHeritage results any time soon, currently its at "Raw Data Produced"
We have photographs until my grandma's grandfather and that's it.
And absolutely nothing apart from this:

There's only one diaspora woman "Moulotas" on fb and she seems connected with other Greeks ,try contacting her maybe?
You could also contact with other family lines connected to the surname.

[joanna_38]

There's only one diaspora woman "Moulotas" on fb and she seems connected with other Greeks ,try contacting her maybe?
You could also contact with other family lines connected to the surname.

Ιs that the one who lives in America? I'll try but since the DNA results will come pretty soon, i think all the answers will be soon answered i think.
I'm just a bit surprised that there is an extinct Greek surname in my family tree that i can't track at all.
Thank you either way^^

[Dorian]

Ιs that the one who lives in America? I'll try but since the DNA results will come pretty soon, i think all the answers will be soon answered i think.
I'm just a bit surprised that there is an extinct Greek surname in my family tree that i can't track at all.
Thank you either way^^

South Africa to be correct.
Depends on what you expect from the test though? most likely you won't find anything related to that surname.

[joanna_38]

South Africa to be correct.
Depends on what you expect from the test though? most likely you won't find anything related to that surname.

Yeah, but considering South Africa & Greece overlap a lot in terms of phenotypes, and i don't see anything in my family remotely similar to South Africans.
So, no clue. Maybe its just an extinct surname that came a long time ago and died a long time ago with no trace or whatsoever.

[Dorian]

Yeah, but considering South Africa & Greece overlap a lot in terms of phenotypes, and i don't see anything in my family remotely similar to South Africans.
So, no clue. Maybe its just an extinct surname that came a long time ago and died a long time ago with no trace or whatsoever.

There's no overlap , whites of South Africa come from various European ethnicities , along with them a Greek community of 138,000 Greeks.. just like there is in US ,Australia etc.
Judging by the rareness of the surname ,this woman is certainly related to your own relatives.This is something that happens too ,rare surnames that you won't find in Greece have survived in diaspora.