Australian_Cultural_Diversity

> **Prefixes** can also give you some information on the origin of the surname: > A last name starting with Kara- means that it comes from the East, or the Asia minor, as “kara” means black in Turkish. Kondo- means short and was very common in islands, Papa- means that once upon a time there was a priest (papas) in the family. > Of course these are generalizations and today due to the vast mixture of names, origins and generations, you cannot rely on these rules. However, it is good to know them since they are part of the Greek tradition and have a lot to do with the old and original roots of most names today.
 * Take a page from the White pages of the Telephone Directory. Write down the surnames on that page. These are names of people living in Australia. Unless they are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage they will have had an ancestor who has arrived in Australia from another country.
 * Now find out the origin of those surnames.
 * Greek surnames - if you see a Greek surname ending in –akis, the person comes from Crete. Not all Cretans have a surname ending in –akis, and not all people with an –akis in their surname are from Crete, but this is very common characteristic and suffix.Similarly, surnames ending in –ellis come from the island of Lesbos, -opoulos from the Peloponnese peninsula, -idis from Pontus or Asia minor, -iadis from Messinia or Lakonia, -oudas from Macedonia (North Greece).
 * More places to find information - Surname Database, Behind the name,
 * The National Archives of Australia can also give you information. Click on 'Search as a guest' - click on the 'name Search' tab - select 'Immigration & naturalisation records' from the drop down menu. Clear the 'exact spelling' box for more results.

For more information about where migrants to Australia have come from go to Australian Bureau of Statistics - Australia's Diverse Population

Anecdotal information about George Venning's arrival in Australia

Migrants have brought their culture with them. Food, music, dancing, costumes! To find out about important cultural and religious dates click here. media type="youtube" key="UPiCaQ88-Js?rel=0" height="480" width="640"media type="youtube" key="szki6MCdzm8?rel=0" height="480" width="640"