No, it is not a hoax, but it is not the man's surname either. It is an "honorific", roughly equivalent to "Sir" as used today in business correspondence. It is a Turkish word (and hence spread all over the Ottoman Empire), but its origin is Greek, coming ultimately from the same source as "authentic", believe it or not. The first name in references to this Turkish man is his given name (which, if he was a convert to Christianity and well-versed in English, he might thenceforth have called his Christian name), and since both he and his father are referred to as Effendi (albeit mis-spelt) it would appear to be an hereditary title, just as "Sir" for a viscount. On 10 Dec 2013, at 6:24 PM, A & B Currie wrote: > Well, as youngun's in the 1940 era we used "Efendi" to mean > something like > 'honoured friend'. Of course, we, as ignorant kids probably had it > completely wrong, but your idea of a prank is probably correct - as > usual, > honoured friend! > > Bern Andrew Rodger rodgera@audioio.com