Khoury ( ar, خوري, or ), also

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

as Khouri, is a Levantine surname that is common to Christians in the Middle East. The term Khoury means "priest" in Levantine Arabic. It derives from the Latin word ''

curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...

.'' Although most popular amongst the population in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, where it is the most common surname, the name can also be found within Christian communities in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, Syria, Palestine, and

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. It is often given as a last name to a new priest or minister, replacing the old one and to the children of the married priest and their descendants. The

Maronite Church The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic ''sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. Th ...

, which is in full communion with the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, allows married men to become priests. It is common for a family to keep the Khoury surname for generations past the life of the priest. Catholic and Orthodox clergy (particularly

Maronite Catholic The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The current head of the ...

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

Melkite Catholic el, Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία , image = Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus, Syria.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = , abbreviatio ...

and Syriac Orthodox) are the largest numbers of people with this name; all four rites having a married priesthood according to Catholic and Orthodox norms. Khoury/Khouri is uncommon as a

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a ...

. In the Eastern Christian Churches, "Khoury" or "El-Khoury" means Corepiscopos, which is an honorary rank above a priest. Due to the Lebanese diaspora, which started in the late 19th century, the name has acquired different variants in different countries and is also uncommonly spelled as El Khouri, El Khoury, Elcure, Elkhori, Elkouri, Kouri, Couri, Koury, Coury, Kourie, Koory, Koorey, Kuri, Khuri, Khury, Kury, Xouri, Curi, Cury, Coorey, Courey, Korey, Kory, Corey, Chory, Correy and in Latin America as Xuri, Kure, Cure, Correa, Juri, Jury, Cura, Jure, Eljure, Aljure and Alcuri.

People

* Amin Khoury, founder of B/E Aerospace *

Callie Khouri Carolyn Ann "Callie" Khouri (born November 27, 1957) is an American film and television screenwriter, producer, and director. In 1992, she won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for the film ''Thelma & Louise' ...

, Lebanese American Academy Award winner for writing the film ''Thelma & Louise'' * Ana Khouri (born 1981), Brazilian jewelry designer and sculptor * Carlos Cure, Lebanese Colombian Chairman of Bavaria Brewery, Colombia *

Al Coury Albert Eli Coury (October 21, 1934 – August 8, 2013) was an American music record executive and producer who was vice-president of Capitol Records, co-founder of RSO Records, founder of Network Records and general manager of Geffen Records. Co ...

, Lebanese American record company executive *

Humberto Curi Humberto Curi (June 10, 1905 – August 1981) is an Argentine boxer who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics. He placed 4th in the 1928 Summer Olympics, after being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the middleweight class after losing hi ...

, an Argentine-born Olympic boxer who competed in the middleweight class in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam * Fred Coury, drummer for American glam metal band Cinderella * Augusto Cury, Lebanese Brazilian neuroscientist and best-selling writer, developed the ''Multifocal Theory'' * Andrée Saab Khoury, known as Andrée Chedid, French Lebanese poet and novelist *Brian Cury, founder and CEO of

Earthcam EarthCam, Inc., based in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, United States, provides webcam content, technology and services. Founded in 1996, EarthCam.com is a network of scenic webcams offering a complete searchable database of views of places ar ...

* Katheryn Curi, American racing cyclist *

Joanne Chory Joanne Chory is an American plant biologist and geneticist. Chory is a professor and director of the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical I ...

, Lebanese American molecular biologist and geneticist *

Clara Khoury Clara may refer to: Organizations * CLARA, Latin American academic computer network organization * Clara.Net, a European ISP * Consolidated Land and Rail Australia, a property development consortium People * Clara (given name), a feminine giv ...

, Israeli actress *

Elias James Corey Elias James Corey (born July 12, 1928) is an American organic chemist. In 1990, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis", specifically retrosynthetic analysis. Regarded by many a ...

, Lebanese American organic chemist, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1990 *

Elias Khoury Elias Khoury ( ar, إلياس خوري; born 12 July 1948) is a Lebanon, Lebanese novelist, and prominent public intellectual. Accordingly, he has published myriad novels related to literary criticism, which have been translated into several fore ...

, Lebanese novelist, journalist, and academic * Elias Khoury (lawyer), Israeli lawyer *

Elissa (Lebanese singer) Elissar Zakaria Khoury ( ar, إليسار زكريا خوري; born 27 October 1972), commonly known as Elissa ( ar, إليسا), is a Lebanese recording artist. She is one of Lebanon's most famous singers, and one of the best-known artists in ...

, Lebanese singer, full name Elissar Zakaria Khoury * Emile Kuri, Lebanese Mexican Academy Award winner for Best Art Direction * , Lebanese Mexican mathematician * Fadlo R. Khuri, Former chair at Emory University School of Medicine * Elizabeth Khuri, co-founder of social website

Goodreads Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and read ...

Philip Khuri Hitti Philip Khuri Hitti (Arabic: فيليب خوري حتي), (Shimlan 22 June 1886 – Princeton 24 December 1978) was a Lebanese-American professor and scholar at Princeton and Harvard University, and authority on Arab and Middle Eastern history, Isl ...

, Historian and professor at Harvard University * Yusuf Al-Khuri, ancient translator and mathematician *

Adam Kury Adam Kury (born July 7, 1969) is an American bassist and vocalist. He is best known as the bassist for the American alternative rock band Candlebox. Based in Los Angeles, California, he has been the bassist for Candlebox since the band reunited ...

, bassist for American rock band Candlebox * Faris al-Khoury, Syrian politician, former Prime Minister of Syria * Fuad Khuri, Lebanese anthropologist * Fuad Jorge Jury, Lebanese Argentine film director, known as

Leonardo Favio Fuad Jorge Jury (28 May 1938 – 5 November 2012), better known by his stage name Leonardo Favio (), was an Argentine singer, actor and filmmaker. He is considered one of Argentina's best film directors and one of the country's most enduring cul ...

* George Khoury (author), writer in the field of comic books * George Khoury, molecular biologist and chief of the molecular virology laboratory at the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

* Huguette Khoury, known as Hughette Caland, French Lebanese painter * Gui Khuri, Brazilian skateboarder, youngest person to win a gold medal at the

X-Games The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island ...

Greg Kouri Greg is a masculine given name, and often a shortened form of the given name Gregory (given name), Gregory. Greg (more commonly spelled "Gregg (surname), Gregg") is also a surname. People with the name *Greg Abbott (disambiguation), multiple peopl ...

, Lebanese Canadian co-founder of

Zip2 Zip2 was a company that provided and licensed online city guide software to newspapers. The company was founded in Palo Alto, California as Global Link Information Network in 1995, by Greg Kouri and brothers Elon and Kimbal Musk. Initially, Gl ...

.com and

X.com X.com was an online bank co-founded by Elon Musk, Harris Fricker, Christopher Payne, and Ed Ho in 1999 in Palo Alto, California. In 2000, X.com merged with competitor Confinity Inc., a software company also based in Palo Alto. Musk was attracte ...

and high tech angel investor * Donald Kouri, American physicist * Giselle Khoury, Lebanese journalist and talk show host on BBC Arabic * Ignatius Jacob I, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch () *

Joelle Khoury Joelle Khoury is a Lebanese-American pianist and composer of jazz and contemporary classical music. Background Born in Beirut, Joelle Khoury left Lebanon for the United States after the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War. She obtained a degr ...

, Lebanese pianist, jazz and contemporary classical music composer * Jowy Khoury, Lebanese actress * Joyce El-Khoury, Lebanese-Canadian operatic soprano * Pablo Kuri-Morales, Lebanese Mexican world health expert in pandemics * Pilar Khoury (born 1994), Lebanese footballer *

Ken Khouri Kenneth Lloyd Khouri (1917 – 20 September 2003) was a pioneering Jamaican record producer and founder of Federal Records, the first recording studio in Jamaica, which was sold to Bob Marley's Tuff Gong record label in 1981. He is credited by re ...

, Lebanese Jamaican pioneer record company owner and one of the first producers of reggae *

Makram Khoury Makram Jamil Khoury (Arabic:, مكرم يعقوب خوري}, he, מכרם חורי) is an Arab-Israeli actor, born 30 May 1945 in Jerusalem. He was the youngest artist and the first Arab to win the Israel Prize, the highest civic honor in Isra ...

, Israeli actor * George Khoury, co-author and composer of No. 1 hit song "

Sea of Love Sea of Love may refer to * ''Sea of Love'' (film), a 1989 American thriller film * "Sea of Love" (Phil Phillips song), a 1959 song by Phil Phillips and The Twilights, covered by many performers * "Sea of Love" (The National song), 2013 * ''The S ...

" * Rabeeh Khoury, Israeli entrepreneur, founder of

SolidRun SolidRun is an Israeli company producing Embedded systems components, mainly mini computers, Single-board computers and computer-on-module devices. It is specially known for the CuBox family of mini-computers, and for producing motherboards a ...

* Karyn Khoury, American award-winning perfumer *

Marwan Khoury Marwan Khoury ( ar, مروان خوري; born February 3, 1968) is a Lebanese singer, writer, composer and music arranger. He has composed hits for artists such as Majida El Roumi, Saber Rebaï, Nawal Al Zoghbi, Assala Nasri, Najwa Karam, Fa ...

, Lebanese singer, writer and composer * Mario El-Khoury, Lebanese-Swiss engineer and business executive * Muin J. Khoury, American geneticist and epidemiologist *

Paul Khoury Paul Khoury is a Lebanese- Australian television personality and voice talent. Khoury was bass guitarist in a Melbourne band called Gravel, before entering and winning the Cleo Bachelor of the Year award in 2002. He has had roles on Australia ...

, Australian television personality and leading TV Host in the poker arena * Philip S. Khoury, Dean of the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences from 1991 to 2006 *

Raymond Khoury Raymond Khoury (Arabic: ريمون خوري) (born in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese screenwriter and novelist, best known as the author of the 2006 ''New York Times'' bestseller '' The Last Templar''. Biography Early years Raymond Khoury was b ...

, Lebanese screenwriter and novelist, author of the 2006 ''New York Times'' bestseller ''The Last Templar'' *

Rami George Khouri Rami George Khouri (born 22 October 1948) is a journalist and editor with Palestinian background and joint Jordanian and United States citizenship. He was born in New York City to an Arab Palestinian Christian family. His father, George Khouri, a ...

, journalist and editor with joint Palestinian-Jordanian and United States citizenship * Said Khoury, Palestinian-Lebanese billionaire founder of Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) * Sari Ibrahim Khoury, Palestinian-born 20th century abstract visual artist *

Theodore Khoury Adel Theodor Khoury (Arabic: عادل خوري) (born March 26, 1930 in Tebnine, Lebanon) is a Catholic theologian and historian of Christianity and Islam. After theological studies Khoury entered priesthood in 1953. He also pursued philosophy and ...

, Lebanese-born German Catholic theologian * Justin Khoury, Lebanese American physicist and cosmology researcher who introduced the

ekpyrotic universe The ekpyrotic universe () is a cosmological model of the early universe that explains the origin of the large-scale structure of the cosmos. The model has also been incorporated in the cyclic universe theory (or ekpyrotic cyclic universe theory), ...

Walter Hugo Khouri Walter Hugo Khouri (São Paulo, 21 October 1929 – São Paulo, 27 June 2003) was a Brazilian film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer of Lebanese people, Lebanese and Italians, Italian descent. Khouri made 25 feature films and w ...

, Brazilian film director and producer of the film ''Men and Woman'' * , Miss Lebanon 2011 * Zahi Khouri, Palestinian-American businessman, established Palestine National Beverage Company and PADICO *

Bechara El Khoury Bechara El Khoury ( ar, بشارة خليل الخوري; 10 August 1890 – 11 January 1964) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 1st president of Lebanon, holding office from 21 September 1943 to 18 September 1952, apart from an 11-day ...

, first post-independence President of Lebanon * Stephanie Korey, founder and CEO of Away travel brand * Robert J. Coury, Executive Chairman and former CEO of

Mylan Mylan N.V. was a global generic and specialty pharmaceuticals company. In November 2020, Mylan merged with Upjohn, Pfizer's off-patent medicine division, to form Viatris. Previously, the company was domiciled in the Netherlands, with principal e ...

Labs * Sylvia Khoury, American writer and playwright * Frederick Koury, founder of

City-As-School High School City-As-School (CAS) is a public high school located at 16 Clarkson Street between Hudson Street (Manhattan), Hudson Street and Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue South in the West Village of Manhattan, New York City which was establishe ...

* Michael A. Khouri, Acting Chairman of the US

Federal Maritime Commission The United States Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is an independent federal agency based in Washington, D.C. that is responsible for the regulation of oceanborne international transportation of the U.S. It is chaired by Daniel B. Maffei. His ...

* Joseph S. Koury, Lebanese American real state developer,

Koury Corporation Koury Corporation is a real estate development company based in Greensboro, North Carolina. The company was founded by Joseph S. Koury in 1952. The company is very diversified and owns apartment complexes, hotels, condos, shopping centers, golf ...

* Maurice J Koury, textile businessman and philanthropist

References

{{Reflist Arabic-language surnames