By the 1990s, a massive internal migration from northern Albania to Tirana diluted the old surnames. Today, only 7% of Tirana’s residents carry a surname that predates 1920. The old surnames of Tirana are not dead. You can still find a Tabaku selling shoes (not leather), a Bregu living in a flat on the plain, and a Lisi who has never planted a tree. But to hear them pronounce their name with the phrase “ne jemi nga Tirana e vjetër” (we are from old Tirana) is to hear a quiet pride—a reminder that before the skyscrapers and traffic jams, the capital was a village of hills, bazaars, and unforgettable names. Fascinating detail to end on: The rarest old Tirana surname still in existence is Bubullima (thunderstorm). Legend says the first Bubullima was born during a freak thunderclap in August 1802, and every male in the family since has been named Guri (stone) to “ground” the lightning. Only three families with this surname remain.

There was even a derogatory category: (surnames of the poor neighborhoods). For example, Kasollja (little hut) indicated a family that lived in a reed shack near the former swamps of Farka . 6. The Communist Era: Homogenization and Loss Under Enver Hoxha (a Tiranasi himself – his original surname was Hoxha, meaning “preacher”), many old families were targeted as “reactionary.” The Toptani family was exiled or imprisoned. Others voluntarily changed their names to avoid persecution. A Kryemadhi might become Madhi to hide the feudal “crye” (head/chief).