Origin of “Kaponas” nickname

The nickname “Kaponas” is often found appended to the family name of the Megalokonomos family of Agia Pelagia. The followng is the story of how that came about was related to me by Polychronis Paloyannidis in 2022.

Antonios Megalokonomos (b 1822) married Metaxia Fardouli of Agia Pelagia. She was from a wealthy family. Part of her family's wealth came from breeding chickens and, in particular, roosters. Some of the roosters were sold for their meat which was (and still is) considered a delicacy. In order to make the roosters' meat more tender and tastier Metaxia would castrate the young cockerels. The roosters became more expensive and well known and brought extra profits. The greek word for a castrated cockerel (softened for eating) is “καπόνι” (kapóni) (“capon” in English).

And so, this is how Antonios earned his nickname “παρατσούκλι” (paratsoukli) of Kaponas.

[Source: Polychronis Paloyannidis, personal communication]