What does KHOURI stand for? 

Khouri

Khoury (also transliterated as "Khouri" (Arabic: خوري‎, "Χούρι"(Greek) (Ḫūrī) is an Arabic surname that is common to Christians in the Middle East. The term Khoury means "priest" in Arabic. It derives from the Latin word curia. Although most popular amongst the population in Lebanon, where it is the 2nd most common surname, the name can also be found within Christian communities in Israel, Syria, and Jordan. 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. In the Maronite Church, even though in communion with the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, married men are allowed 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, Greek Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, and Melkite Catholic) 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. For Syriac Orthodox, "Khoury" or "Al-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 Khoury, Elcure, Elkhori, Kouri, Couri, Koury, Coury, Kourie, Koory, Koorey, Kuri, Khuri, Khury, Kury, Curi, Cury, Coorey, Courey, Korey, Kory, Corey, Chory, Correy and in Latin America as Kure, Cure, Correa, Juri, Jury, Cura, Jure, Eljure, Aljure or Alcuri.

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