Simon Vratsian (born Simon Grouzian) was born in Metz Sala, Nor Nakhichevan, Russian Empire (now Nakhichevan-on-Don) in 1882. In his memoirs, he explains that his first surname, Grouzian, came from the Armenian word "grouz" (գռուզ), which means curly or frizzled. This was because many people from his extended family had curly hair. His surname was changed twice; the first time by a schoolteacher, Melikian (first name unknown), who observed that there is no such surname as Grouzian, just Grouzinian. The second time was when he changed it to Vratsian. He also describes that after the incident with Melikian, his family was divided into three camps: the Grouzian camp, which included his mother, who thought he was a traitor, and his conservative uncle Garabed. The Grouzinian camp, which consists of his "lover of all new things" (as described by Vratsian) uncle Mergian, and finally the Vratsian camp, in which Simon was the only member (he also says that his grandmother died at age 116, but that it cannot be proven since most countries didn't start recording dates of birth until the year 1900).