Yohannan VIII Hormizd
According to his autobiography, Yohannan Hormizd was born in 1760 in Alqosh to an Assyrian family. His father, the deacon Hanna (Yohannan), was the brother of the Mosul patriarch Eliya XII Denha (1722–78).
Hormizd II
When Hormizd's father Narseh ascended the throne in 293, he had an investiture relief made in Naqsh-e Rustam, where he is depicted as receiving the ring of kingship from a female figure that is frequently assumed to be the goddess Anahita. However, some scholars have suggested that this may be his queen and Hormizd's mother, Shapurdukhtak. The figure standing behind Narseh is most likely Hormizd, due to his cap being the form of that of an animal protome, which was typically worn by Sasanian heirs. Hormizd most likely did not take part in his father's war against the Roman Empire, which ended diastrously for the Sasanians, with Narseh's wife and some of his offsprings being captured, which forced him to surrender a handful provinces in Armenia and Mesopotamia in order to have his family members handed back to him.