Supposedly it was derived from a man's name Shete. The representatives of one of the smallest families of Georgia reside mostly in Kakheti region. The historical documents do not store any information about the family until the 20th century. However, folklore and especially local legends provide quite richstories connected to this family. The Shetekauris are originally from the mountainous village – Mutso. As the legend puts it “the Shetekauris dug Mutso”, which indirectly indicates that the family foundedthe village or the family history started together with the founding of Mutso.
As legend has it Mutso was founded by five brothers. The Shetekauris family comes from Vardana, who was one of the brother. Another's name was Choloka, whose descendants moved to Kakheti and changed their family name into Cholokashvili. Third brother escaped his deadly enemies to Tusheti and their family name is Uzgharauli. Fourth brother did not getmarried and, thus, did not have descendants. From the generations of the fifth brother Torghva – a legendary hero from Mutso – was born.