Family name affixes

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Family name affixes are a clue for family name etymology and determining ethnic origin of a person. This is a partial list of affixes.

[edit] Prefixes

Dogra

A- (Romanian) "son of"
ab (Welsh) "son of"
antune- (Portuguese) "Anthony"
ap (Welsh) "son of"
abu (Arabic) "father of" [Also used in Hebrew prior to 1300 BCE]
al (Arabic for "the" in names, e.g. al-Razi)
alt- (German) "old"
bab- (Polish, Ukrainian, Slovakian, Czech) "woman" especially "old woman"
bar- (Aramaic, Hebrew) "son of"
bath-, bat- (Aramaic, Hebrew) "daughter of"
beau- (French) "beautiful"
ben- (Aramaic, Hebrew) "son of"
bin (Arabic) "son of" [Also used in Hebrew prior to 1300 BCE]
bint (Arabic) "daughter of"
birch- (English)
björk-, bjørk- (Swedish, Norwegian) "birch"
björn-, bjørn- (Swedish, Norwegian) "bear"
bjur- (Swedish) "beaver"
Da (Italian) "from"
De (Dutch) "the"; (French) "of"; (Italian)
Degli (Italian) "of the". Here the is a masculine plural object starting with either 'sp', 'sc', 'ps', 'z', 'gn' or 'st'.
Della (Italian) "of the". Here the is a feminine singular object.
Di (Italian) "son of"; (Spanish)
Dj- (Slovakian)
Dos (Portuguese,Spanish,Italian] "From"
Du (French) "of the". Here, 'the' is a masculine object, as 'de la' would be feminine and 'des' would be plural.
El (Spanish) ("the")
Esco- (Spanish) "broom"
Esch- (Dutch, German) "ash"
Fleisch- (German) "meat"
Fitz (Irish, from Norman French) "Son of", from Latin "filius", "son" (mistakenly thought to mean illegitimate son based on its use for certain illegitimate sons of English kings)
Gott- (German) "God"
Griff- (Welsh, English)
Haj or Hadj or Hajj (Persian| حاج) "Pilgrim to Mecca"
ibn (Arabic) another form of "bin" in names, e.g. ibn Sina [Also used in Hebrew prior to 1300 BCE]
Kauf- (German) "trade" or "barter"
Koop- (Dutch) "trade" or "barter"
Mac- (Irish, Scottish) "Son of"
Mc- (Irish) assumed to be an abbreviation of Mac, but often claimed to be particular to Irish language. Sometimes spelt M^c (with a superscript 'c').
Mir- (Persian, Azeri, short form of the Arabic word Amir امیر) "commander", "prince"
Naka-　中 (Japanese) "middle (child)"
Nic- (Irish, Scottish) "Daughter of"
O' - (Irish) "Grandson of", "Descendant of"
Öz - (Turkish) "Pure"
pour- (Persian) "son of"
Si- (Chinese) "Government Official" (司) used in some two character surnames such as Sima, Situ.
skog-, skoog- (Norwegian, Swedish) "forest"
ter (Dutch) "at the"
Tre (Cornish) "farm of"
-Türk (Turkish)
van (Dutch) "of"
von (German) "of"

[edit] Suffixes

-a (typically in female names)
-a- (Frisian) "One of the good guys", could be -ma, -stra, -ta. Frisians took the oath of the Free Frisians screaming 'Better dead then a slave' after which they could get their new familyname (see Eala Freya Fresena).
-aitis (Lithuanian) "son of"
-'aitė (Lithuanian) signifies an unmarried female
- -"aty" Americanized form
-aj (Albanian)
-ak (Polish, Ukrainian)
-ák (Czech)
-an (Romanian)
-anu (Romanian)
-arz (Polish)
-as (Greek, /male/ Lithuanian)
-auskas (Lithuanian) for the Polish -owski, Bielorussian -auski

-awan (Urdu)
-ba (Abkhazian) "male"
-bach, -back (German) "brook"
-baum (German) "tree"
-bee, -by (English) "homestead"
-berg (German, Swedish, Danish) "mountain" or "hill"
-bergen (Dutch) "mountain" or "hill"
-burn, -burne (English) "brook"
-brook (English)
-brun, -brunn (German) "spring"
-by (Danish, English) "town"

-cka (Polish) Feminine equivalent of cki
-cki (Polish)
-cký (Czech)
-cock, -cox (English) "little"
-chi (Persian, چی-) attributed to or performing a certain "job"
-chian (Persian, چیان-) attributed to or performing a certain "job"
-chuk (Ukrainian)
-čki (Serbian, Croatian)
-cote, -cott, -cutt (English) "cottage"
-craft, -croft (English) "small field"
-czak, -czuk, -czyk (Polish)

-dale (English) "valley"
-don (English) "hill"
-dorf (German) "village"
-dottir (Icelandic) "daughter of"
-dze (Georgian)
-dzki (Polish)

-eanu (Romanian)
-eau (French) "water"
-ee (See -i)
-eff (Russian) (obsolete, copied from German transliteration of -ev)
-ek (Czech, Polish)
-ems (Dutch)
-ėnas (Lithuanian) "son of"
-enko (Ukrainian) "son of"
-ens (Dutch)
-er (French, German, Turkish "male")
-ers (Dutch)
-es (Greek, Portuguese, Brazilian)
-escu (Romanian)
-ev (Bulgarian, Serbian, Azeri, all nationalities of Russia) possessive
-eva (Russian, Azeri) Feminine equivalent of ev
-ez (Spanish) (including Spanish-speaking countries) "son of"

-fia, -fi (Hungarian) "descendant of" (literally "son of")
-ford (English)
-fort (French)

-gil, (Turkish, "family")
-gaard, -gard, -gård (Norwegian, Danish) "farm"
-garth (English, Scottish) "orchard"
-gate (English)
-gren (Swedish, Danish) "branch"

-haar (German, Danish) "hair"
-han (Turkish) "king, khan"
-höven, -hoeven (German) "small garden"

-i (Hungarian) "of", "from" (geographically)
-i (Persian, Azeri) "descendant of", "attributed to"
-ian(ts), -yan(ts), -ents,-ants,-unts,-uni (Armenian) "son/daughter of"
-iak (Polish, Polish) "descendant of"
-ić (Serbian, Bosniak, Croatian) (diminutive)
- -ević (Serbian, Bosniak, Croatian) (diminutive possessive), little son of)
- -ović (Serbian, Bosniak, Croatian) (diminutive possessive), little son of)
  - -begović (Bosniak) (diminutive possessive of a beg, i.e. beg's little son)
-ič (Slovenian) (diminutive)
-ičius (Lithuanian) actually Lithuanianized version of the Polish "icz"
-icz (Polish)
-ides, idas (Greek), "son of"
-ik (Czech, Slovak, Polish)
-ikh, -ykh (Russian)
-in (Russian, Ukrainian)
-ina (female equivalent of -in; especially rare for male names, but the suffix alone is an actual female name)
-ing (Anglo-Saxon) "place of the people of"
-ino (a common suffix for male Latino and Italian names)
-ipa (Abkhazian) "son of"
-ipha (Abkhazian) "girl of"
-is (Greek, /male/ Lithuanian)
- -ienė (Lithuanian) female version
- -ytė (Lithuanian) unmarried female version
-ishin (Ukrainian) possessive (e.g. Romanishin = son of wife of Roman)
- -ishina (female equivalent of -ishin)
-iu (Romanian)
-ius (Lithuanian) "son of"
-iv (Ukrainian) possessive

-j (Adygean)"old"

-ka (Polish, Czech)
-kawa, -gawa 川 (Japanese) "river"
-kin, -kins, -ken (English) "little"
-ko (Ukrainian)
-ko (Adygean) "son" ĸъо
-kus (Lithuanian)
-kyzy (Kyrgyz) "daughter of"

-la, -lä (Finnish), comes to surnames from names of villages and farms
-lein (German) "small"
-ley, -ly (English, Scottish) "wood," or "grove"
-li (Turkish, Azeri) "from"
-lund (Swedish) "grove"

-man (English) "servant of," (Turkish) "male person"
-mann (German) "servant of"
-mand (Persian, مند-) owning or showing
-maz (Turkish) "does not" (e.g. "Yılmaz = Yields not")
-men (Turkish) "male person"
-mont, -monte (French) "mountain" or "hill"

-nd (French)
-nė, -te /female/ (Lithuanian)
-nen (Finnish) diminutive, "from"
-nko (Ukrainian)
-nova, -novas (Italian, Spanish) "new"
-novo (Spanish) "new"
-ný (Czech)
-nezhad, -nejad (Persian, نژاد) "descendant of"
-nyi (Hungarian)

-o (typically in male names)
-off (Russian) (obsolete, copied from German transliteration of -ov)
-oğlu (Azeri, Turkish) "son of"
-onis (Lithuanian) "son of"
-os (Greek)
- -opoulos, -opulos (Greek)
-ou (Greek)
-ov (Bulgarian, Russian (all nationalities of Russia), Serbian, Azeri) (possessive)
-ova (Bulgarian, Russian, Azeri) Feminine equivalent of ov
-ow (Prussian, though found in predominantly German names, it is pronounced like English "ow" not like the German "ov")

-pern, -perin (German) "spring"
-pour, -poor (Persian) "son of"

-quist (Swedish) "twig"

-ridge, -redge, -rigg (English)
-rd (French)
-rud (Norwegian) "clearing"

-s /male/ (Latvian)
-s /male/ (Lithuanian)
-schmidt, -schmitt, -schmid, -schmit (German) "smith"
-sen (Danish, Norwegian, Dutch or Low German) "son of"
- -ssen (Dutch or Low German) "son of"
-shvili (Georgian)
-shyn (Ukrainian)
-ski (Polish, Croatian) "estate of", (Macedonian, Bulgarian, Serbian (adjective), Russian) (often transliterated as -sky)
-ska (Polish) Feminine equivalent of ski
-skaya (Russian) Feminine equivalent of sky
-sky (Russian)
-ský (Czech)
-smith (English)
-son (English, Swedish) "son of"
- -sson (Swedish, Icelandic) "son of"
-stad (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish) "town, place"
-stein (German) "stone"
-sten (Norwegian, Danish) "stone"
-stern (German) "star"
-strom (German, Danish, Swedish) "stream"

-tæ (Ossetian) "belong to"
-tabar (Persian) "descendant of"
-thwait (Anglicized from the Danish) "meadow, clearing" introduced into British Isles by Vikings between 800 and 1066 AD
-to, -tō, -do, -dō 藤 (Japanese) "wisteria"
-ton, -ten, -tone (English) "town," "place" or "village"
-tzky (Polish)
-Türk (Turkish)

-uk (Ukrainian)
-ulea (Romanian) "son of"
-ulis (Lithuanian)
-ūnas (Lithuanian) "son of"
-uulu (Kyrgyz, it is pronounced in English "oo-loo") "son of"

-velt (Dutch) "farm" or "field"
-verde (Spanish) "green"
-vich, -vitz, -vych, -wicz, -witz, -witch (Russian, Polish) "son of"
-vičius (Lithuanian)
-vičiutė (Lithuanian)
-vili (Georgian)