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 Mc (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"
  • - (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)
  • - (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)
  • -, -te /female/ (Lithuanian)
  • -nen (Finnish) diminutive, "from"
  • -nko (Ukrainian)
  • -nova, -novas (Italian, Spanish) "new"
  • -novo (Spanish) "new"
  • - (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"
  • -stad (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish) "town, place"
  • -stein (German) "stone"
  • -sten (Norwegian, Danish) "stone"
  • -stern (German) "star"
  • -strom (German, Danish, Swedish) "stream"
  • - (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, -, -do, - 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)
  • -white, -waite (English) "clearing"
  • -wood (English)
  • -worth (English) "homestead"
  • -wright (English) "maker of"
  • -y (See -i)
  • -ycz (Polish)
  • -yk (Polish)
  • -ynas (Lithuanian) "son of"
  • -ysz (Polish)
  • -zadeh, -zada (Persian, Azeri, زاده) "son of", "descendant of"
  • -zadegan (Persian, زادگان-) plural form of zadeh

[edit] See also

Languages