Family name affixes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"
- -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)
- -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
- List of most common surnames
- Patronymic
- Family name etymology
- Names in world cultures
- Tussenvoegsel (Dutch prefixes)