List of family name affixes

Family name affixes are a clue for surname etymology and can sometimes determine the ethnic origin of a person. This is a partial list of affixes.

Prefixes

Suffixes
  • -a, -ya Kurdish means "of" (female) (by two surnames)
  • -à (Catalan)
  • -ac (Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian, Southern French)
  • -ach (Ukrainian, Belarusian /Belarusian Latin: -ač/)
  • -aei (Persian) (See -i) for words that end in the long vowel A
  • -ago (Russian) (e.g. Zhivago)
  • -aitis (Lithuanian) "son of"
    • -aitė (Lithuanian) signifies an unmarried female
      • -aty Americanized form
  • -aj (Albanian) (pronounced AY; meaning “of the" ) It denotes the name of the family, which mostly comes from the male founder of the family, but also from a place, as in, Lash-aj (from the village Lashaj of Kastrat, MM, Shkodër). It is likely that its ancient form, still found in MM, was an [i] in front of the last name, as in ‘Déda i Lékajve’ (Déd of Lekës). For ease of use, the [i] in front of the last name, and the ending _ve, were dropped. If the last name ends in [a], then removing the [j] would give the name of the patriarch or the place, as in, Grudaj - j = Gruda (place in MM). Otherwise, removing the whole ending [aj] yields the name of founder or place of origin, as in Lekaj - aj = Lek(ë). Since the names are found most commonly in Malsi e Madhe (North) and Labëri (South), it is likely that this linguistic feature is very old. It must have been lost as a result of foreign influences brought into Albania by the invaders.
  • -ak (Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Croatian, Slovenian, Slovak, Montenegrin, Sorbian) See -ák for its Slovak meaning.[8]
    • -ák (Czech, Slovak) In Slovak, -ák means "pertaining to" or merely creates a noun, and its two other versions are -iak and -ak.[8]
  • -al (Nepali) denotes for village of origin (for e.g.; Khanal, Dhakal, Dahal, Rijal, etc.)
  • -an (Ukrainian, Belarusian) (e.g. Ruban)
  • -an (Romanian)
  • -án (Spanish)
  • -and (French)
  • -ange (French) from Germanic -ing
  • -ano (Italian) feminine -ana "of or from [a locality]"; from Latin -ānus, -āna
  • -anu (Romanian)
  • -appa (Indian) Kodava people Coorgi ethnic minority
  • -ár (Slovak)
  • -ář (Czech)
  • -arz (Polish)
  • -au (-aw) (Belarusian) / -aŭ (Belarusian Latin) equivalent to Russian -ov
    • -ava (Belarusian) feminine equivalent of -au
  • -au (German) in a toponymic surname, "of or from a lower place near water"[9]
  • -auskas/-iauskas (Lithuanian) equivalent to Polish -owski, -ewski, Belarusian -ouski, -euski / Belarusian Latin -oŭski, -eŭski
  • -awan (Urdu)
  • -ba (Abkhazian) "male"
  • -berg (German) "mountain"
  • -by or bee (English) of Danish origin
  • -chi, -çı, -çi, cı, -ci (Azeri, Persian, چی-, Turkish) attributed to a geographic location or performing a certain job[10]
  • -chian (Persian, چیان-) attributed to or performing a certain job
  • -chek, -chik, -chyk, -chuk (Ukrainian, Belarusian /Belarusian Latin: -ček, -čyk, -čuk/) diminutive
  • -ckas (Lithuanian) Lithuanianized version of the Polish and Belarusian -cki
  • -cki (Polish, Belarusian, Croatian, Serbian, Sorbian) variant of -ski
    • -cka (Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Sorbian) Feminine equivalent of -cki
  • -ckis (Latvian) Latvianized version of the Polish and Belarusian -cki
  • -cký (Czech, Slovak)
    • -cká (Czech, Slovak) Feminine equivalent of -cký
  • -čki (Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian)
  • -cock, -cox (English) "little"
  • -datter (Danish, Norwegian) "daughter (of)"
  • -din (Swedish)
  • -dotter (Norwegian, Swedish) "daughter (of)"
  • -dóttir (Icelandic) "daughter (of)" (patronymic suffix (sometimes matronymic) (by law) of not a family name but part of the Icelandic last name where (usually) the father's name is always slightly modified and then dóttir added)
  • -dze (Georgian) "son of"
  • -dzki (Polish) variant of -ski, -cki
  • -é (Catalan)
  • -ê, -yê (Kurdish) means "of" (male) (by two surnames)
  • -eanu (Romanian)
  • -eau, -eault (French) diminutive suffix (Latin -ellu-)
  • -ec (Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Slovenian, Polish, Sorbian, Ukrainian, Belarusian), (French spelling for Breton -e.g.)
    • -avec (Belarusian)
  • -ee (See -i)
  • -eff (Russian, Bulgarian) obsolete, copied from German transliteration of -ev
  • -eiro (Portuguese, Galician)
  • -ek (Czech, Polish, Slovak, Slovenian, Croatian) diminutive
  • -ell (English spelling for French -el, diminutive)
  • -el (Northern French and Occitan, French -eau)
  • -ema (Suffix of Fryslân origin, given by Napoleon Bonaparte who used suffixes like these to keep a record of people's origins within the Netherlands)
  • -ems (Dutch)
  • -ėnas (Lithuanian) "son of"
  • -enko (Ukrainian), -enka/-anka (Belarusian) "son of"
    • -chenko (Ukrainian), -chenka/-chanka (Belarusian /Belarusian Latin: -čenka, -čanka/)
  • -ens (Dutch)
  • -ent (French)
  • -enya (Belarusian /Belarusian Latin: -enia/) (e.g. Gerasimenya)
  • -er (Dutch, English, French, German, Turkish "male")
  • -ero (Spanish)
  • -ers (Dutch)
  • -es (Greek, Portuguese) "son of" in Portuguese
  • -ese (Italian) plural -esi "of or from [a locality]"; from Latin -ēnsis
  • -escu (Romanian) "son of"
  • -ești (Romanian) possessive plural, also used in place names
  • -et (French) (diminutive suffix Latin -ettu- or former -el)
  • -ets (Ukrainian, Belarusian)
  • -eu (-ew) (Belarusian /Belarusian Latin: -eŭ/) equivalent to Russian -ev
  • -ev (Russian (all Eastern Slavic languages), Bulgarian, Macedonian) possessive
    • -eva (Russian (all Eastern Slavic languages), Bulgarian, Macedonian) Feminine equivalent of -ev
  • -evski (Macedonian, Bulgarian) possessive
    • -evska (Macedonian, Bulgarian) Feminine equivalent of -evski
  • -ez (Spanish, North Picard) including Spanish-speaking countries "son of"; in Picard, old spelling for -et
  • -ëz (Albanian) for feminine; a word refer to something smaller, either literally or figuratively as in a form of endearment
  • -fia, -fi, -fy, -ffy (Hungarian) "descendant of" (literally "son of")
  • -fleth, -felth, -fleet (Northern German) current, body of water
  • -gil, (Turkish, "family") (e.g. Korkmazgil)
  • -i (Italian) in most surnames, plural
  • -i (Hungarian) "of", "from" indicates region of origin, sign of nobility (e.g. "Szentiványi", "Rákóczi"). Like German Von.
  • -i (Arabic, Persian) "descendant of", "attributed to" (e.g. "Baghdadi", "Abbasi") or, (Iranian) "from" (e.g. "Barzani" from Barzan, or Tabrizi from Tabriz.)[10]
  • -ia (Abkhaz, Mingrelian)
  • -ian(ts), -yan(ts), -jian, -gian, -ents, -ants, -unts, -uni (Armenian) "son/daughter of"
  • -iak (Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish) "descendant of". In Slovak, -iak is a version of -ák/-ak and means "pertaining to" or merely creates a noun.[8]
  • -ic(k) (French), misspelling for Breton -ig, diminutive
  • -ich (-ovich/-evich) (Belarusian /Belarusian Latin: -ič, –ovič, -evič/), -ych (-ovych/-evych) (Ukrainian) "son of"
    • -icz (-owicz/-ewicz) (Polish) "son of"
    • -ic (Polish, Slovak, Czech, Sorbian, Belarusian) "son of"
      • -owic/-ewic (Polish)
      • -ovic (Slovak, Czech [rarely])
      • -ojc/-ejc, -ojic/-ejic (Sorbian)
      • -yc (Belarusian, Sorbian, Polish)
  • -ić (-ović/-ević) (Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin) diminutive possessive, little son of
    • -begović (Bosniak) diminutive possessive of a beg, i.e. chieftain's or chief's little son
    • -ici (-ovici/-evici) Romanian of Slavic origin (Romanian adaptation of -ić or -ich/-ych)
  • -ič (-ovič) (Slovenian, Slovak, Czech [rarely]) diminutive, "son of"
  • -ičius (Lithuanian) Lithuanianized version of the Belarusian -ich (Belarusian Latin: -ič) and Polish -icz
    • -avičius/-evičius (Lithuanian) Lithuanianized version of the Belarusian -ovich/-evich (Belarusian Latin: -ovič/-evič) and Polish -owicz/-ewicz
  • -ičs (Latvian) Latvianized version of the Belarusian -ich (Belarusian Latin: -ič) and Polish -icz
    • -ovičs/-evičs (Latvian) Latvianized version of the Belarusian -ovich/-evich (Belarusian Latin: -ovič/-evič) and Polish -owicz/-ewicz
  • -ides, -idis, -idas (Greek), "son of"
  • -ier (French)
  • -ik (Belarusian, Polish, Croatian, Czech, Slovak, Slovenian) It merely creates a noun in Slovak where -ik is a version of -ík, can be endearment, diminutive, have other meanings.[11]
    • -ík (Slovak) It merely creates a noun and can also be endearment, diminutive, have other meanings; its other Slovak version is -ik.[11]
  • -ik (Estonian) if it follows a tree name, has a meaning "grove"
  • -ikh, -ykh (Russian)
  • -in (Russian (all Eastern Slavic languages), Bulgarian) possessive
    • -ina (female equivalent of -in; especially rare for male names, but the suffix alone is an actual female name)
    • -yn (Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian) possessive
  • -in (French) diminutive
  • -in (Dutch, German) suffix attached to old Germanic female surnames (e.g. female surname "Mayerin", the wife of "Mayer")[12]
  • -ing, ink (Anglo-Saxon, Dutch, German) "descendant"
  • -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, -yshyn (Ukrainian) possessive (e.g. Romanishin = son of wife of Roman)
    • -ishina, -yshyna (female equivalent of -ishin, -yshyn)
  • -iu (Romanian)
  • -ius (Lithuanian) "son of"
  • -iv (Ukrainian) possessive Galician form, introduced in late 19th century by Austrian authorities. Like -ov or -ev.
  • -j (Adygean)"old"
  • -ka (Belarusian, Polish, Czech, Slovak) diminutive
  • -kan, -ken (Turkish) (e.g. Vuruşkan)
  • -ke, (Italian,Russian) In surnames of Slavic origin. Like Ukrainian -ko
  • -kin, -kins, -ken (English) "little"
  • -kin (Dutch) "little"
  • -ko(Ukrainian, Polish, Slovak, Czech)diminutive
  • -ko (Polish, Serbian, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Finnish, Japanese)- diminutive, “child”, “descendant”
  • -ko (Adygean) "son" ĸъо
  • -kus (Lithuanian)
  • -kvist, -qvist (Swedish) "twig"
  • -kyzy (Great Kazakh) "daughter of"
  • -kyzy (Kyrgyz) "daughter of"
  • -le, -lein (German) "small"
  • -li, -lı, -lu, -lü (Turkish, Azeri) "from" (e.g. İzmirli, Ankaralı, İstanbullu, Bakülü)
  • -li (Italian)
  • -lin (French, Irish, Swedish) in Germanic names "small"
  • -litz (German)
  • -man(n) (German)
  • -mand (Persian, مند-) owning or showing[10]
  • -maz (Turkish) "does not" (e.g. "Yılmaz = Yields not", "Korkmaz = Fears not")
  • -men, -man (Turkish) flipping suffix (e.g. ak=white, akman=purely white), "person", "male person", have other meanings
  • -ment (French) from Germanic “man”
  • -nė, -te /female/ (Lithuanian)
  • -nen (Finnish) diminutive, "from"
  • -nik (Estonian) attributed to occupation (talu being "farm" – talunik being "farmer")
  • -nova, -novas (Italian, Galician, Catalan) "new"
  • -novo (Galician) "new"
  • -ný (Czech, Slovak) adjective
  • -ny (Polish) adjective
  • -nezhad, -nejad, -nejhad (Persian, نژاد) "descendant of"[10]
  • -nyi (Hungarian)
  • -off (Russian, Bulgarian) obsolete, copied from French transliteration of -ov, based on Muscovite pronunciation
  • -oğlu (Azeri, Turkish) "son of" (e.g. Türkoğlu)
  • -ok (Belarusian, Ukrainian, Czech)
  • -ois, -oy, -ais, -ay (French) from Germanic -isk and Vulgar Latin -ese
  • -on (French), former subject case in masculine names
  • -onak (-onok) (Belarusian)
  • -onis (Lithuanian) "son of"
  • -os (Greek) like Latin -us (Gasconic, Spanish, Portuguese) from Latin -us
    • -opoulos, -opulos (Greek)
  • -osz, -oš (Polish, Czech, Slovak)
  • -ot (French) "little"
  • -ou(t) (French), various origins
  • -ou (Greek) "daughter of"
  • -ou (-ow) (Belarusian) / -oŭ (Belarusian Latin) equivalent to Russian -ov
    • -ova (Belarusian) feminine equivalent of -ou
  • -ouf (French), French spelling of North African names
  • -oui (French), French spelling of North African names, English spelling -wi
  • -ous
  • -ov (all Eastern Slavic languages, Bulgarian, Macedonian) possessive
    • -ova (all Eastern Slavic languages, Bulgarian, Macedonian) feminine equivalent of -ov, -ou, -ow
  • -ová (Czech, Slovak) feminine derivative of a noun male surname
  • -ovo (Russian) (e.g. Durnovo)
  • -ovski (Macedonian, Bulgarian) possessive
    • -ovska (Macedonian, Bulgarian) Feminine equivalent of -ovski
  • -ow (Russian, though found in predominantly German names, it is pronounced like English "ow" not like the German "ov")
  • -pour, -poor (Persian) "son of"[10]
  • -putra (Indonesian) "son"
  • -putri (Indonesian) "daughter"
  • -quin, (French) from Dutch -kin "little"
  • -s (Dutch, Irish, Welsh) "(son/daughter) of". Sometimes less recognizable, like in "Hendrickx" (son/daughter of Hendrik)
  • -sen or -zen (Danish, Norwegian, Dutch or Low German) "son (of)"
    • -ssen (Dutch or Low German) "son (of)"
    • -ssens or -sens (Dutch) "grandson/granddaughter of". Literally "(son/daughter) of the son of"
  • -shvili (Georgian) "child"
  • -skas (Lithuanian) Lithuanianized version of the Polish and Belarusian -ski
  • -ski (Polish, Belarusian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Sorbian, Croatian. Also Russian but more often transliterated as -sky), "originating from", "estate of"
    • -ska (Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Sorbian, Croatian) Feminine equivalent of -ski
  • -skiy/-tskiy, -skyi/-tskyi (Ukrainian)
    • -ivskiy, -ivskyi (Ukrainian)
  • -skoy/-tskoy (Russian) (e.g. Shakhovskoy)
  • -sky/-tsky (Russian, Ukrainian)
    • -skaya/-tskaya (Russian) Feminine equivalent of -sky/-tsky
    • -ivsky (Ukrainian)
  • -ský (Czech, Slovak) "originating from", "lord of"
    • -ská (Czech, Slovak) Feminine equivalent of -ský
  • -skis (Latvian) Latvianized version of the Polish and Belarusian -ski
  • -sma (Frisian) "son of"
  • -son (English, Swedish, German, Norwegian, Scottish Icelandic) "son (of)" (in Iceland not part of a family name but the patronymic (sometimes matronymic) last name (by law), where (usually) the fathers's name is always slightly modified and then son added)
    • -sson (Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Scottish) "son (of)" (in Iceland technically the first s is a separate "suffix" of the father's name according to Icelandic language rules, one of the most common modifications)
  • -(s)son (French), diminutive
  • -stad (Norwegian) "town"
  • -stein (German) "stone"
  • -strom, -strøm, -ström (Danish, Swedish) from 'current', probably an arbitrarily adopted ornamental name but possibly a topographic name for someone who lived by a river.
  • -tæ (Ossetian) "belong to"
  • -tabar (Persian) "descendant of"[10]
  • -tzki, -tzky (Polish) – phonetic Germanized spelling of original Polish -cki
  • -uk (Ukrainian, Belarusian) diminutive
  • -ulea (Romanian) "son of"
  • -ulis (Lithuanian)
  • -uly (Great Kazakh) "son of"
  • -ūnas (Lithuanian) "son of"
  • -uulu (Kyrgyz form of -oğlu) "son of"
  • -vich (Belarusian /Belarusian Latin: -vič/, occasionally a respelling of original Serbian, Croatian -vić) "son of"
  • -vičius (Lithuanian) Lithuanianized version of the Belarusian -vich (Belarusian Latin: -vič) and Polish -wicz
    • -vičiutė (Lithuanian) signifies an unmarried female
  • -vičs (Latvian) Latvianized version of the Belarusian -vich (Belarusian Latin: -vič) and Polish –wicz
  • -wala (Indian) denotes the occupation or place of origin (Occupation example: Batliwala – one who deals with bottles. Place example: Suratwala – one from Surat)
  • -wan (Indonesian) denotes a male name
  • -wati (Indonesian) denotes a female name
  • -wi (Arabic) "from"
  • -y (Arabic/Persian) Means descendant of.[10]
  • -y (See -i)
  • -ycz (Polish)
  • -yk (Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian)
  • -ynas (Lithuanian) "son of"
  • -ys (English) representing i. the archaic plural form, or ii. a diminutive form. Variant forms not limited to -yss, -is, -es. Pronunciation is as modern plural suffix -s; i.e. Sandys = sands; Foulis = fowls.[13][14]
  • -ysz (Polish)
  • -za (Kurdish) "born of"
  • -zadeh, -zada (Turkish, Azeri, Persian زاده), -zai (Pashto) "son of", "descendant of"[10]
  • -zadegan (Persian, زادگان-) plural form of zadeh

See also

References
  1. "BBC Wales - History - Themes - Welsh naming". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  2. Engber, Daniel (2006-07-03). "Abu, Ibn, and Bin, Oh My!". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  3. Engber, Daniel (2006-06-28). "What's Up With "Al-"?". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  4. "Normativa". Universitat Illes Balears.
  5. "Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): ní". www.teanglann.ie. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  6. "Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): ó". www.teanglann.ie. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  7. https://www.theindexer.org/files/17-1/17-1_012.pdf
  8. Votruba, Martin. "Last Names in -ák". Slovak Studies Program. University of Pittsburgh.
  9. "German Place Names ending in -AU".
  10. Megerdoomian, Karine (February 2008). "The Structure of Persian Names". Mitre Technical Report. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.717.1899.
  11. Votruba, Martin. "Last Names in -ík". Slovak Studies Program. University of Pittsburgh.
  12. Rixner, T.A. (1830). "Handwörterbuch der Deutschen Sprache". Vol. 1 A-K, Page 290. 1830 Sulzbach / Germany.
  13. Weekley, Ernest (1914). The Romance of Names. E.P. Dutton.
  14. An Old Phonographer (October 9, 1886). "Aristocratic Surnames". The Critic. 9 (145): 178. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
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