Family Name Affixes Information

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

Prefixes

• A- (Romanian) "son of"
• Ab - (Welsh, Breton) "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)
• Alm- (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "elm"
• Alt- (German) "old"

• Bab- (Polish, Ukrainian, Slovakian, Czech) "woman" especially "old woman"
• Bäck- (Swedish) "brook"
• Bar- (Hebrew) "son of"
• Bath, bat- Hebrew) "daughter of"
• Beau- (French) "beautiful", step-(son, father), alternative spelling for Bau-
• Beck- (Swedish) "brook" (archaic spelling)
• Ben- (Arabic and Hebrew,) "son of"
• Berg- (German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "mountain", "hill"
• Bet- (Arabic from "Beyt") "house of"
• Bin- (Arabic) "son of" [Also used in Hebrew prior to 1300 BCE]
• Bint- (Arabic) "daughter of"
• Birch- (English) "birch tree"
• Björk- (Swedish), bjørk- (Norwegian, Danish) "birch tree"
• Björn- (Swedish), bjørn- (Danish, Norwegian) "bear"
• Bjur- (Swedish) "beaver" (poetic / dialectal)

• Da- (Italian) "from, of"; (Portuguese) "from the". Here the is a feminine singular object.
• Dahl-, Dal- (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "valley"
• De- (Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese) "of"; indicates region of origin, often a sign of nobility; in Spanish-speaking countries a married woman will sometimes append her name with "de XXXX" where "XXXX" is her husband's last name; (Dutch) "the"
• Degli- (Italian) "of the". Here the is a masculine plural object starting with either 'sp', 'sc', 'ps', 'z', 'gn' or 'st'.
• Dele-, Del- Northern French and Occitan, equivalent of Du-
• Della- (Italian) "of the". Here the is a feminine singular object.
• Der- (Western Armenian) "son/daughter of a priest"; (German) "the" (masculine nominative), "of the" (feminine genitive)
• Di- (Italian, Spanish) "son of"
• Dj- (Slovakian)
• Dos- (Portuguese) "from the, of the". Here the is a masculine plurar object.
• Du- (French) "of the". Here, 'the' is a masculine object, as 'de la' would be feminine and 'des' would be plural.

• E- (Portuguese) "and", used before last surmane (Maria Eduarda de Canto e Mello)
• Ek- (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "oak"
• El- (Arabic for "the" in names and also in Spanish) "the"
• Escob- (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)
• Fors- (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "rapids"

• Gott- (German) "God"
• Griff- (Welsh, English) "griffin"

• Haj- or Hadj- or Hajj - (Arabic: حاج‎) "pilgrim to Mecca"
• Haug- (Norwegian) "hill" or "mound"
• Holm- (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "island"

• 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"
• Kil- (English, Irish, Scottish) "son of" "servant of" or "devotee of"
• Koop- (Dutch) "trade" or "barter"
• Kvarn- (Swedish) "mill"

• La- (Italian, Southern French, Spanish) for "the", feminine
• Le- (Northern French) for "the", masculine
• Lind- (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "linden"
• Lönn- (Swedish), Lønn- (Danish, Norwegian) "maple"
• Lund- (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "grove"

• 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"
• Na-　ณ (Thai) "at"
• Naka-　中 (Japanese) "middle"
• Neder- (Swedish) "lower", "under"
• Nic-, Ni- (Irish, Scottish) "daughter of"
• Nin- (Serbian)
• Nord-, Norr- (German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "north"
• Ny- (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "new"

• O' - (Irish) "grandson of", "descendant of"
• Öfver- (Swedish) "upper", "over" (archaic spelling)
• Ost- (German), öst-, öster- (Swedish), øst- (Danish, Norwegian) "east"
• Över- (Swedish) "upper", "over"
• Öz - (Turkish) "pure"

• Papa- (Greek) "son/daughter of a Priest"
• Pour- (Persian) "son of"

• Quarn- (Swedish) "mill" (archaic spelling)

• Skog-, Skoog- (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish) "forest"
• Sten- (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "stone"
• Stor- (Swedish) "large"
• Ström- (Swedish), Strøm- (Danish, Norwegian) "stream"
• Söder- (Swedish) "south"

• Ter- (Dutch) "at the"
• Ter- (Eastern Armenian) "son/daughter of a Priest"
• Tre- (Cornish) "farm of"
• Türk- (Turkish) "Turkish"
• Van- (Dutch) "of"
• Väst-, Väster- (Swedish) "west"
• Vest- (Danish, Norwegian) "west"
• Von- (German) "of"; a sign of nobility.

Suffixes

• -a (typically in female names, in most European languages, except French)
• -a- (Frisian) "One of the good guys", could be -ma, -stra, -ta. Frisians took the oath of the Free Frisians screaming 'Better dead than a slave' after which they could get their new surnames (see Eala Frya Fresena).
• -ac (ац) (Serbian, French)
• -acz (Polish)
• -aitis (Lithuanian) "son of"
• -aitė (Lithuanian) signifies an unmarried female
  • -"aty" Americanized form
• -aj (Albanian)
• -ak (Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian)
• -ák (Czech, Slovak)
• -an (Romanian)
• -and (French)
• -anu (Romanian)
• -ář, -ar (Czech, Slovak)
• -ard (French) from Germanic -hard, pejorative
• -arz (Polish)
• -as (Greek, /male/ Lithuanian)
• -au (Belarusian) equivalent to Russian -ov
• -aud, -au(l)t (French) from Germanic -(w)ald, pejorative
• -auskas (Lithuanian for the Polish -owski, Belarusian -auski)
• -awan (Urdu)

• -ba (Abkhazian) "male"
• -bach, -back (German) "brook"
• -bäck (Swedish) "brook"
• -backa , -backe (Swedish) "hill", "slope"
• -baum (German) "tree"
• -beck (Swedish) "brook" (archaic spelling)
• -bee, -by (English) "homestead"
• -berg (German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "mountain" or "hill"
• -bergen (Dutch) "mountain" or "hill"
• -bert (French, German) from Germanic -berht “bright”
• -bois (French) ″wood″
• -borough (English)
• -bourg (French)
• -brook (English)
• -brun, -brunn (German, Swedish) "spring"
• -burg (Scottish)
• -burn, -burne (English) "brook"
• -by (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish) "town", "village"; also borrowed into English

• -chenko (Ukrainian, Belarusian)
• -chi (Persian, چی-) attributed to or performing a certain "job"
• -chian (Persian, چیان-) attributed to or performing a certain "job"
• -chek ((Ukrainian, Belarusian)
  • -czek (Polish)
  • -ček (Czech, Slovak) diminutive
• -chik, -chyk ((Ukrainian, Belarusian, Russian)
  • -čík (Czech, Slovak)
  • -czyk (Polish)
• -chuk (Ukrainian, Belarusian)
  • -czuk (Polish)
• -cka (Polish) Feminine equivalent of -cki
• -cká (Czech, Slovak) Feminine equivalent of -cký
• -cki (Polish) variant of -ski
• -cký (Czech, Slovak)
• -čki (Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian)
• -cock, -cox (English) "little"
• -cote, -cott, -cutt (English) "cottage"
• -court (French)
• -craft, -croft (English) "small field"
• -czak (Polish) another variant of the -czyk, -czek, -czuk series

• -dal (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish) "valley"
• -dale (English) "valley"
• -datter (Danish, Norwegian) "daughter (of)"
• -din (Swedish)
• -don (English) "hill"
• -dorf (German) "village"
• -dotter (Swedish) "daughter (of)"
• -dóttir (Icelandic) "daughter of"
• -dze (Georgian) "son of"
• -dzki (Polish) variant of -ski, -cki

• -eanu (Romanian)
• -eau, -eault (French) diminutive suffix (Latin -ellu-)
• -ec (Czech, Slovak, Polish, Croatian, equivalent to Russian -ets), (French spelling for Breton -eg)
• -ee (See -i)
• -eff (Russian, Bulgarian) (obsolete, copied from German transliteration of -ev)
• -ek (Czech, Polish, Slovak, Croatian)
• -ell (English spelling for French -el, diminutive)
• -el (Northern French and Occitan, French -eau)
• -ema (Suffix of Fryslân origin, given by Napoleon Bonapart who used suffixes like these to keep a record of people's origins within Holland)
• -ems (Dutch)
• -ėnas (Lithuanian) "son of"
• -enko (Ukrainian) "son of"
• -ens (Dutch)
• -ent (French)
• -er (English, French, German, Turkish "male")
• -ers (Dutch)
• -es (Greek, Portuguese, Brazilian)
• -escu (Romanian) "son of"
• -et (French) (diminutive suffix Latin -ettu- or former -el)
• -ets (Russian, Belarusian)
• -eu (Belarusian) equivalent to Russian -ev
• -ev (Bulgarian, all nationalities of Russia) possessive
• -eva (Bulgarian and Russian) Feminine equivalent of ev
• -evski (Macedonian, Bulgarian and Russian) possessive
• -evska (Macedonian and Bulgarian and Russian) Feminine equivalent of evski
• -ez (Spanish, North Picard) including Spanish-speaking countries "son of"; in Picard, old spelling for -et

• -fält, -fäldt (Swedish) "field"
• -fia, -fi, -fy, -ffy (Hungarian) "descendant of" (literally "son of")
• -felt, -feldt (Swedish) "field" (archaic spelling)
• -ford (English)
• -fors (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "rapids"
• -fort (French)

• -gil, (Turkish, "family")
• -gaard, -gard, -gård (Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, French) "farm" (garden in Northern French)
• -garth (English, Scottish) "orchard"
• -gate (English)
• -gren (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "branch"
• -haar (German, Danish) "hair"
• -han (Turkish) "king, khan"
• -holm (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "island"
• -höven, -hoeven (German) "small garden"

• -i (Italian) in most surnames, plural
• -i (Hungarian) "of", "from" (geographically)
• -i (Arabic, Persian) "descendant of", "attributed to"
• -ia (Abkhaz, Mingrelian)
• -ian(ts), -yan(ts), -jian, -,gian, -ents, -ants, -unts, -uni (Armenian) "son/daughter of"
• -iak (Ukrainian, Polish) "descendant of"
• - ic (French), misspelling for Breton -ig, diminutive
• -ić (Bosniak, Croatian, Serbian) (diminutive)
  • -begović (Bosniak) (diminutive possessive of a beg, i.e. chieftain's or chief's little son)
  • -ević (Bosniak, Croatian, Serbian) (diminutive possessive, little son of)
  • -ović (Bosniak, Croatian, Serbian) (diminutive possessive, little son of)
• -ič (Slovenian, Slovak) diminutive
• -ičius (Lithuanian) actually Lithuanianized version of the Polish "icz"
• -icz (Polish)
• -ides, idas (Greek), "son of"
• -ik (Czech, Slovak, Polish) and Estonian (if it follows a tree name, has a meaning "grove")
• -ikh, -ykh (Russian)
• -in (Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian) possessive
• -in (French) diminutive
• -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, Slovak, Belarusian) diminutive
• -kawa, -gawa 川 (Japanese) "river"
• -ke, (German)
• -kin, -kins, -ken (English) "little"
• -ko (Ukrainian, Polish, Slovak, Czech)
  • -chenko (Ukrainian)
  • -nko (Ukrainian)
• -ko (Adygean) "son" ĸъо
• -kus (Lithuanian)
• -kvist (Swedish) "twig"
• -kyzy (Kyrgyz) "daughter of"

• -la, -lä (Finnish), comes to surnames from names of villages and farms
• -ła, -la (Polish), often comes from verbs in the past tense; in countries where the letter Ł is not available, it is replaced by L
• -lay, -ley, -ly (Scottish, , English, Irish) "wood," or "grove"
• -le, -lein (German) "small"
• -li, -lou (Turkish, Azeri) "from"
• -lin (French, Irish, Swedish) in Germanic names "small"
• -litz (German)
• -lund (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "grove"

• -maa (Estonian) "land"
• -mägi (Estonian) "hill"
  • -mäe (Estonian) "hill"
• -man (English) "manly or heroic", "male person", "servant of," (Turkish) "male person"
• -man (Indonesian) a common suffix, usually denotes a male (e.g. "Budiman")
• -mann (German) "manly or heroic", "male person", "servant of"
• -mand (Persian, مند-) owning or showing
• -maz (Turkish) "does not" (e.g. "Yılmaz = Yields not")
• -men (Turkish) "male person"
• -mets (Estonian) "forest"
• -mont (French) "mountain" or "hill", or Germanic -mund "god"

• -nė, -te /female/ (Lithuanian)
• -nen (Finnish) diminutive, "from"
• -nik (Estonian) attributed to occupation (talu being "farm" - talunik being "farmer")
• -nko (Ukrainian)
• -nova, -novas (Italian, Spanish) "new"
• -novo (Spanish) "new"
• -ný (Czech, Slovak) adjective
• -ny (Polish) adjective
• -nezhad, -nejad (Persian, نژاد) "descendant of"
• -nyi (Hungarian)

• -o (typically in male names in most European languages except English, French, etc.)
• -off (Russian, Bulgarian) (obsolete, copied from German transliteration of -ov)
• -oğlu (Azeri, Turkish) "son of"
• -ok (Belarusian, Czech)
• -oi, -oy (Russian) sometimes transliterated as -oj
• -ois, -oy, -ais, -ay (French) from Germanic -isk
• -on (French), former subject case in masculine names
• -onis (Lithuanian) "son of"
• -os (Greek, Gasconic, Spanish, Portuguese)
  • -opoulos, -opulos (Greek)
• -osz, -oš (Polish, Czech, Slovak)
• -ot (French) "little"
• -ots (Estonian) "end/edge"
• -ou(t) (French), various origins
• -ou (Greek)
• -ou (Belarusian) equivalent to Russian -ov
• -ouf (French), Norman French spelling of Old Norse ulfr and Germanic wulf “wolf”
• -ouf (French), French spelling of North African names
• -oui (French), French spelling of North African names, English spelling -wi
• -ov (Bulgarian, Russian (all nationalities of Russia) (possessive)
• -ova (Bulgarian, Russian) Feminine equivalent of -ov
• -ová (Czech, Slovak) suffix attached to most Czech and Slovak female surnames
• -ovski (Macedonian, Bulgarian and Russian) possessive
• -ovska (Macedonian and Bulgarian and Russian) Feminine equivalent of -ovski
• -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"
• -putra (Indonesian) "son"
• -putri (Indonesian) "daughter"
• -puu (Estonian) "tree"

• -quin, (French)
• -quist, -qvist (Swedish) "twig" (archaic spelling)

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

• -s /male/ (Latvian)
• -s /male/ (Lithuanian)
• -s /male/ (French) ,former subject case (from Latin -us)
• -s (Dutch, Irish) "(son/daughter) of". Sometimes less recognizable, like in "Hendrickx" (son/daughter of Hendrik)
• -saar (Estonian) "island"
• -salu (Estonian) "grove"
• -schmidt, -schmitt, -schmid, -schmit (German) "smith"
• -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"
• -sepp (Estonian) "smith"
• -shvili (Georgian) "child"
• -shyn (Ukrainian)
• -ski (Polish, Bulgarian, Macedonian. Also Russian but more often transliterated as -sky), "originating from", "estate of"
  • -ska (Polish, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Ukrainian) Feminine equivalent of -ski
  • -ská (Czech, Slovak) Feminine equivalent of -ský
  • -skaya (Russian) Feminine equivalent of -sky
  • -skyi, -skiy (Ukrainian)
  • -sky (Russian)
  • -ský (Czech, Slovak)
• -sma (Frisian) "son of"
• -smith (English)
• -son (English, Swedish, Icelandic) "son of"
  • -sson (Swedish, Icelandic) "son of"
• -(s)son (French), diminutive
• -stad (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish) "town, place"
• -stein (German) "stone"
• -sten (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish) "stone"
• -stern (German) "star"
• -ström (Swedish), -strøm (Danish, Norwegian) "stream"
• -svärd (Swedish) "sword"

• -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"
• -toft (English) "knoll"
• -ton, -ten, -tone (English) "town," "place" or "village"
• -tzki, tzky (Polish) - phonetic Germanized spelling of original Polish -cki
• -Türk (Turkish)

• -uk (Ukrainian, Belarusian)
• -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 (Russian, occasionally a respelling of original Serbian, Croatian -vić) "son of"
  • -vych (Ukrainian)
  • -wicz (Polish)
  • -vić (Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian)
  • -vič (Slovenian, Slovak)
  • -vitz, -witz, -witch (Germanized or Anglicized respellings)
• -vičius (Lithuanian)
• -vičiutė (Lithuanian)
• -vili (Georgian)
• -ville (French) "town"
• -wala (Indian) denotes the occupation or place of Origin (Occuptation 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
• -well (English)
• -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

See also

• List of most common surnames
• Patronymic
• Family name etymology
• Scandinavian family name etymology
• Slavic name suffix
• Tussenvoegsel (Dutch prefixes)

Categories: Etymology | Surnames

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