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

• A – (Romanian) "son of"
• Ab – (Welsh, Cornish, Breton) "son of"
• Af – (Danish, Swedish), Av (Norwegian) "of"
• Ap – (Welsh) "son of"
• Abu – (Arabic) "father of"; also used in Hebrew prior to 1300 BC
• Aït – (Berber) "of"
• Al – (Arabic) "the"
• Ālam – (Persian) "world"
• Aust, Austre – (Norwegian) "east", "estern"
• Bar – (Aramaic) "son of"
• Bath, bat – (Hebrew) "daughter of"
• Ben, bin, ibn – (Arabic and Hebrew) "son of"
• Bet – (Arabic from "Beyt") "house of"
• Bint – (Arabic) "daughter of"; Binti, Binte (Malaysian version)
• Da – (Italian) "from", "of"; (Portuguese) "from the" (before a feminine singular noun)
• Das – (Portuguese) "from the", "of the", preceding a feminine plural noun
• De – (Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Filipino) "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", preceding a masculine plural noun starting with either sp, sc, ps, z, gn, or st.
• Del – Spanish
• Dele – Southern French, Spanish, Filipino, and Occitan, equivalent of Du
• Della – (Italian) "of the", preceding a feminine singular noun
• Der – (Western Armenian) "son/daughter of a priest"; (German) "the" (masculine nominative), "of the" (feminine genitive)
• Di – (Italian) "son of"
• Dos – (Portuguese) "from the, of the", preceding a masculine plural noun
• Du – (French) "of the", preceding a masculine singular noun
• E – (Portuguese) "and", between surnames (Maria Eduarda de Canto e Mello)
• El – (Arabic and Spanish) "the"
• Fetch, Vetch – (Welsh) "daughter of"
• Fitz – (Irish, from Norman French) "son of", from Latin "filius" meaning "son" (mistakenly thought to mean illegitimate son, because of its use for certain illegitimate sons of English kings)
• i – (Catalan) "and", always in lowercase, used to identify both surnames (e.g. Antoni Gaudí i Cornet)
• Kil, Gil – (English, Irish, Scottish) "son of", "servant of", "devotee of"
• La – (Italian, French, Spanish) "the", feminine singular
• Le – (Northern French) "the", masculine singular
• Lille – (Norwegian) "small", "little"
• Lu – (Latin and Roman) "Master"
• M'/Mac/Mc/Mck/Mhic/Mic – (Irish, Scottish, and Manx Gaelic) "son". Both Mac and Mc are sometimes written M^ac and M^c (with superscript ac or c). In some names, Mc is pronounced Mac.
• Mala – (Kurdish) "House of"
• Mellom, Myljom – (Norwegian) "between"
• Na – ณ (Thai) "at"
• Ned, Nedre – (Norwegian) "low", "lower"
• Neder – (Swedish) "lower", "under"
• Nic, Ní – (Irish, Scottish) "daughter of", from Irish "iníon" meaning "daughter"
• Nin – (Serbian)
• Nord, Norr – (German, Swedish, Danish), Nord, Nordre (Norwegian) "north", "northern"
• Ny – (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) "new"
• O/Ó/Ua/Uí – (Irish, Scottish, and Manx Gaelic) "son of", "grandson of", "descendant of"
• Opp, Upp – (Norwegian) "up"
• Öfver – (Swedish) "upper", "over" (archaic spelling)
• Ost (German), Öst, Öster (Swedish), Øst (Danish), Øst, Østre (Norwegian) – "east", "eastern"
• Över – (Swedish) "upper", "over"
• Øvste, Øvre, Øver – (Norwegian) "upper"
• Öz – (Turkish) "pure"
• Pour – (Persian) "son of"
• Putra – (Indonesian) "son of"
• Putri – (Indonesian) "daughter of"
• Setia – (Indonesian) "loyal to"
• Stor – (Norwegian, Swedish) "large"
• Söder – (Swedish), Sør, Sønder (Danish), Sør, Syd, Søndre, Syndre, Søre (Norwegian), "south", "southern"
• Ter – (Dutch) "at the"
• Ter – (Eastern Armenian) "son/daughter of a Priest"
• Tre – (Cornish) "farm of"
• Van – (Dutch) "of", "from"
• Van De, Van Den, Van Der – (Dutch) "of the", "from the"
• Väst, Väster – (Swedish) "west"
• Verch, Erch – (Welsh) "daughter of"
• Vest – (Danish) Vest, Vestre (Norwegian) "west", "western"
• Vesle, Vetle – (Norwegian) "small", "little"
• von – (German) "of", "from"; a sign of nobility.
• zu - (German) "at"; a sign of nobility, sometimes in the combination von und zu

Suffixes

• -a, -ya Kurdish means "of" (female) (by two surnames)
• -à (Catalan)
• -ac (Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian, Southern French)
• -ach (Ukrainian, Belarusian /Belarusian Latin: -ač/)
  • -acz (Polish)
• -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.
  • -ák (Czech, Slovak) In Slovak, -ák means "pertaining to" or merely creates a noun, and its two other versions are -iak and -ak.
• -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"
• -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
• -chian (Persian, چیان-) attributed to or performing a certain job
• -chek, -chik, -chyk, -chuk (Ukrainian, Belarusian /Belarusian Latin: -ček, -čyk, -čuk/) diminutive
  • -czek, -czyk, -czuk, -czak (Polish)
  • -ček, -čík (Czech, Slovak, Slovenian)
  • -ćek, -cek (Croatian)
• -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.)
• -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.
• -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.
  • -ík (Slovak) It merely creates a noun and can also be endearment, diminutive, have other meanings; its other Slovak version is -ik.
• -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")
• -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
• -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"
• -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"
• -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"
• -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"
  • -vych (Ukrainian)
  • -wicz (Polish), -wic (Polish)
  • -vić (Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin)
  • -vič (Slovenian, Slovak, Czech [rarely]), -vic (Slovak, Czech [rarely])
  • -vici (Romanianized respellings)
  • -vics (Hungarianized respellings)
  • -vitz, -witz, -witch, -witsch (Germanized or Anglicized respellings)
• -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.
• -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.
• -ysz (Polish)
• -za (Kurdish) "born of"
• -zadeh, -zada (Turkish, Azeri, Persian زاده), -zai (Pashto) "son of", "descendant of"
• -zadegan (Persian, زادگان-) plural form of zadeh

See also

• Language identification
• Lists of most common surnames, for the various continents
• Nobiliary particle
• Matriname
• Patronymic surname
• Celtic onomastics
• Scandinavian family name etymology
• Slavic name suffix
• Tussenvoegsel (Dutch prefixes)

External links

• Surname Prefixes
• Surname Suffixes