Wikipedia:Name mush by culture

Note: This text uses special characters for other languages.

The issue of name mush by culture helps to distinguish multiple names for the same person, depending on cultural idioms, such as use of official titles.

This essay is not intended as a long-winded diatribe, but covers many issues, so perhaps check the Table of Contents (at left) or use text-search to find a topic in the essay.

There are numerous common names, depending on various social cultures, that have typical official titles, nicknames or frequent variations in spelling. The purpose of this essay is to describe the typical types of name variations, so that articles can be properly named, with specific name redirections added, if commonly needed. It is important to note that thousands of names have spelling variations, diminutive forms, or conjugation endings, so a short list of naming rules cannot be expected. The important point is to realize that many names have common variations, which are not considered a hidden alias or alter ego.

The term name mush is used to emphasize that a wide conglomeration of factors can affect the naming, not just nicknames or merely using the diminutive forms of names.

When determining name variations, even spelling errors should be considered, as in documents transcribed from other sources. For example, some combinations of letters are often misread, so "Thom" could become "Thorn" by misreading "m" as "r+n" and also "Brainley" could become "Bramley" by seeing "m" for the 2-letter combination "in". Also ink spots could turn "c" into "e" to misread "Clancy" as "Claney" and such.

Names in the United States

As an amalgamation of numerous cultures, the United States has a wide array of name issues to consider, including official titles, suffixes, nicknames, diminutive forms, initials, common abbreviations, Anglicized names, etc.

For many titles, see: United States order of precedence.

Official titles – In the U.S., public officials have official titles prepended to their names, which should not be confused as first names. Numerous titles include: Judge, Justice, Congressman, Master, Sen. (Senator), Gov. (Governor), Mayor, Dr. (Doctor), Mr. (Mister), Mrs. (wife), Miss, Ms. (woman), V.P. (Vice President), Cpt. (Captain), Cpl. (Corporal), Lt. (Lieutenant), etc. However, some men actually have a first name or nickname of "Judge" or "Doctor" and such. There are also common abbreviations added after a name, with honorifics, including: Jr. (junior), Sr. (senior), M.D. (medical doctor), D.V.M. (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine), D.D.S. (for dentists), Esq. (Esquire, often a lawyer or naval officer), Gent. (Gentleman), M.S. (Master of Science), PhD/Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy), CEO (Chief Executive Officer), COO (Chief Operating Officer), etc.

Abbreviated names – Some people abbreviate their first names (to one initial), as is customary for middle names; for example: J. Robert Oppenheimer, W. Edwards Deming, Jas. Smith (Jas=James), Wm. Smith (Wm=William). Those abbreviations (J/W/Jas) are first initials/names, not abbreviated titles. The norm in business forms is to attempt to force people to disclose their full first names, rather than just a first initial.

Diminutives/nicknames – In the U.S., although last names (family names, surnames) are typically spelled with extreme precision, the first names can vary in spelling, such as due to nicknames, while the middle name is typically used as a middle initial (such as "P."). Young people might be called by a diminutive form of their first names, often ending in "-y" (such as "Robby" for "Robert"). However, many people are formally named by diminutive forms of older names, such as "Bob" or "Billy" or "Sally" as formal first names, specified in their birth certificates or other official documents.

Some common names (among hundreds used) are:

• Albert as: Al
• Benjamin as: Ben, Bennie, Benny, Benji, Benjie
• Bill as: Billy or Billie
• Deborah as: Debrah, Debra, Deb, Debby, or Debbie
• Diana as: Di
• Edward as: Ed, Eddie, Ted or Teddy
• Elizabeth as: Liz, Liza, Eliza, Betsy, Bess, or Beth
• James as: Jim or Jimmy, or Jimbo
• Jane as: Janie or Janey
• Jean as: Jeannette, Jeanie, or Jan
• John as: John, Johnny, Johnnie, Jack, Jacky
• Jonathan as: Jon, Jonny, Jonnie
• Joseph as: Joe, or Joey
• Josephine as: Jo
• Jr. (suffix) as: Junior
• Nathan as: Nate
• Nicolas as: Nick, Nicky, Cole
• Nicole as: Nic, Nickie
• Pamela as: Pam
• Robert as: Rob, Robby, Robbie, Bob, Bobby, or Bobbie
• Sam as: Sammy
• Sarah as: Sally or Sallie
• Stephen as: Steven or Steve
• Stephanie as: Steph, Stef or Stevie
• Theodore as: Ted or Teddy
• Thomas as: Tom, Tommy or Tommie
• William as: Will, Willy, Willie, Bill, Billy or Billie

Other nicknames can be added alongside names, using a quoted form (such as "Buzz"), to indicate the common use of that nickname for the person.

Names in the United Kingdom

Also combining numerous cultures, the United Kingdom has a wide array of name issues to consider, including official titles, suffixes, nicknames, diminutive forms, initials, common abbreviations, Anglicized names, etc.

There are more than 100 titles, including Sir, Dame, Lord, Lady, Earl, and numerous military ranks.

For titles, see: United Kingdom order of precedence.

For honorifics, see: List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom).

Names of Germanic origin

With Germanic names, official titles have varied over the past centuries. Titles include: Freiherr (translated as "Baron"), not a first or middle name, Baronin/Freifrau or Freiin (for Baroness), Herzog/Herzogin (Duke/Duchess), Erzherzog (Archduke), Graf (Count), Ritter (Knight/Sir), etc. Examples are German names: Cajetan Freiherr von Felder, and Georg Ritter von Frauenfeld.

Young people with Germanic names might have diminutive suffixes added to their first names, which could also distinguish them from older relatives with the same first name. Some parts of Germany add suffix "-el" while other regions add suffix "-chen". Some names are:

• Johannes as: Johan, Johann, Jan, Jannes, Jo, Joha, Hans
• Hans as: Hansel, Hänschen, Hansele, Hansal, etc.
• Greta as: Gretel or Gretchen

Other common names should be included into the list.

Latin and Romance languages

French

French diminutives can be formed with a wide range of endings. Often, a consonant or phoneme is placed between the root word and the diminutive ending for phonetic purposes: porc, or pig, becomes piglet with the diminutive "-et" French ending, but a phoneme separates the two: porcelet.

Feminine nouns or names are typically made diminutive by adding the ending -ette: fillette (little girl or little daughter [affectionate], from fille, girl or daughter); courgette (small squash or marrow, i.e. zucchini, from courge, squash); Jeannette (from Jeanne); pommettes (cheekbones), from pomme (apple); cannette (female duckling), from cane (female duck). This ending has crossed over into English as well (e.g. kitchenette). Feminine nouns may also end in -elle (mademoiselle, from madame).

Masculine names or nouns may be turned into diminutives with the ending -ot, -on, or -ou, but sometimes, for phonetic reasons, an additional consonant is added (e.g. -on becomes -ton, -ou becomes -nou, etc.): chiot (puppy), from chien (dog); fiston (sonny or sonny-boy), from fils (son); caneton (male duckling), from canard (duck or male duck); chaton (kitten), from chat (cat); minou (kitty, presumably from the root for miauler, to meow); and Didou (Didier).

Some masculine diminutives are formed with the masculine version of -ette: -et. For example: porcelet, piglet, from porc; oiselet, fledgling, from oiseau, bird.

Some French names (among hundreds):

• Jean as: Jeannot (Jonny)
• Jeanne as: Jeannette
• Marguerite as: Margot
• Maurice as: Maury
• Philippe as: Philou or Filou

Informal French
Informal language in French often produces words that could be considered diminutives by either cutting a word in half after the letter O, or chopping off the end of the word and adding an O: McDo from McDonalds; gynéco from gynécologue; dico from dictionnaire; dodo (childish word for sleep, from dormir, to sleep); écolo from écologiste; Catho from Catholique; psycho from psychologie. The ending -oche (with or without an intervening consonant or phoneme to make it easier to pronounce) is also sometimes used: cinoche (cinéma), MacDoche (McDonalds), fastoche (easy-peezy, from facile, easy). Words or names may also be shortened or abbreviated without an O: fixs from fixations, 'ski bindings'; Jean-Phi from Jean-Philippe; amphi from amphithéatre (large classroom or lecture hall); ciné (another informal word for cinéma). However, none of these words have the connotation of small size or affectionate feelings from the speaker, so it is questionable whether they qualify as diminutives. They are simply familiar/informal versions of the underlying words. That being said, the connotation of familiarity (my friend Jean-Phi, as opposed to my new colleague Jean-Philippe; cinoche, the place I often go for entertainment, as opposed to cinéma, the neutral word for a movie theater) arguably may suffice to qualify these words as diminutives.

In Old French, -et/-ette, -in/-ine, -el/-elle were often used, as Adeline for Adele, Maillet for Maill and so on. As well, the ending -on was used for both genders, as Alison and Guion from Alice and Guy respectively.

Italian

In Italian, the diminutive for people is usually expressed by changing masculine (usually -o) to -ino and feminine (usually -a) to -ina, whereas for inanimate objects, the pattern is -o to -etto and -a to -etta. -ello and -ella also exist, though often as the result of the italicization of words from other Romance languages. The new word is then pluralized as a word in its own right. The animate/inanimate rule is extremely loose. Examples which have made it into English are mostly culinary, like linguine (named for its resemblance to little tongues ("lingue", in Italian)), and bruschetta. The diminution is often figurative: an operetta is similar to an opera, but dealing with less serious topics. "Signorina" means "Miss", whereas "signorino" would be a pejorative belittling of a man, same meanings as señorita and señorito in Spanish. The augmentative also exists: -one.

Latin

In the Latin language the diminutive is formed also by suffixes affixed to the word stem. The grammatical gender remains unchanged.

• -ulus, -ula, -ulum, e.g. globulus (globule from globus (globe).
• -culus, -cula, -culum, e.g. homunculus (little man) from homo (man)
• -olus, -ola, -olum, e.g. malleolus (little hammer) from malleus (hammer)
• -ellus, -ella, -ellum, e.g. libellus (little book) from liber (book)

Similarly, the diminutive of gladius (sword) is gladiolus, a plant whose leaves look like small swords.

Adjectives as well as nouns can be diminished, including paululus (very small) from paulus (small).

The verbal diminutive in Latin fixes -ill- to the verb before the personal ending, always changing it to the first conjugation. An example is conscribillo (scribble over), the diminutive of conscribo (write onto) of which the infinitive is conscribillare, despite the infinitive of conscribo being conscribere (third conjugation).

The Anglicisation of Latin diminutives is relatively common, especially in medical terminology. In nouns, the most common conversion is removal of the -us, -a, -um endings and changing them to a silent 'e'. Hence some examples are vacuole from vacuolum, particle from particula and globule from globulus.

Portuguese

In Portuguese, the most common diminutives are formed with the suffixes -(z)inho, -(z)inha, replacing the masculine and feminine endings -o and -a, respectively. The variants -(z)ito and -(z)ita, direct analogues of Spanish -(c)ito and -(c)ita, are also common in some regions. The forms with a z are normally added to words that end in stressed vowels, such as café → cafezinho. Some nouns have slightly irregular diminutives.

Noun diminutives are widely used in the vernacular. Occasionally, this process is extended to pronouns (pouco, a little → pouquinho or poucochinho, a very small amount), adjectives (e.g. tonto → tontinho, meaning respectively "silly" and "a bit silly"; só → sozinho, both meaning "alone" or "all alone"), adverbs (depressinha, "quickly") and even verbs (correndo → correndinho, both of which mean "running", but the latter with an endearing connotation).

Romanian

Romanian uses suffixes to create diminutives, most of these suffixes being of Latin or Slavic origin.

Feminine

• -ea (jucărie / jucărea = toy)
• -ică (bucată / bucăţică = piece)
• -ioară (inimă / inimioară = heart)
• -işoară (ţară / ţărişoară = country)
• -iţă (fată / fetiţă = girl)
• -uşcă (raţă / răţuşcă = duck)
• -uţă (bunică / bunicuţă = grandmother)

Masculine

• -aş (iepure / iepuraş = rabbit)
• -el (băiat / băieţel = boy)
• -ic (tată / tătic = father)
• -ior (dulap / dulăpior = locker)
• -işor (pui / puişor = chicken)
• -uleţ (urs / ursuleţ = bear)
• -uş (căţel / căţeluş = dog)
• -uţ (pat / pătuţ = bed)

Spanish

See also: Spanish naming customs

Spanish is a rich language in diminutives, and uses suffixes to create them;

• -ito/-ita, words ending in -o or -a (rata, "rat" → ratita. Ojo, "eye" → ojito),
• -cito/-cita, words ending in -e or consonant (león, "lion" → leoncito. Café, "coffee" → cafecito),
• -illo/-illa (flota; "fleet" → flotilla. Guerra, "war" → guerrilla. Cámara, "chamber" → camarilla),
• -ico/-ica, words ending in -to and -tro (plato, "plate" → platico),
• -ín/-ina (pequeño/a, "little" → pequeñín(a). Muchacho/a, "boy" → muchachín(a))
• -ete/-eta (cebolla, "onion" → cebollita. Pandero, "tambourine" → pandereta).

Other less common suffixes are;

• -uelo/-uela (pollo, "chicken" → polluelo),
• -zuelo/-zuela [Pejorative] (ladrón, "thief" → landronzuelo),
• -uco/-uca (nene, "children" → nenuco),
• -ucho/-ucha [Pejorative] (médico, "doctor" → medicucho),
• -ijo/-ija (lagarto, "lizard" → lagartija),
• -izno/-izna (lluvia, "rain" → llovizna),
• -ajo/-aja (miga, "crumb" → migaja),
• -ino/-ina (niebla, "fog" → neblina).

Some speakers use twice a suffix in a word, which gives a more affective sense to the word.

• Chico, "boy" → chiquito → chiquitito/a, chiquitico/a, chiquitín(a).
• Pie, "foot" → piecito → piececito, piececillo.

Some name variations are:

• Juan as: Juanito
• Juana as: Juanita
• Pablo as: Pablito.

Slavic languages

Bulgarian

See also: Bulgarian language#Diminutives and augmentatives

Bulgarian has an extended diminutive system.

Masculine nouns have a double diminutive form. The first suffix that can be added is -che. At this points the noun has become neuter, because of the -e ending. The -ntse suffix can further extend the diminutive (It is still neuter, again due to the -e ending). A few examples:

• kufar – kufarche – kufarchentse (a suitcase)
• nozh – nozhche – nozhchentse (a knife)
• stol – stolche – stolchentse (a chair)

Feminine nouns can have up to three different, independent forms (though some of them are used only in colloquial speech):

• zhena – zhenica – zhenichka (a woman)
• riba – ribka – ribchitsa (a fish)
• saksiya – saksiyka – saksiychitsa (a flowerpot)
• glava – glаvitsa – glavichka (a head)

Note, that the suffixes can be any of -ka, -chka, -tsa.

Neuter nouns can have only one diminutive suffix -ntse.

• dete – detentse (a child)
• prase – prasentse (a pig)

Czech

In Czech diminutives are formed by suffixes, as in other Slavic languages. Every noun has a grammatically correct diminutive form, regardless of the sense it makes. This is sometimes used for comic effect, for example diminuting the word "obr" (giant) to "obřík" (little giant). Diminutives can be diminuted further by adding another diminutive suffix. E.g.: "Júlie" (Julia), "Julka" (little Julia), "Júlinka" (very little Julia). Czech diminutives can also express familiarity, meliorative, and affection. Hence, "Julka" may well mean "our", "cute" or "beloved" Julia.

Example: "k-diminutives"

/-ka/ (feminine noun forms)

• táta (dad) → taťka (little/cute/beloved dad = daddy)
• Anna (Ann) → Anka (little/cute/beloved Ann = Annie)
• televise (TV set) → televizka (little/cute/beloved televisor)
• hora (mountain) → hůrka (little/cute/beloved mountain = a big hill)
• noha (leg, foot) → nožka (little/cute/beloved foot, leg)

/-ko/ (neuter noun forms)

• rádio (radio) → rádijko (little/cute/beloved radio)
• víno (wine) → vínko (little/cute/beloved wine)
• triko (T-shirt) → tričko (little/cute/beloved T-shirt)
• pero (feather) → pírko (little/cute/beloved feather)
• oko (eye) → očko (little/cute/beloved eye = eyelet)

/-ek/ (masculine noun forms)

• dům (house) → domek (little/cute/beloved house)
• stůl (table) → stolek (little/cute/beloved table)
• schod (stair/step) → schůdek (little/cute/beloved stair/step)
• prostor (space) → prostůrek (little/cute/beloved space)
• strom (tree) → stromek (little/cute/beloved tree)

/-ík/

• Tom (Tom) → Tomík (little/cute/beloved Tom = Tommy)
• pokoj (room) → pokojík (little/cute/beloved room)
• kůl (stake/pole) → kolík (little/cute/beloved stake/pole)
• rum (rum) → rumík (little/cute/beloved rum)
• koš (basket) → košík (little/cute/beloved basket)

Other common diminutive suffixes are /-inka/, /-enka/, /-ečka/, /-ička/, /-ul-/, /-unka/, /-íček/, /-ínek/ etc. Note the various stem mutations, such as palatalization, vowel shortening or vowel lengthening.

Polish

In Polish diminutives can be formed of nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and some other parts of speech. They literally signify physical smallness or lack of maturity, but usually convey attitude, in most cases affection, however, depending on the context, they may be condescending or ironic.

For adjectives and adverbs, diminutives in Polish are grammatically separate from comparative forms.

There are multiple affixes used to create the diminutive. Some of them are -ka, -czka, -śka, -cia, -sia, -unia, -enka, -lka for feminine nouns and -ek, -yk, -ciek, -czek, -czyk, -szek, -uń, -uś, -eńki, -lki for masculine words, and -czko, -ko for neuter nouns, among others.

The diminutive suffixes may be stacked to create forms going even further, for example, malusieńki is considered even smaller than malusi or maleńki. Similarly, koteczek (little kitty) is derived from kotek (kitty), which is itself derived from kot (cat). Note that in this case, the suffix -ek is used twice, but changes to ecz once due to palatalization.

In many cases, the possibilities for creation of diminutives are seemingly endless and leave place to create many neologisms. Some examples of common diminutives:

Feminine

• żaba (frog) → żabcia, żabusia, żabeńka, żabuleńka, żabeczka, żabunia, żabka
• córka (daughter) → córeczka, córunia, córcia
• piłka (ball) → piłeczka
• Katarzyna (Katherine) → Kasia, Kaśka, Kasienka, Kasiunia, Kasiulka
• Anna (Anna) → Ania, Anka, Andzia, Anusia, Anuśka, Aneczka, Anulka, Anuleczka
• Małgorzata (Margaret) → Małgośka, Małgosia, Gosia, Gośka, Gosieńka, Gosiunia

Masculine

• chłopak (boy) → chłopczyk, chłopaczek
• syn (son) → synek, syneczek, synulek, synuś
• Grzegorz (Gregory) → Grześ, Grzesiek, Grzesio, Grzesiu
• Piotr (Peter) → Piotrek, Piotruś
• Tomasz (Thomas) → Tomek, Tomuś, Tomcio, Tomeczek
• ptak (bird) → ptaszek, ptaszeczek, ptaszyna

Neuter

• pióro (feather) → piórko, pióreczko
• serce (heart) → serduszko, serdeńko
• mleko (milk) → mleczko
• światło (light) → światełko
• słońce (sun) → słoneczko, słonko

Plural

• kwiaty (flowers) → kwiatki, kwiatuszki, kwiateczki

Adjective

• mały (small) (masculine) → maleńki, malusi, malutki, maluśki, malusieńki
• mała (small) (feminine) → maleńka, malusia, malutka, maluśka, malusieńka
• zielony (green) (masculine) → zieloniutki
• zielonawy (greenish) (masculine) → zielonkawy

Adverbs

• szybko (fast) → szybciutko, szybciuteńko, szybciusieńko

Verbs

• płakać (to weep) → płakuniać, płakusiać

Russian

Russian has a wide variety of diminutive forms for names, to the point that for non-Russian speakers it can be difficult to connect a nickname to the original. Diminutive forms for nouns usually end with -ik, -ok (-yok) (masculine gender), -chk-, -shk-, -on’k- or -en’k- suffixes. For example, "voda" (вода;, "water") becomes "vodichka" (водичка, "little water"), "kot" (кот, "male cat") becomes "kotik" (котик), "koshka" (кошка, "female cat") becomes "koshechka" (кошечка), "solntse" (солнце, "sun", neuter) becomes "solnyshko" (солнышко). Often there are many diminutive forms: "mama" (мама, "mom") becomes "mamochka" (мамочка), "mamen’ka" (маменька), etc.

Personal names can have many diminutive forms. There are several ways of forming diminutives. Putting "-ish" after the stem of a name is one way, such as "Marish" from "Maria". Putting the ending "-ka" after a name is another way.

Another variation in Russian language (and Ukrainian) is that personal names can occur in forms which language specialists call the "vocative case", as a special way of saying a name in order to get someone's attention. In written English, this attention is noted by the addition of a "!" after the person's name, like "Bob!" In Russian and Ukrainian, the vocative case is formed by adding a special word-ending on the names. A common way of forming the vocative case is by adding the sound "ye" (like in "yet") or "oo" (as in "boot") to the ends of the names. These endings can be added even to the diminutive forms of names. Thus when calling Ivan, one might say "Ivankoo" as the vocative case of "Ivanko".

Some diminutives of proper names, among many others, are:

• Aleksandra – Sasha, Sashka, Sahenk’ka, Sashechka
• Aleksei – Alyosha, Lyosha, Alyoshka, Lyoshka
• Anastasia – Nastia, Nastenka
• Andrei – Andryusha, Andryushka, Andryushechka
• Anya – An’ka, Anichka, Anushka
• Dmitrii – Dima, Mitya, Dimka, Dimushka, Dimechka, Mityushka, Mityenka
• Eva – Evka, Evoonia, Yevtsia
• Hanna – Hanka, Hanush
• Irina – Ira, Irka, Irachka
• Ivan – Ivanko, Vanja
• Maria – Marish, Mauresh, Marishka
• Mikhail – Misha, Mishka, Mishen’ka, Mishechka
• Natalya – Natasha, Natashka, Natashechka
• Nikolai – Kolya, Kol’ka
• Oksana – Oksanka
• Olena – Olenka
• Peter – Petro, Petrush
• Pyotr – Petya, Pet’ka
• Sergei – Seryozha, Seryozhka
• Tatyana – Tanya, Tan’ka, Tanechka
• Viktoria – Vika
• Vladimir – Volodya, Vova, Vovka
• Yekaterina – Katya, Katyusha, Katenka, Kat’ka, Katyachka
• Yevgeniya – Zhenya, Zhen’ka, Zhenyachka

There are many other names as well.

Uralic languages

Finnish

The diminutive suffixes of Finnish "-kka" and "-nen" are not universal, and cannot be used on every noun. The feature is common in Finnish surnames, f.e. 'Jokinen' could translate 'Riverling', but since this form is not used in speaking about rivers, the surname could also mean 'lands by the river' or 'lives by the river'. Double diminutives also occur in certain words f.e. lapsukainen (child, not a baby anymore), lapsonen (small child), lapsi (child).

Hungarian

Hungarian uses the suffixes -ka/ke and -cska/cske to form diminutive nouns. The suffixes -i and -csi may also be used with names. However, you cannot have the diminutive form of your name registered officially. Nouns formed this way are considered separate words (as all words that are formed using képző type suffixes). They may not even be grammatically related to the base word, only historically, whereas the relation has been long forgotten.

Some examples:

• Animals
  • -i: medve → maci (bear), borjú → boci (calf)
  • -ka/ke: 'maci - ka ' (bear), kutyus - ka (dog), cicus - ka (cat)

( Note: these are double diminutive forms. It isn't a grammatical term, but I think it is understable by this explanation. See below, too: medve – maci – macika, kutya – kutyus -kutyuska, cica – cicus – cicuska. The cat is 'macska' in Hungarian language and 'cica' is a child's language variation, although it should be a pet name, too. )

• • -us: kutya → kutyus (dog), cica → cicus (cat)

Not diminutive forms: macska (cat), kecske (goat), fóka (seal), róka (fox), pulyka (turkey), szarka (European magpie), szöcske (grasshopper), csóka (jackdaw), fecske (swallow). These are basic forms. Diminutive forms see below, too.

Other solutions are -cska, -cske: macskácska (small cat), kutyácska (small dog), fecskécske (small swallow). These forms is understable and grammatically correct, although aren't used. - kis, kicsi: kiskutya or kicsi kutya (small dog), kismacska or kicsi macska (small cat), kisróka or kicsi róka (small fox)

• Names
  • -i: János (John) → Jani, Júlia → Juli, Kata → Kati, Mária → Mari, Sára → Sári
  • -csi: János → Jancsi
  • -ika/ike: Júlia → Julika, Mária → Marika
  • -iska/iske: Júlia → Juliska, Mária → Mariska
  • -us: Béla → Bélus
  • -tya: Péter → Petya
  • -nyi: Sándor (Alexander) → Sanyi

Indo-Iranian languages

Hindi

In Hindi and related languages like Marathi, proper nouns are made diminutive with -u. This is of course most often applied to children's names, though lifelong nicknames can result:

• Rajiv → Raju
• Anita → Neetu

Persian

The most frequently used Persian diminutives are -cheh (چه-) and -ak (ک-).

• Bãgh باغ (garden), bãghcheh باغچه (small garden)
• Mard مرد (man), mardak مردک (this fellow)

Other less used ones are -izeh and -zheh.

• Rang رنگ (colour), rangizeh رنگیزه (pigment)
• Nãy نای (pipe), nãyzheh نایژه (small pipe, bronchus)

Sinhala

In Sinhala, proper nouns are made diminutive with -a after usually doubling the last pure consonant, or adding -ya.

• Rajitha → Rajja
• Romesh → Romma
• Sashika → Sashsha
• Ramith → Ramiya

Names in India

Names in India can differ by spelling of both first and last names, especially during the British occupation of India, when names were Anglicized in various ways for official documents. Some names are:

• Last name Ghose: as Ghosh
• Barindranath as: Barindra or Barin

Other common names should be considered as well.

Research

By noting some typical forms of name variation, according to cultural norms, it can be easier to cross-reference people by various forms of their names. This essay should be expanded to note typical naming variations in other cultures, as well.

See also

• Diminutive form