Family name affixes

Family name affixes are a clue for family name etymology and determining ethnic origin of a person. This is a partial list of affixes.

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 (Italian, French, Spanish) "of"; indicates region of origin, often a sign of nobility; in Spanish-speaking countries a married woman will append her name with "de XXXX" where "XXXX" is her husband's last name.
* 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.
* Der (Western Armenian) "son/daughter of a Preist"; (Armenian)
* 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 M^c (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"
* skog-, skoog- (Norwegian, Swedish) "forest"
* ter (Dutch) "at the"
* Ter (Eastern Armenian) "son/daughter of a Priest"; (Armenian)
* Tre (Cornish) "farm of"
* Türk (Turkish) "Turkish"
* van (Dutch) "of"
* von (German) "of"; a sign of nobility.

=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 than a slave' after which they could get their new surnames (see Eala Freya Fresena).
* -aitis (Lithuanian) "son of"
* -aitė (Lithuanian) signifies an unmarried female
** -"aty" Americanized form
* -aj (Albanian)
* -ak (Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian)
* -ák (Czech, Slovak)
* -an (Romanian)
* -anu (Romanian)
* -ář, -ar (Czech, Slovak)
* -arz (Polish)
* -as (Greek, /male/ Lithuanian)
* -au (Belarusian) equivalent to Russian -ov
* -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"

* -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)
* -chik, -chyk ((Ukrainian, Belarusian, Russian)
** -čík (Czech, Slovak)
** -czyk (Polish)
* -chuk (Ukrainian, Belarusian)
** -czuk (Polish)
* -cka (Polish) Feminine equivalent of -cki
* -cki (Polish) variant of -ski
* -cký (Czech, Slovak)
* -čki (Serbian, Croatian)
* -cock, -cox (English) "little"
* -cote, -cott, -cutt (English) "cottage"
* -craft, -croft (English) "small field"
* -czak (Polish) another variant of the -czyk, -czek, -czuk series

* -dale (English) "valley"
* -don (English) "hill"
* -dorf (German) "village"
* -dottir (Icelandic) "daughter of"
* -dze (Georgian)
* -dzki (Polish) variant of -ski, -cki

* -eanu (Romanian)
* -eau (French) "water"
* -ec (Czech, Slovak, Polish) equivalent to Russian -ets
* -ee (See -i)
* -eff (Russian) (obsolete, copied from German transliteration of -ev)
* -ek (Czech, Polish, Slovak)
* -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)
* -ets (Russian, Belarusian)
* -eu (Belarusian) equivalent to Russian -ev
* -ev (all nationalities of Russia, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian, Azeri) possessive
* -eva (Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Azeri) Feminine equivalent of ev
* -ez (Spanish) (including Spanish-speaking countries) "son of"

* -fia, -fi, -fy, -ffy (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, Croatian, Bosniak) a diminutive
** -ević (Serbian, Croatian, Bosniak) diminutive possessive), "little son of"
** -ović (Serbian, Croatian, Bosniak) diminutive possessive, "little son of"
*** -begović (Bosniak) (diminutive possessive of a beg, i.e. "beg's little son")
* -ič (Slovenian, Slovak) 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, Slovak, Belarusian) diminutive
* -kawa, -gawa 川 (Japanese) "river"
* -kin, -kins, -ken (English) "little"
* -ko (Ukrainian, Polish, Slovak, Czech)
** -chenko (Ukrainian)
** -nko (Ukrainian)
* -ko (Adygean) "son" ĸъо
* -kus (Lithuanian)
* -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
* -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, Slovak) adjective
* -ny (Polish) adjective
* -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"
* -ok (Belarusian, Czech)
* -oi, -oy (Russian) sometimes transliterated as -oj
* -onis (Lithuanian) "son of"
* -os (Greek)
** -opoulos, -opulos (Greek)
* -osz, -oš (Polish, Czech, Slovak)
* -ou (Greek)
* -ou (Belarusian) equivalent to Russian -ov
* -ov (Bulgarian, Russian (all nationalities of Russia), Serbian, Azeri) (possessive)
* -ova (Bulgarian, Russian, Azeri) Feminine equivalent of -ov
* -ová (Czech) suffix attached to all Czech female surnames
* -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)
* -s (Dutch) "(son/daughter) of". Sometimes less recognizable, like in "Hendrickx" (son/daughter of Hendrik)
* -schmidt, -schmitt, -schmid, -schmit (German) "smith"
* -sen (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)
* -shyn (Ukrainian)
* -ski (Polish, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian. Also Russian but more often transliterated as -sky), "estate of"
** -ska (Polish, Macedonian, Ukrainian) Feminine equivalent of -ski
** -skaya (Russian) Feminine equivalent of -sky
** -skyi, -skiy (Ukrainian)
** -sky (Russian)
** -ský (Czech, Slovak)
* -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"
* -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)

* -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

ee also

* List of most common surnames
* Patronymic
* Family name etymology
* Names in world cultures
* Tussenvoegsel (Dutch prefixes)