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ArchivesSome surname elements
If anyone has a vaguely ethnic-sounding surname but has no idea which nationality it derives from, here are a few helpful hints if your surname ends in or contains these elements:
-ski is likely to be Polish.
-sky is more likely to be Russian (these two get mixed up a lot.)
-ak is Slovak.
-enko is almost infalliably Ukranian.
-vic is likely from Yugoslavia.
-vich is often confused with 'vic' but is from Russian, not Yugoslavian, origin.
-vici, also often confused with the two above, is Serbian.
-off, -ov, -ev, and -eff are probably Russian.
-iak is Ukranian.
-wicz or any cz combination really, is likely Polish.
I'll be back with more later if I can!
JC
-ski is likely to be Polish.
-sky is more likely to be Russian (these two get mixed up a lot.)
-ak is Slovak.
-enko is almost infalliably Ukranian.
-vic is likely from Yugoslavia.
-vich is often confused with 'vic' but is from Russian, not Yugoslavian, origin.
-vici, also often confused with the two above, is Serbian.
-off, -ov, -ev, and -eff are probably Russian.
-iak is Ukranian.
-wicz or any cz combination really, is likely Polish.
I'll be back with more later if I can!
JC
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Replies
More fun with surname elements! A few more common elements include...
-ez is usually Spanish.
-es, not to be confused with the above example, is Portuguese.
-is is from Catalan.
-escu, -aru and -eanu are Romanian.
-zade is Persian (Farsi) in origin.
-oglu is Turkish and means "son of".
-berg, -s, and -er are common German sufixes, as are -dorf, -baum, -hof,
-stein, -bach, -feld, -heim, -stadt, -mann, and -gross.
-blad, -ek, -gren, -holm, -lind, -kvist, -sjo, and -strom are Swedish.
Van-, Vander-, and Vanden- are all Dutch and are related to the German
Von-, meaning "of" or "at".
-nen is Finnish more often than not.
Ibn- and Ben- are Arabic and Hebrew. Both mean "son of".
-ian and -yan are both Armenian.
-is and -os are usually Greek.
Mc- and Mac- are Gaelic prefixes from Irish and Scots that mean "son of".
-ez is usually Spanish.
-es, not to be confused with the above example, is Portuguese.
-is is from Catalan.
-escu, -aru and -eanu are Romanian.
-zade is Persian (Farsi) in origin.
-oglu is Turkish and means "son of".
-berg, -s, and -er are common German sufixes, as are -dorf, -baum, -hof,
-stein, -bach, -feld, -heim, -stadt, -mann, and -gross.
-blad, -ek, -gren, -holm, -lind, -kvist, -sjo, and -strom are Swedish.
Van-, Vander-, and Vanden- are all Dutch and are related to the German
Von-, meaning "of" or "at".
-nen is Finnish more often than not.
Ibn- and Ben- are Arabic and Hebrew. Both mean "son of".
-ian and -yan are both Armenian.
-is and -os are usually Greek.
Mc- and Mac- are Gaelic prefixes from Irish and Scots that mean "son of".
1