# Examples of internal demonyms as surnames? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2025, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719 "2025-09-03T18:17:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/41 "2025-09-05T12:11:51Z")
Another celebrity whose last name is also a onetime kingdom: Nobel Prize-winning novelist Miguel Ángel Asturias. > **[Miguel Ángel Asturias](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_%C3%81ngel_Asturias)** > > Miguel Ángel Asturias Rosales (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Spanish: \[mi(ˈ)ɣel ˈaŋxel asˈtuɾjas\]; 19 October 1899 – 9 June 1974) was a Guatemalan poet-diplomat, novelist, playwright and journalist. Winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1967, his work helped bring attention to the importance of indigenous cultures, especially ... ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/42 "2025-09-05T12:35:37Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I grew up speaking Polish, so it’s never been a problem to me, but from observation that seems to be where it’s tricky. But maybe it’s not even an issue there, though I swear I more often hear “Zar” and “Sunami” than with the initial “t.” (The the former being more often especially as it’s spelled as “czar” mostly these days, it seems.) Tsar is almost always pronounced Zar or similar, yeah. And I can’t quite put my finger on it, but when I say “tsunami” and “צונאמי” in an English and Hebrew sentence, I feel like I’m saying the initial sound slightly differently. In English it’s more like a “Tsew” with a T that flows into an S. In Hebrew it’s straight up “Tzo”, the צ sound. If I was spelling the English way of saying Tsunami in Hebrew, I’d almost be tempted to write it “טסונאמי”. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/43 "2025-09-05T12:38:30Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I saw a baseball player named Ty France on the Blue Jays. And Jonathon India, now of the Royals. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/44 "2025-09-05T12:57:13Z")
In England, you can have Welsh/Welch and Ireland (to add to Scott, as mentioned about. But there are also lower-level placenames, like York, Lancaster, Carlisle, Newcastle, Chester (caster/chester in a placename indicates a Roman military base, so there’s a fair few of those that may have been adopted as surnames). And I read somewhere that William Wallace was known to Gaelic-speakers as Uilleam Breatnach (William the Briton or Welshman, suggesting he came from Brythonic rather than Gaelic-speakers). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/45 "2025-09-05T15:20:59Z")
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned Mark Cuban yet. As far as czar/tsar, the former is more of an American spelling, the latter more of an British spelling. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/46 "2025-09-05T16:17:01Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I don’t think anyone’s mentioned Mark Cuban yet. Mark Chabenisky ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/47 "2025-09-05T18:25:00Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I don’t think it’s difficult for English speakers in intervocalic positions, but it may be somewhat awkward in initial positions like the word “tsar” or “tsunami.” When I was studying German in high school, our teacher pointed out exactly that when we were trying to learn the sound of the German Z. English speakers actually use it all the time in the middle of words like pizza and matzah, and it’s common as dirt at the end of words: meets, beats, cats, lots, and so forth. What we don’t do is use it at the _beginning_ of words. I don’t think there are any native English words that use that ts sound as an initial sound. English speakers have no difficulty producing the sound, but we have great difficulty saying it when there isn’t a vowel sound right before it. As to the topic, I was going to mention the author Anatole France. But I see from wikipedia that it wasn’t his real name. He was born Francois-Anatole Thibault. I suppose the “Francois” part still counts. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/48 "2025-09-05T19:52:46Z")
The one and only [Teen Steam Queen, Alyssa Milano!](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268682/reference/) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/49 "2025-09-05T20:29:08Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > > [@dtilque](#): > > > > I don’t think anyone’s mentioned Mark Cuban yet. > > Mark Chabenisky Does the demonym have to be of the person’s actual origin? ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/50 "2025-09-05T20:46:17Z")
We also have Basler (Basel) and Zurcher (Zurich) ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/51 "2025-09-05T21:04:52Z")
I just met someone with the last name _La France_. I think he’s Haitian. Possibly he has ancestors from France? ---
**Author:** ![Apollon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@Apollon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/52 "2025-09-13T14:59:57Z")
The following are surnames of people in Austria whom I know either personally or because they are celebrities or were persons of historical significance: **Horvat/Horvath** (meaning Croat) is a very common name in Austria. So is **Böhm/Böhme** (Bohemian). Then there was the conductor **Karl Österreicher** (literally meaning Austrian), but that name is extremely rare. **Deutsch/Deutscher** (meaning German) is more associated with Jews. **Windisch** (meaning Slovene) is very common in the South. **Reuß/Reuss** (sometimes meaning Russian, but sometimes referring to the town of Reuß) exists. I think it’s associated with a certain lower aristocracy. The name **Sterrer** may mean Styrian, but I’m not sure. **Schwarzenegger** means person from Schwarzenegg (literally black hilltop), which is the name of several places in Austria and Switzerland. **Unger** is an antiquated spelling of Ungar (meaning Hungarian). Quite common as a name. **Ceh** is a peculiar spelling of Tschech (meaning Czech). Every name with a “von” prefix, that belongs to old aristocracy (emphasis on “old”): **von Starhemberg, von Habsburg, von Kielmansegg, von Schwarzenberg, von Hohenfels, von Liechtenstein** etc. Those people were named after their fiefs, castles, counties, etc. Names of “recent” aristocracy are different. They just had a “von” added to their commoners’ name: the composer **Karl Maria von Weber** (Weaver), the conductor **Herbert von Karajan** (from Greek Karayiánnis, meaning Black John), the general **Michael von Melas** (from Greek Melás, meaning Honeymaker)… Note that no living Austrian is allowed to have “von” in their name. That prefix was made illegal in 1919. It is also illegal to display a coat of arms, or merely say that you own one. Any Austrians that wanted to keep their traditional name, had to obtain a foreign citizenship and renounce their Austrian one. Foreign nationals are permitted to have “von” in their names. Everything I wrote about “von”, also applies to prefixes like “zu”, “zur”, “von und zu”, “bei der”, “an der”, “von der”, “vom”, “de”, “de la”, “dell’” and “dei”. E.g.: **von der Trenck** , or the impossibly colourful **de la Fontaine und von Harnoncourt-Unverzagt** (yes, that’s one single surname). Every name with the “van” prefix: **van der Bellen, van Beethoven** … That Dutch prefix does not denote nobility, but place of origin. **Ioan Holender** is an opera singer whose name means “Dutch”. **Röhm/Römer** means “Roman”. **Hesse/Hess/Heß** means “Hessian”. **Sachs** means “Saxon”. **Bayer/Bayr/Baier/Payer/Paierl/Bayerlein/Beir** may mean either Bavarian or peasant, depending on the family history. **Iberer** (very rare) means Spaniard (Iberian). **Türk** means Turk, though it’s more likely that the name was given to that family due to dark complexion or hair colour, rather than actual Turkish descent. The same is probably true for Iberer. ---
**Author:** ![Premislaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f0a364/32.png) [@Premislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Premislaus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/53 "2025-09-16T20:27:23Z")
\>I believe the surname Polanski and its variants means “from Poland,” and there are several Poles with that name. Close but not exactly. “From Poland” would be (z) Polski and that’s not used as a name at all. However, Polak (Pole) is a perfectly normal and reasonably popular Polish name. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/54 "2025-09-17T05:57:36Z")
The Hebrew surname “Frank” can indicate Sephardic heritage; among Eastern European Jews, “Frank” or “Frenk” were used to refer to the Ladino-speaking Jews of the Ottoman Empire. “Frenk” is still an insult in certain circles. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/55 "2025-09-18T03:28:24Z")
Van Gogh and da Vinci. Merle Haggard comes close (he adopted the name of a city he was driving through). Many Arab names are demonyms, like Al-Baghdadi or Al-Halabi. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/56 "2025-09-18T04:10:36Z")
Tom Canada was a CFL player from the United States. [Tom Canada - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Canada#:~:text=Tom%20Canada%20(born%20January%208,Canadian%20Football%20League%20(CFL)). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/57 "2025-09-18T14:52:12Z")
I thought that **Jomo Kenyatta,** first president of Kenya, was a shoo-in for this kind of thread. I knew that he changed his name to “Kenyatta”, and figured that he had done that deliberately to identify himself with the country, but there was no rule in the thread about doing that. Alas, my assumptions were all wrong. Jomo Kenyatta changed his name multiple times during his life, but his chosen surname “Kenyatta” had nothing to do with the country. According to his Wikipedia article he took the name sometime between 1914 and 1922: > Kenyatta did not join the armed forces, and like other Kikuyu he moved to live among the [Maasai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maasai_people "Maasai people"), who had refused to fight for the British.[[30]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jomo_Kenyatta#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMurray-Brown197473Assensoh199841-31) Kenyatta lived with the family of an aunt who had married a Maasai chief,[[31]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jomo_Kenyatta#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMurray-Brown197474-32) adopting Maasai customs and wearing Maasai jewelry, including a beaded belt known as _kĩnyata_ in the [Kikuyu language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kikuyu_language "Kikuyu language"). At some point, he took to calling himself “Kĩnyata” or “Kenyatta” after this garment The country “Kenya”, on the other hand, is named after Mount Kenya, and it gets its name from a very different source. Again, citing the Wikipedia article on “Kenya”: > The Republic of Kenya is named after [Mount Kenya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kenya "Mount Kenya"). The earliest recorded version of the modern name was written by German explorer [Johann Ludwig Krapf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Ludwig_Krapf "Johann Ludwig Krapf") in the 19th century. While travelling with a Kamba caravan led by the long-distance trader [Chief Kivoi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Kivoi_Mwendwa "Chief Kivoi Mwendwa"), Krapf spotted the mountain peak and asked what it was called. Kivoi told him “_Kĩ-Nyaa_” or “_Kĩlĩma- Kĩinyaa_”, probably because the pattern of black rock and white snow on its peaks reminded him of the feathers of the male ostrich.[[26]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya#cite_note-sullivan-28) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/58 "2025-09-18T22:19:58Z")
Benjamin Britten. The name is derived from “Briton” and he was British. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2025, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719/59 "2025-09-19T16:16:18Z")
El Masri, or something close, is a common last name in Egypt, which is Misr in Arabic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-internal-demonyms-as-surnames/1022719.md?page=2)