# Surnames associated with a particular ancestry **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899 "2007-08-25T16:32:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/41 "2007-08-26T18:46:58Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] No need to re-invent the wheel, folks. [Link.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_name_affixes) [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Wikipedia] -cock, -cox (English) “little” [/QUOTE] :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/42 "2007-08-26T18:48:43Z")
[QUOTE=Antonius Block] I’m UK born-and-bred, with a “Mc” prefix courtesy of my Scots father, yet had _never_ heard of the supposed “McIrish/MacScottish” correlation until I came to the US; one fellow was quite insistent that my father **must** have been from Ireland due to my “Mc” prefix, until I pointed out that my ancestors within recoded history were illiterate crofters (known rather more for their cattle-rustling and murder-for-hire proclivities than for their orthography), and that family gravestones in our local Highland [kirkyard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkyard) mixed “Mc” and “Mac” apparently at whim. [/QUOTE] Indeed. I’m a McKinley on my mother’s side of the family, and though I also have some Irish blood, the McKinley is definitely Scottish. The McKinley clan is an offshoot of the McCleod clan, which is Scottish. How about my actual last name: Osborne? All my life, I thought that was a good English name. But I recently found out it’s from the Old Norse, Asbjorn (pronounced “oos-bern”), which means “god bear” (a reference to the cave bear, which was worshipped by some primitive cultures, ala _Clan of the Cave Bear_). ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/43 "2007-08-26T18:57:06Z")
How about names ending with -chuk? Ukrainian? I know a local family with the surname Yakobchuk. The wife in that family is from Belarus, but her husband is Ukrainian. She says the name is the equivalent of the English “Jacobson” or “Jacobs”. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/44 "2007-08-26T19:06:00Z")
[QUOTE=Phase42] How about names ending with -chuk? Ukrainian? [/QUOTE] Not to be confused with the Wangchuk royal family of Bhutan. Names ending in -chukwu are Igbo. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/45 "2007-08-26T19:10:41Z")
[QUOTE=Phase42] How about names ending with -chuk? Ukrainian? I know a local family with the surname Yakobchuk. The wife in that family is from Belarus, but her husband is Ukrainian. She says the name is the equivalent of the English “Jacobson” or “Jacobs”. [/QUOTE] Click on the link in my post #19. It’s pretty much got them all. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/46 "2007-08-26T19:46:59Z")
**-escu** = Romanian (E.g., [Ion Iliescu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Iliescu), [Nicolae Ceauşescu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceau%C5%9Fescu), [Emil Constantinescu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Constantinescu).) [Kim](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_(Korean_name)) = Korean ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/47 "2007-08-26T20:10:30Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Click on the link in my post #19. It’s pretty much got them all. [/QUOTE] Yup, there it is: “-chuk (Ukrainian)” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/48 "2007-08-26T20:45:16Z")
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena] My name ends in ez…a dead giveaway of Hispanic ethnicity. [/QUOTE] Those are patronimics, “son/daughter of…” So are others that end in Z but not EZ (Díaz = Son of Diego, Sanz = Son of Sancho). Basque lastnames often have strong Rs, which are unusual in other French and Spanish lastnames. They can be quite long, too (for example Nuria Iturriagagoitía, who was Councilor for Health in Navarra a couple years back). Spanish lastnames with the structure Commonlastname de Town have about a 99% chance of being from Álava, Logroño, Burgos or Navarra. The “de” in this case means “from”. The only place where I’ve encountered names of animals as lastnames in Spanish has been in novels and movies written by “foreigners.” Doesn’t mean it never happens but it’s definitely not normal. The other three languages of Spain do use animals for lastnames, though. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/49 "2007-08-26T22:08:40Z")
I could be wrong but aren’t “profession” names English? Like Smith, Cooper, Taylor, etc. [QUOTE=Argent Towers] People with the name Katz are originally descended from the Israelite tribe of Kohen - the name Katz is actually an abbreviation for **K** ohen **TZ** adik, meaning in Hebrew, “Blessed is the Kohen clan.” [/QUOTE] My Hebrew is a little rusty, but doesn’t **K** ohen **TZ** adik translate to “Righteous Kohen clan”? To say “Blessed is the Kohen clan,” you’d have to do something like “Barchu et Kohen.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/50 "2007-08-26T22:47:50Z")
> [@](#): > > I could be wrong but aren’t “profession” names English? Like Smith, Cooper, Taylor, etc. Professsion names can be almost any nationality at all, depending on the language used for the profession. Thus, for instance, “Cooper” is English, but “Kuiper” is (I think) Dutch. See also the German “Schmidt” (Smith), and probably a lot of other examples I’m not lingual enough to know. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/51 "2007-08-26T22:57:50Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Click on the link in my post #19. It’s pretty much got them all. [/QUOTE] Not all: Names ending in -nyi are usually Hungarian. Ed ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/52 "2007-08-27T00:36:19Z")
The five main Jewish suffixes are -baum, -witz, -stein, -man, and -berg, right? ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/53 "2007-08-27T01:13:49Z")
[QUOTE=pool] Van followed by anything usually implies Dutch ancestry. [/QUOTE] What about Belgian? My grandfather had a Van Something name, and I believe he was Belgian. However, what passes for geneology in our family is really just oral history, so I dunno. Some years ago, my aunt visited Belgium; while she was there, she looked up his surname in a phonebook. There was a page of them. Naturally, she tore the page from the book as a relic. But then, maybe a lot of Dutch Van Somethings just live in Belgium, which would make good sense. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/54 "2007-08-27T01:36:46Z")
There’s also my name, Miller. The intrepid Miller in my family who crossed the pond in the early decades of the 19th century was a German fellow named Georg Müller. But somewhere along the way prior to 1860 (the earliest census records I’ve tracked down), the family name had been changed to Miller. I really don’t know if the change was his choice or someone else’s. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/55 "2007-08-27T02:18:00Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] -ski is often Polish. [/QUOTE] My maternal grandmother’s maiden name ends in -ski, and her mother’s maiden name ended in -czyk, another common Polish suffix. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/56 "2007-08-27T02:44:20Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] Kim = Korean [/QUOTE] I believe there’s only a handful of surnames in Korea, so few that South Korea has rules against marrying someone with the same surname. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/57 "2007-08-27T02:50:17Z")
[QUOTE=irishgirl] Ah but “Fitz” was usually a polite was of saying “bastard child of someone upper class”. Fitzcharles, Fitzherbert, Fitzpatrick…one was just supposed to know which “Charles” they were named after. [/QUOTE] [thread=263216]This thread[/thread] is interesting. Indeed, Fitz- names appear to have usually been given to bastards, but it might not always have been the case. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/58 "2007-08-27T04:22:25Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] …unless the “Sch” is pronounced “sk” (as in “school”), in which case it’s likely Dutch (correct me if I’m wrong). [/QUOTE] Also ‘ij’ anywhere in the name is likely to be Dutch/Flemish. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/59 "2007-08-27T06:01:33Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Click on the link in my post #19. It’s pretty much got them all. [/QUOTE] Hmm… they left out Igbo too, in fact they omitted African names altogether. The suffix -i is also of major importance in Arabic names, so it’s strange that was ignored too. At the top of the page it honestly claims to be a “partial list.” ---
**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:** [August 27, 2007, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899/60 "2007-08-27T07:13:37Z")
[QUOTE=Noone Special] Ben- (or Bar-, which is strictly speaking Aramaic) – likely Hebrew/Jewish. [/QUOTE] Bear in mind that many, if not most Ben- or Bar- surnames are “new” names, meaning that they were coined after immigration to Israel. In many cases they were Hebrewicized from similar-sounding or -meaning names, e.g. “Bar-On” from “Baron” or “Ben-David” from “Davidson”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surnames-associated-with-a-particular-ancestry/416899.md?page=4)