A name, short yet profound, carries a unique story and family tradition. Every surname is a microcosm of history, telling the story of our ancestors' migrations, struggles, and legacy. By understanding the origins and development of surnames, we can gain a deeper understanding of our family's history and culture, and experience the bonds of blood and family honor.
Indo-European Languages
- Italic Languages (Romance and Latin）
In Spain and most Latin American countries except Brazil: Surnames ending in "-az," "-ez," "-iz," "-oz," or "-uz" are patronymic surnames, meaning "son of XX." Examples include Martínez (son of Martínez), Suárez, Luís (son of Louis), Lucas (son of Luca), Perez, González, Rodriguez (son of Rodrigo), and Sánchez (son of Sancho). In addition, surnames like Garcia, Silva, Raúl, Nacho, Juanfran, and José are also common.
Portugal and Brazil: Some names are shared with Spanish, such as those ending in "S," like Santos, Lucas, and Luis. Other names differ from Spanish because they are too long. Brazilians prefer to use abbreviations or nicknames as pronouns, such as those ending in "Ldo" (-ldo), "Do" (-do), and "Nho" (-nho). For example, Ronaldo, Robinho, and "xxnho" actually mean "son of xx," for example, Ronaldinho means "son of Ronaldo" and Robinho means "son of Robin." Also, names like Kaká and Pepe are nicknames, not given names.
Because of the high level of surname overlap in both countries, a dual surname system, starting with the nobility and spreading to the common people, is adopted. This is a characteristic of surnames in Spain, Portugal, and their former colonies, where both parents' names are included. In Spanish, the patronymic surname comes first, followed by the maternal surname. A full name is a combination of given name + patronymic + maternal surname. For example, Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez's full name is Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez. Actually, Marcelo is his maternal surname, and García is his patronymic. García is so common that people call him Marcelo. In Portuguese, a full name is a combination of given name + maternal surname + patronymic, with the maternal surname coming first and the patronymic last. Therefore, full names in both languages are very long, often consisting of six or seven words.
Italian surnames generally end with the vowels "a," "i," or "o." Italian surnames often have "li," "ti," "ta," "no," and "ro." Italian surnames often have a double consonant before the final vowel, such as Moratti, Agnelli, and Capello. Italian surnames ending in "o" are typically from southern Italy, while those in northern Italy often end with "i." Compare the surnames with more German characters, such as Rossi, Russo, and Ferrari. There are also some prefix surnames:
(1) The patronymic surname in Italy is "Di" (-Di-), which means son of XX, and also means of, such as Di Natale, Di Lorenzo, Di Matteo, Di Marco, etc.
(2) Surnames with "De" (-De-), which are equivalent to the English "of", such as De Rossi and De Sciglio.
(3) Surnames with "Da" (-Da-), which are equivalent to the English "from", equivalent to the Dutch "Van" and the German "Von", such as Leonardo da Vinci and Damian.
(4) Del (-Del-), which also means belonging, is the abbreviation of de+il, equivalent to from the, such as Del Piero.
- Argentina:
The reason why Argentina is listed separately is that although Argentina is a Spanish-speaking country, the country's largest ethnic group is Italian, with nearly 30 million people, accounting for more than 60%. Hispanics rank second, accounting for approximately 25%. So, in addition to various Spanish-speaking surnames, Argentina also has many distinctively Italian surnames. For example, stars like Messi, Di Maria, De Paul, and Cambiasso, whose names reveal that they are all descendants of Italian immigrants, are known to be descendants of Italian immigrants.
- France:
Like England, France is a melting pot of Western Europe. Celtic Gauls, Romans, and Germans have successively settled there, resulting in many names similar to those of neighboring countries. Surnames seem to have no particular pattern, with more common names like Martin, Hernandez, Thomas, Robert, Richard, Henry, Lopez, and Garcia. With the influx of immigrants from former African colonies, North African Arabic and Black African names have been incorporated, further diversifying the language.
- Romania:
Because of their Romance roots, Romanian is a rare Romance language in the Balkans. A distinctive suffix is "escu," as in Ceausescu, Sorescu, and Iordenescu. There are also surnames ending in "shi" (-s), such as Mogosh and Dragosh, which feel similar to the various "s" (-s) in Greece and Italy.
Greek
- Greece: Names are extremely typical. Nearly all surnames end in "s" (-s). A long list of names followed by "s" (-s) is 80% Greek. Examples include Papadopoulos, Crassidis, and Hercules.
Cyprus: Due to historical reasons, Cyprus has long been part of the Greek cultural sphere, and similar to Greece, many names end in "s" (-s). There are also some ending in "iou" (-iou), such as Sotirio and Vasilio, who appear to be of Italian descent. Because the island also has the Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is primarily Turkish but not widely recognized by the international community, there are also a few names with Turkish-style names. 3. Slavic languages
(1) South Slavic
Southwest Slavic branch: including Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Slovenia. The names ending with "-ic" further extend to various suffixes such as "-vic", "cic", "tic", and "nik", which are translated as small and elementary, such as Ivanovic, Djokovic, and Kovacic. Among them, Serbia has the most "vic", while other countries have the most "chi".
Southeast Slavic branch: including Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Unlike several other Southwest Slavic countries ending with "-ic", most of their names are similar to those of the East Slavic people. Bulgarian names end with "-ov", such as Berbatov; most North Macedonian names end with "-ov" or "ski".
(2) East Slavic languages
including Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian names ending with "Wa"/"Fu" (-ov), "Ski" (-ski/-sky), "Ke" (-yk), "Ke" (-yko), "Lenko", "Qin", "Ka", etc. In fact, "Fu" and "Wa" are the difference in the Chinese translation of male and female names, and they are actually the same. For example, Sharapova, Bobo, etc. But there is also "Vich" from Yugoslavia. According to experience, there are more Russian names with "Fu" (-ov), such as "Fu", "Yev", "Zov", "Kofu", etc.; there are more Ukrainian names with "Ke" (-yk), "Chuk", "Chenko/Lenko/Mianko", such as Tymoshchuk and Kirilenko. "Ke" means xx son or little xx, and "Chuk" means xx son. Furthermore, some Eastern European, Central Asian, and Western Asian countries, while not linguistically Slavic, are former Russian colonies or territories, resulting in a large assimilation of surnames or immigration. This also leads to similar names in East Slavic countries. For example, Finland, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan all have many names ending in "Rov," "Dov," or "Yev." Almost all names in Uzbekistan end in "Fu."
