Albania A full Albanian name consists of a given name (), patronymic () and family name (), for example
Agron Mark Gjoni. The patronymic is simply the given name of the individual's father, with no suffix added. The family name is typically a noun in the definite form or at the very least ends with a vowel or -j (an approximant close to -i). Many traditional last names end with -aj (previously -anj), which is more prevalent in certain regions of Albania and Kosovo. Family names are usually patrilineal, however, the mother's surname can be legally added if so wished by the parents. Proper names in Albanian are fully declinable like any noun (e.g.
Marinelda, genitive case
i/e Marineldës "of Marinelda").
Armenia Armenian surnames almost always have the ending () transliterated into English as -yan or -ian (spelled -ean (եան) in Western Armenian and pre-Soviet Eastern Armenian, of Ancient
Armenian or
Iranian origin, presumably meaning "son of"), though names with that ending can also be found among Persians and a few other nationalities. Armenian surnames can derive from a geographic location, profession, noble rank, personal characteristic or personal name of an ancestor. Armenians in the diaspora sometimes adapt their surnames to help assimilation. In Russia, many have changed -yan to -ov (or -ova for women). In Turkey, many have changed the ending to -oğlu (also meaning "son of"). In English and French-speaking countries, many have shortened their name by removing the ending (for example
Charles Aznavour). In ancient Armenia, many noble names ended with the locative -t'si (example,
Khorenatsi) or -uni (
Bagratuni). Several modern Armenian names also have a Turkish suffix which appears before -ian/-yan: -lian denotes a placename; -djian denotes a profession. Some Western Armenian names have a particle Der, while their Eastern counterparts have Ter. This particle indicates an ancestor who was a priest (Armenian priests can choose to marry or remain celibate, but married priests cannot become a bishop). Thus someone named Der Bedrosian (Western) or Ter Petrosian (Eastern) is a descendant of an Armenian priest. The convention is still in use today: the children of a priest named Hagop Sarkisian would be called Der Sarkisian. Other examples of Armenian surnames: Adonts, Sakunts, Vardanyants, Rshtuni.
Azerbaijan It was common for Azerbaijani names to have 3 components: given name, father's name and family name. However, in recent years it is becoming increasingly popular to only have 2 components: first name and surname. While under
Soviet rule, it was mandatory for Azerbaijanis to register their names, but most people did not have surnames. This was normally circumvented by taking the individual's father's name and adding a Russian suffixes such as "-yev"/"-ov" for men and "-yeva/-ova" for women (meaning "born of"). For example, from "Ali" we get "Aliyev" and "Aliyeva" and from "Husein" we get "Huseinov" and "Huseinova". However, as the Soviet era came to an end, many Azerbaijanis dropped these endings in an attempt to
derussify. Some chose to replace these with traditional suffixes like "-zade" (Persian for "born of") and "-li/-lu" (Turkish for "with" or "belonging to"), "-oglu/-oghlu" (Turkish for "son of"). Some chose to drop the suffixes entirely.
Georgia Most eastern
Georgian surnames end with the suffix of "-shvili", Georgian for "child" or "offspring", e.g. Kartveli
shvili, "son of Kartvel (Georgian)". Western Georgian surnames most commonly have the suffix "-dze", Georgian for "son", e.g. .
Mingrelian surnames usually end in "-ia", "-ua" or "-ava". Other location-specific endings exist: in
Svaneti "-iani", meaning "belonging to", or "hailing from", is common. In the eastern Georgian highlands common endings are "-uri" and "-uli". Some noble family names end in "-eli", meaning "of (someplace)". In
Georgian, the surname is not normally used as the polite form of address; instead, the given name is used together with a title in the
vocative case, denoted by -o. For instance, Nikoloz Kartvelishvili is politely addressed as ''
bat'ono Nikoloz
: "Sir (literally master of a feudal manor) Nikoloz". Women are addressed politely as kalbat'ono'', literally "woman-master".
Greece and Cyprus Greek surnames are most commonly patronymics. Occupation, characteristic, or ethnic background and location/origin-based surnames names also occur; they are sometimes supplemented by nicknames. Commonly, Greek male surnames end in -s, which is the common ending for Greek masculine
proper nouns in the
nominative case. Exceptionally, some end in -ou, indicating the
genitive case of this proper noun for patronymic reasons. Although surnames are static today, dynamic and changing patronym usage survives in middle names in Greece where the genitive of the father's first name is commonly the middle name. Because of their codification in the Modern Greek state, surnames have
Katharevousa forms even though Katharevousa is no longer the official standard. Thus, the Ancient Greek name Eleutherios forms the Modern Greek proper name Lefteris, and former vernacular practice (prefixing the surname to the proper name) was to call John Eleutherios
Leftero-giannis. Modern practice is to call the same person Giannis Eleftheriou: the proper name is vernacular (and not Ioannis), but the surname is an archaic genitive. However, children are almost always baptised with the archaic form of the name so in official matters, the child will be referred to as Ioannis Eleftheriou and not Giannis Eleftheriou. Female surnames are most often in the Katharevousa genitive case of a male name. This is an innovation of the Modern Greek state; Byzantine practice was to form a feminine counterpart of the male surname (e.g. masculine Palaiologos, Byzantine feminine Palaiologina, Modern feminine Palaiologou). In the past, women would change their surname when married to that of their husband (again in the genitive case) signifying the transfer of "dependence" from the father to the husband. In earlier Modern Greek society, women were named with
-aina as a feminine suffix on the husband's first name: "Giorgaina", "Mrs George", "Wife of George". Nowadays, a woman's legal surname does not change upon marriage, though she can use the husband's surname socially. Children usually receive the paternal surname, though in rare cases, if the bride and groom have agreed before the marriage, the children can receive the maternal surname. Some surnames are prefixed with
Papa-, indicating ancestry from a priest, e.g.
Papageorgiou, the "son of a priest named George". Others, like
Archi- and
Mastro- signify "boss" and "
tradesman" respectively. Prefixes such as
Konto-,
Makro-, and
Chondro- describe body characteristics, such as "short", "tall/long" and "fat".
Gero- and
Palaio- signify "old" or "wise". Other prefixes include
Hadji- (Χαντζή- or Χαντζι-) which was an honorific deriving from the Arabic
Hadj or pilgrimage, and indicate that the person had made a pilgrimage (in the case of Christians, to Jerusalem) and
Kara- which is attributed to the Turkish word for "black" deriving from the
Ottoman Empire era. The Turkish suffix
-oglou (derived from a patronym,
-oğlu in Turkish) can also be found. Although they are of course more common among Greece's Muslim minority, they still can be found among the Christian majority, often Greeks or
Karamanlides who were pressured to leave Turkey after the Turkish Republic was founded (since Turkish surnames only date to the founding of the Republic, when Atatürk made them compulsory).
Arvanitic surnames also exist; an example is
Tzanavaras or
Tzavaras, from the Arvanitic word
çanavar or
çavar meaning "brave" (
pallikari in Greek). Most Greek patronymic suffixes are diminutives, which vary by region. The most common Hellenic patronymic suffixes are: •
-poulos/-poulou, which has a Latin origin (
pullus) and means "the little", representing "the son of ...", so if a man's family name is "Christopoulos", it means that his father was named "Christos". This suffix is very widespread throughout Greece and is originally from the
Peloponessus in particular. •
-idis/iadis/antis The suffix
-idis (often transliterated
-ides in English and French) is the oldest in use.
Zeus, for example, was also referred to as
Cronides ("son of
Cronus"). A common suffix in Byzantium around
Bithynia and
Byzantine Thrace (Constantinople), also used by
Pontic Greeks and
Caucasus Greeks in the
Pontic Alps, northeast
Anatolia,
Georgia, and the former
Russian Caucasus region of
Kars Oblast e.g.
Mikhailidis, the "clan of Michael" •
-akis/-aki is associated primarily with
Crete and the
Aegean Islands. It is a patronymic signifying "little" and/or "son"; therefore
Theodorakis is "little Theodore". Others, less common, are: •
-atos/-atou (from
Cephallonia and other
Ionian Islands) •
-as/-a/-ekas/kas (from
Epirus) and
Greek Macedonia •
-ellis/-elli (from
Lesvos Island) •
-eas/akos/oggonas (from
Mani) •
-oglou (from the Turkish suffix for "child of" used by both genders) •
-ou (genitive, from
Cyprus) •
-ou/ides/kos (from
Macedonia) •
-ekas/las (from
Epirus) Either the surname or the given name may come first in different contexts; in newspapers and in informal uses, the order is
given name + surname, while in official documents and forums (tax forms, registrations, military service, school forms), the surname is often listed or said first.
Hungary In
Hungarian, like Asian languages but unlike most other European ones (see French and German above for exceptions), the family name is placed before the given names. This usage does not apply to non-Hungarian names, for example "Tony Blair" will remain "Tony Blair" when written in Hungarian texts. Names of Hungarian individuals, however, appear in Western order in English writing.
Indonesia Indonesians comprise more than 600 ethnic groups. Not all of these groups traditionally have surnames, and in the populous
Java surnames are not common at all – regardless of which one of the
six officially recognized religions the name carrier profess, nor there are a legally separate group of surnames. For instance, a Christian Javanese woman named
Agnes Mega Rosalin has three forenames and no surname. "Agnes" is her Christian name, but "Mega" can be the first name she uses and the name which she is addressed with. "Rosalin" is only a middle name. Nonetheless, Indonesians are well aware of the custom of family names, which is known as
marga or
fam, and such names have become a specific kind of identifier. People can tell what a person's heritage is by his or her family or clan name. • The various ethnicities of
Batak people from North Sumatra are known for their strict tradition of preserving their family names, which are actually clan names. See
Marga (Batak) for details. • The
matrilineal clan names of the
Minangkabau people are passed down from mothers to their children. Minangkabau is the largest matrilineal society in the world. • The
Minahasan people of North Sulawesi have an extensive list of surnames, such as
Toar, Lumimuut, Emor, Muntuan, Nayoan, Wenas and
Luntungan. • The
Ambonese people of the Maluku Islands have family names such as
Lawalata, Matulessy and
Latumahina. • The various ethnicities of
Dayak people from the provinces in
Kalimantan have surnames such as
Dau and
Narang. • The
Bugis people from South Sulawesi have surnames such as
Mappanyukki, Mallarangeng and
Matalatta. • Among the
Toraja people of South Sulawesi, common surname elements include
Rante–, Pong–, Allo–, –bua, –linggi. Examples:
Rantedatu, Ranteallo, Pongrambu, Pongtiku, Pongrangga, Allodatu, Randebua, Tanabua, Tarukbua, Datubua, Allobua, Senolinggi.
Javanese people are the largest ethnicity (about 30%) in Indonesia, and most do not have any surname. There are some individuals, especially the old generation, who have only one
name, such as "
Suharto" and "
Sukarno". These are not only common with the Javanese but also with other Indonesian ethnic groups who do not have the tradition of surnames. If, however, they are Muslims, they might opt to follow
Arabic naming customs, but Indonesian Muslims do not automatically follow Arabic name traditions. Most
Chinese Indonesians substituted their
Chinese (sur)names with Indonesian-sounding (sur)names -- many of these are brand new names -- due to political pressure from 1965 to 1998 under Suharto's regime. Thus,
Chinese-Indonesian also sometimes doesn't have family name in their Indonesianized-name (on paper), although most have Chinese family name and personal name (as an informal name), many third-generations-and-below Chinese Indonesian don't necessarily use their original/ancestral family names anymore, but adopt new Indonesianized-last name (surname). In conjunction with migration to Europe or America, Indonesians without surnames often adopt a surname based on some family name or middle name. The forms for
visa application many Western countries use, has a square for writing the last name which cannot be left unfilled by the applicant. Thus, following the example of someone named "Agnes Mega Rosalin" above, she will be forced to assign Rosalin (her middle name) as her last name when writing paperwork in Western countries. People with single-word names are given several choice. For example someone with fullname "Agnes" could write "Agnes
LNU" (Last Name Unknown), "
FNU Agnes" (First Name Unknown), or "Agnes Agnes" when buying tickets, applying visa, and so forth. The name has been considered a source of humor when
Fnu Lnu has been mistaken for the actual name of a person.. While in her
ID card and
passport her name is simply one word. According to "Permendagri No. 73 Tahun 2022" by Indonesian Ministry of Home Affairs, the provisions for recording names in residency documents (birth certificate,
ID card, passport, etc.) should be: (1) easy to read, doesn't have bad connotation, isn't open for multiple interpretations, (2) have a maximum of 60 characters, including space, (3) have to be at least 2 words. Also the law prohibits non-Latin characters, abbreviations, numbers and punctuations, and educational/religious titles in the ID and family card. If this law is strictly followed by all citizen, it means since 2022 there would be no more Indonesian children with single names. The law doesn't force people to adopt family names, just force everyone to have at least 2 words in their name. The mechanism of surnames from parents to children is never written in law, and it's open to personal/cultural preference whether Indonesian parents are naming their children using various Western convention, East Asian/Middle East convention, their culture's convention, or no system at all.
Iranian/Persian/Kazan Persian last names may be: • Simple nouns; e.g. Afshar ("Of
Afsharid dynasty"),
Bahar,
Khayyam • Noun plus a suffix; e.g. Golzaar (Gol + -zaar), Amouzgaar (Amouz + -gaar),
Daadgar (Daad + -gar) • More complex compound nouns; e.g. Bolurforushan (Bolur + forush + -an),
Ahmedinejad (Ahmed + -i + -nejad),
Farshchian (Farsh + -chi + -an) • Two or more nouns; e.g.
Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini,
Hashemi Rafsanjani Suffixes include: -an (plural suffix), -i ("of"), -zad/-zadeh ("born of"), -pur ("son of"), -nejad ("from the race of"), -nia ("descendant of"), -mand ("having or pertaining to"), -vand ("succeeding"), -far ("holder of"), -doost ("
-phile"), -khah ("seeking of"), -manesh ("having the manner of"), -ian/-yan, -gar and -chi ("whose vocation pertains"). An example is names of geographical locations plus "-i": Irani ("Iranian"), Gilani ("of
Gilan province"), Tabrizi ("of the city of
Tabriz"). Another example is last names that indicate relation to religious groups such as
Zoroastrian (e.g. Goshtaspi, Namiranian, Azargoshasp),
Jewish (e.g. Yaghubian [Jacobean], Hayyem [Life], Shaul [Saul]) or
Muslim (e.g. Alavi, Islamnia,
Montazeri) Last names are arbitrary; their holder need not to have any relation with their meaning. Traditionally in Iran, the wife does not take her husband's surname, although children take the surname of their father. Individual reactions notwithstanding, it is possible to call a married woman by her husband's surname. This is facilitated by the fact that English words "Mrs.", "Miss", "Woman", "Lady" and "Wife (of)" in a polite context are all translated into "خانم" (Khaanom). Context, however, is important: "خانم گلدوست" (Khaanom Goldust) may, for instance, refer to the daughter of Mr. Goldust instead of his wife. When most of Iranian surnames are used with a name, the name will be ended with a suffix _E or _ie (of) such as Hasan_e roshan (Hasan is name and roshan is surname) that means Hasan of Roshan or Mosa_ie saiidi (Muses of saiidi). The _e is not for surname and it is difficult to say it is a part of surname.
Italy Italy has around 350,000 surnames. Most of them derive from the following sources:
patronym or
ilk (e.g.
Francesco di Marco, "Francis, son of Mark" or
Eduardo de Filippo, "Edward belonging to the family of Philip"), occupation (e.g.
Enzo Ferrari, "Heinz (of the) Blacksmiths"), personal characteristic (e.g. nicknames or pet names like
Dario Forte, "Darius the Strong"), geographic origin (e.g.
Elisabetta Romano, "Elisabeth from Rome") and objects (e.g.
Carlo Sacchi, "Charles Bags"). The two most common Italian family names,
Russo and
Rossi, mean the same thing, "Red", possibly referring to the hair color. Both Western and Eastern orders are used for full names: the given name usually comes first, but the family name may come first in administrative settings; lists are usually indexed according to the last name. Since 1975, women have kept their own surname when married, but until recently (2000) they could have added the surname of the husband according to the civil code, although it was a very seldom-used practice. In recent years, the husband's surname cannot be used in any official situation. In some unofficial situations, sometimes both surnames are written (the proper first), sometimes separated by
in (e.g.
Anna Mauri in Crivelli) or, in case of widows,
ved. (
vedova).
Latvia Latvian male surnames usually end in
-s,
-š or
-is whereas the female versions of the same names end in
-a or
-e or
s in both unmarried and married women. Before the emancipation from serfdom (1817 in
Courland, 1819 in
Vidzeme, 1861 in
Latgale) only noblemen, free craftsmen or people living in towns had surnames. Therefore, the oldest Latvian surnames originate from German or Low German, reflecting the dominance of German as an official language in Latvia till the 19th century. Examples:
Meijers/Meijere (German:
Meier, farm administrator; akin to Mayor),
Millers/Millere (German:
Müller, miller),
Šmits/Šmite (German:
Schmidt, smith),
Šulcs/Šulce, Šulca (German:
Schultz or
Schulz, constable),
Ulmanis (German:
Ullmann, a person from
Ulm),
Godmanis (a God-man),
Pētersons (son of Peter). Some Latvian surnames, mainly from Latgale are of Polish or Belarusian origin by changing the final
-ski/-cki to
-skis/-ckis,
-czyk to
-čiks or
-vich/-wicz to
-vičs, such as
Sokolovkis/Sokolovska,
Baldunčiks/Baldunčika or
Ratkevičs/Ratkeviča. Most Latvian peasants received their surnames in 1826 (in
Vidzeme), in 1835 (in
Courland), and in 1866 (in
Latgale). Diminutives were the most common form of family names. Examples:
Kalniņš/Kalniņa (small hill),
Bērziņš/Bērziņa (small birch). Nowadays many Latvians of Slavic descent have surnames of Russian, Belarusian, or Ukrainian origin, for example
Volkovs/Volkova or
Antoņenko.
Lithuania Lithuanian names follow the Baltic distinction between male and female suffixes of names, although the details are different. Male surnames usually end in
-a,
-as,
-aitis,
-ys,
-ius, or
-us, whereas the female versions change these suffixes to
-aitė, -ytė, -iūtė, and
-utė respectively (if unmarried),
-ienė (if married), or
-ė (not indicating the marital status). Some Lithuanians have names of Polish or another Slavic origin, which are made to conform to Lithuanian by changing the final
-ski to
-skas, such as
Sadauskas, with the female version bein -
skaitė (if unmarried),
-skienė (if married), or
-skė (not indicating the marital status).
Malta Different cultures have their impact on the demographics of the Maltese islands, and this is evident in the various surnames
Maltese people bear nowadays. There are very few Maltese surnames per se: the few that originate from Maltese places of origin include
Chircop (
Kirkop),
Lia (
Lija), Balzan (
Balzan), Valletta (
Valletta), and Sciberras (Xebb ir-Ras Hill, on which Valletta was built). The village of
Munxar, on
Gozo, is characterised by the majority of its population having one of two surnames, either Curmi or DeBrincat. In Gozo, the surnames
Bajada and
Farrugia are also common.
Customs In line with traditional Christian practice, women generally assume their husband's surname after legal marriage, and this is passed on to any children the couple may bear. Some women opt to retain their old name, for professional/personal reasons, or combine their surname with that of their husband.
List of surnames by language of origin Sicilian and Italian surnames Sicilian and Italian surnames are common due to the close vicinity to Malta. Sicilians were the first to colonise the Maltese islands. Common examples include
Azzopardi,
Bonello,
Cauchi,
Farrugia,
Gauci,
Rizzo,
Schembri,
Tabone,
Vassallo,
Vella.
Siculo-Arabic surnames Arabic surnames occur in part due to the early presence of the Arabs in Malta. Common examples include
Sammut,
Camilleri,
Zammit, and
Xuereb.
French surnames Common examples include Depuis,
Montfort, Monsenuier,
Tafel.
English surnames English surnames exist for a number of reasons, but mainly due to migration as well as Malta forming a part of the British Empire in the 19th century and most of the 20th. Common examples include Bone, Harding, Atkins, Mattocks, Smith, Jones, Woods, Turner,
Littlejohn.
German surnames Surnames from foreign countries from the Middle Ages include German, such as von Brockdorff,
Hyzler, and
Schranz.
Spanish surnames Common surnames of Spanish origin include
Abela, Galdes, Herrera, and
Guzman.
Greek surnames Many of the earliest Maltese surnames are Siculo-Greek, e.g. Cilia,
Calleja,
Brincat, Cauchi. Much less common are recent surnames from Greece; examples include Dacoutros, and Trakosopoulos.
Jewish surnames The original Jewish community of Malta and Gozo has left no trace of their presence on the islands since they were expelled in January 1493.
Mongolia Mongolians do not use surnames in the way that most Westerners, Chinese or Japanese do. Since the socialist period, patronymics – then called
ovog, now called
etsgiin ner – are used instead of a surname. If the father's name is unknown, a matronymic is used. The patro- or matronymic is written before the given name. Therefore, if a man with given name Tsakhia has a son, and gives the son the name Elbegdorj, the son's full name is Tsakhia Elbegdorj. Very frequently, the patronymic is given in
genitive case, i.e. Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj. However, the patronymic is rather insignificant in everyday use and usually just given as an initial – Ts. Elbegdorj. People are normally just referred to and addressed by their given name (Elbegdorj
guai – Mr. Elbegdorj), and if two people share a common given name, they are usually just kept apart by their initials, not by the full patronymic. Since 2000, Mongolians have been officially using
clan names –
ovog, the same word that had been used for the patronymics before – on their IDs. Many people chose the names of the ancient clans and tribes such
Borjigin, Besud,
Jalair, etc. Also many extended families chose the names of the native places of their ancestors. Some chose the names of their most ancient known ancestor. Some just decided to pass their own given names (or modifications of their given names) to their descendants as clan names. Some chose other attributes of their lives as surnames.
Gürragchaa chose Sansar (Cosmos). Clan names precede the patronymics and given names, e.g. Besud Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj. These clan names have a significance and are included in Mongolian passports.
Myanmar (Burma) People from Myanmar or Burmese, have no family names. This, to some, is the only known Asian people having no family names at all. Some of those from Myanmar or Burma, who are familiar with European or American cultures, began to put to their younger generations with a family name – adopted from the notable ancestors. For example, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of the late Father of Independence General Aung San;
Hayma Ne Win, is the daughter of the famous actor
Kawleikgyin Ne Win etc.
Philippines Until the middle of the 19th century, there was no standardization of surnames in the
Philippines. There were native Filipinos without surnames, others whose surnames deliberately did not match that of their families, as well as those who took certain surnames simply because they had a certain prestige, usually ones related to the
Roman Catholic religion, such as
de los Santos ("of the saints") and
de la Cruz ("of the cross"), or of local nobility such as of rajahs or
datus. On 21 November 1849, the Spanish
Governor-General of the Philippines,
Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa, decreed an end to these arbitrary practices, the systematic distribution of surnames to Filipinos without prior surnames and the universal implementation of the Spanish naming system. This produced the
Catálogo alfabético de apellidos ("Alphabetical Catalogue of Surnames"), which listed permitted surnames with origins in Spanish, Filipino, and Hispanized Chinese words, names, and numbers. Thus, many Spanish-sounding Filipino surnames are not surnames common to the rest of the Spanish-speaking world. The book contained many words coming from Spanish and the Philippine languages such as Tagalog, as well as many
Basque and
Catalan surnames. The colonial authorities implemented this decree because many Christianized Filipinos assumed religious names. There soon were too many people surnamed
de los Santos ("of the saints"),
de la Cruz ("of the cross"),
del Rosario ("of the Rosary") etc., which made it difficult for the Spanish colonists to control the Filipino people, and most importantly, to collect taxes. These extremely common names were also banned by the decree unless the name has been used by a family for at least four generations. This Spanish naming custom also countered the native custom before the Spanish period, wherein siblings assumed different surnames. Clavería's decree was enforced to different degrees in different parts of the colony. Because of this implementation of
Spanish naming customs, of the arrangement "given name + paternal surname + maternal surname", in the Philippines, a Spanish surname does not necessarily denote Spanish ancestry. In practice, the application of this decree varied from municipality to municipality. Most municipalities received surnames starting with only one initial letter; in others, this was not well enforced. For example, the majority of residents of the island of
Banton in the province of Romblon have surnames starting with F such as
Fabicon,
Fallarme,
Fadrilan, and
Ferran. Other examples are most cities and towns in
Albay,
Catanduanes,
Ilocos Sur and
Marinduque, where the majority of their residents have surnames beginning with a particular letter. Thus, although perhaps a majority of Filipinos have Spanish surnames, such a surname does not indicate Spanish ancestry. In addition, most Filipinos currently do not use Spanish accented letters in their Spanish derived names. The lack of accents in Filipino Spanish has been attributed to the lack of accents on the predominantly American typewriters after the United States gained control of the Philippines. The vast majority of Filipinos follow a naming system in the American order (i.e. given name + middle name + surname), which is the reverse of the Spanish naming order (i.e. given name + paternal surname + maternal surname). Children take the mother's surname as their
middle name, followed by their father's as their surname; for example, a son of Juan de la Cruz and his wife María Agbayani may be David Agbayani de la Cruz. Women usually take the surnames of their husband upon marriage, and consequently lose their maiden middle names; so upon her marriage to David de la Cruz, the full name of Laura Yuchengco Macaraeg would become Laura Macaraeg de la Cruz. Their maiden last names automatically become their middle names upon marriage. There are other sources for surnames. Many Filipinos also have Chinese-derived surnames, which in some cases could indicate Chinese ancestry. Many Hispanized Chinese numerals and other Hispanized Chinese words, however, were also among the surnames in the
Catálogo alfabético de apellidos. For those whose surname may indicate Chinese ancestry, analysis of the surname may help to pinpoint when those ancestors arrived in the Philippines. A Hispanized Chinese surname such as Cojuangco suggests an 18th-century arrival while a Chinese surname such as Lim suggests a relatively recent immigration. Some Chinese surnames such as Tiu-Laurel are composed of the immigrant Chinese ancestor's surname as well as the name of that ancestor's godparent on receiving Christian baptism. In the predominantly
Muslim areas of the southern Philippines, adoption of surnames was influenced by Islamic religious terms. As a result, surnames among Filipino Muslims are largely Arabic-based, and include such surnames as
Hassan and Haradji. There are also Filipinos who, to this day, have no surnames at all, particularly if they come from indigenous cultural communities.
Naming customs in the Philippines Prior to the establishment of the Philippines as a US territory during the earlier part of the 20th century, Filipinos usually followed Iberian naming customs. However, upon the promulgation of the
Family Code of 1987, Filipinos formalized adopting the American system of using their surnames. A common Filipino name will consist of the given name (mostly 2 given names are given), the initial letter of the mother's maiden name and finally the father's surname (i.e. Lucy Anne C. de Guzman). Also, women are allowed to retain their maiden name or use both her and her husband's surname as a
double-barreled surname, separated by a dash. This is common in feminist circles or when the woman holds a prominent office (e.g.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo,
Miriam Defensor Santiago). In more traditional circles, especially those who belong to the prominent families in the provinces, the custom of the woman being addressed as "Mrs. Husband's Full Name" is still common. For widows, who chose to marry again, two norms are in existence. For those who were widowed before the Family Code, the full name of the woman remains while the surname of the deceased husband is attached. That is, Maria Andres, who was widowed by Ignacio Dimaculangan will have the name Maria Andres viuda de Dimaculangan. If she chooses to marry again, this name will still continue to exist while the surname of the new husband is attached. Thus, if Maria marries Rene de los Santos, her new name will be Maria Andres viuda de Dimaculangan de los Santos. However, a new norm is also in existence. The woman may choose to use her husband's surname to be one of her middle names. Thus, Maria Andres viuda de Dimaculangan de los Santos may also be called Maria A.D. de los Santos. Children will however automatically inherit their father's surname if they are considered legitimate. If the child is born out of wedlock, the mother will automatically pass her surname to the child, unless the father gives a written acknowledgment of paternity. The father may also choose to give the child both his parents' surnames if he wishes (that is Gustavo Paredes, whose parents are Eulogio Paredes and Juliana Angeles, while having Maria Solis as a wife, may name his child Kevin S. Angeles-Paredes. In some Tagalog regions, the norm of giving patronyms, or in some cases matronyms, is also accepted. These names are of course not official, since family names in the Philippines are inherited. It is not uncommon to refer to someone as Juan anak ni Pablo (John, the son of Paul) or Juan apo ni Teofilo (John, the grandson of Theophilus).
Romania In
Romania, like in most of Europe, it is customary for a child to take his father's family name, and a wife to take her husband's last name. However, this is not compulsory spouses and parents are allowed to choose other options too, as the law is flexible (see Art. 282, Art. 449 Art. 450. of the
Civil Code of Romania). Until the 19th century, the names were primarily of the form "[given name] [father's name] [grandfather's name]". The few exceptions are usually famous people or the nobility (boyars). The name reform introduced around 1850 had the names changed to a western style, most likely imported from France, consisting of a given name followed by a family name. As such, the name is called
prenume (French
prénom), while the family name is called
nume or, when otherwise ambiguous,
nume de familie ("family name"). Although not mandatory, middle names are common. Historically, when the family name reform was introduced in the mid-19th century, the default was to use a patronym, or a
matronym when the father was dead or unknown. A common convention was to append the suffix
-escu to the father's name, e.g.
Anghelescu ("''Anghel's
child") and Petrescu
("Petre's
child"). (The -escu
seems to come from Latin -iscum
, thus being cognate with Italian -esco
and French -esque
.) Another common convention was to append the suffix -eanu
to the name of the place of origin, e.g. Munteanu
("from the mountains") and Moldoveanu
("from Moldova''"). These uniquely Romanian suffixes strongly identify ancestral nationality. There are also descriptive family names derived from occupations, nicknames, and events, e.g.
Botezatu ("baptised"),
Barbu ("bushy bearded"),
Prodan ("foster"),
Bălan ("blond"),
Fieraru ("smith"),
Croitoru ("tailor"), "
Păcuraru" ("shepherd"). Romanian family names remain the same regardless of the sex of the person. Although given names appear before family names in most Romanian contexts, official documents invert the order, ostensibly for filing purposes. Correspondingly, Romanians occasionally introduce themselves with their family names first, e.g. a student signing a test paper in school. Romanians bearing names of non-Romanian origin often adopt Romanianised versions of their ancestral surnames. For example,
Jurovschi for Polish
Żurowski, or
Popovici for Serbian
Popović ("son of a priest"), which preserves the original pronunciation of the surname through transliteration. In some cases, these changes were mandated by the state.
Turkey In Turkey, following the
Surname Law imposed in 1934 in the context of
Atatürk's Reforms, every family living in Turkey was given a family name. The surname was generally selected by the elderly people of the family and could be any
Turkish word (or a permitted word for families belonging to official minority groups). Some of the most common family names in Turkey are
Yılmaz ('undaunted'),
Doğan ('falcon'),
Şahin ('hawk'),
Yıldırım ('thunderbolt'),
Şimşek ('lightning'),
Öztürk ('purely Turkish').
Patronymic surnames do not necessarily refer to ancestry, or in most cases cannot be traced back historically. The most usual Turkish patronymic suffix is
–oğlu;
–ov(a),
–yev(a) and
–zade also occur in the surnames of Azeri or other Turkic descendants. Official minorities like Armenians, Greeks, and Jews have surnames in their own mother languages. The Armenian families living in Turkey usually have Armenian surnames and generally have the suffix
–yan,
–ian, or, using Turkish spelling,
-can. Greek descendants usually have Greek surnames which might have Greek suffixes like
–ou,
–aki(s),
–poulos/poulou,
–idis/idou,
–iadis/iadou or prefixes like
papa–. The Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain and settled in Turkey in 1492 have both Jewish/Hebrew surnames, and Spanish surnames, usually indicating their native regions, cities or villages back in Spain, like
De Leon or
Toledano. == Notes ==