Patronymic
Encyclopedia
A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name
based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic
. Each is a means of conveying lineage.
In many areas patronyms predate the use of family name
s. They are common as middle names in Russia, and in Iceland
surnames are an exception, with the law in favour of patronyms (or more recently, matronyms).
Many Celtic
, English
, Iberian
, Scandinavian
and Slavic
surnames originate from patronyms, e.g. Wilson
(son of William
), Powell (from "ap Hywel
"), Fernández
(son of Fernando
), Rodríguez (son of Rodrigo
), Carlsson (son of Carl
), Petrov
(son of Peter
), Stefanović (son of Stefan) and O'Connor
(from "Ó Conchobhair", meaning grandson/descendant of Conchobhar). Other cultures which formerly used patronyms have switched to the more widespread style of passing the father's last name to the children (and wife) as their own.
In biological taxonomy
, a patronym is a the second part of a binomial name which is derived from a Latinized surname. These often honor associates of the biologist who named the organism rather than the biologist himself. Examples include Gopherus agassizii, named by James Graham Cooper
after Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz
, and Acacia greggii
, named by botanist Asa Gray
after explorer Josiah Gregg
.
and Norwegian
) to indicate "son of", and -dóttir (Icelandic
-dóttir, Swedish
and Norwegian -dotter, Danish and Norwegian -datter) for "daughter of". This name was generally used as a last name although a third name, a so-called byname based on location or personal characteristic was often added to differentiate people and could eventually develop into a kind of family name
. Some Early Modern examples of the latter practice, where the patronymic was placed after the given name and was followed by the surname, are Norwegian Peder Claussøn Friis
, the son of Nicolas Thorolfsen Friis (Claus in Claussøn being short for Nicolas) and Danish Thomas Hansen Kingo, the son of Hans Thomsen Kingo. Eventually, most Nordic countries replaced or complemented this system with the prevailing "international" standard of inherited family names. In Norway, for example, the parliament passed a family name act in 1923, citing the rising population and the need to avoid the confusion of new last names in every generation. The law does allow a person to retain a patronymic as a middle name
in addition to the surname, as was common in Early Modern times; this is not a common practice, but does occur, a modern example being Audhild Gregoriusdotter Rotevatn
).
The Danish government outlawed the pratice in 1856 and eased the regulations in 1904 to deal with the limited amount of patronymics. In Sweden the practice of children keeping their father's and wives keeping their husband's patronymic as a surname occurs in the 1700s but is first prevalent in the late 1800s, still present yet uncommonly in the 1900s and finally abolished in 1966.
Matronyms were used exceptionally if the child was born out of wedlock or if the mother was much more high-born or well known than the father, a historical example being Sweyn Estridsson.
In Iceland
, patronymics are still used as last names and this is in fact compulsory by law, with a handful of exceptions
In Finland
, the use of patronyms instead of family names was very common well into the 19th century. Patronymics were composed similarly as in Swedish language
or other Scandinavian languages: the father's name and the suffix -n for genitive plus the word poika for sons, tytär for daughters. For example Tuomas Abrahaminpoika (to be read in English as "Tuomas, Abraham's son") and Martta Heikintytär (to be read in English as "Martta, Heikki's daughter").
, patronymics were often used in place of family name
s or as middle names. Patronymics were composed of the father's name plus an ending -zoon for sons, -dochter for daughters. For instance, Abel Janszoon Tasman
is "Abel son of Jan Tasman", and Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer
: "Kenau, daughter of Simon Hasselaer". In written form, these endings were often abbreviated as -sz. and -dr. respectively e.g. Jeroen Cornelisz. "Jeroen son of Cornelis", or Dirck Jacobsz. The endings -s, -se and -sen were also commonly used for sons and often for daughters too. In the northern provinces, -s, as genitive case
, was almost universally used for both sons and daughters. Patronymics were common in the Dutch United Provinces
until the French
invasion in 1795 and subsequent annexation in 1810. As the Netherlands were now a province of France, a registry of births, deaths and marriages was established in 1811, whereupon emperor
Napoleon
forced the Dutch to register and adopt a distinct surname Often, they simply made the patronymics the new family names, and modern Dutch patronymic-based surnames such as Jansen, Pietersen and Willemsen abound. Others chose their profession or habitat as family names: Bakker (baker), Slachter (butcher), van Dijk (of dike) etc.
(more specifically, Norman
) prefix fitz (cognate with the modern French fils, meaning "son"), appears in England's aristocratic family lines dating from the Norman Conquest, and also among the Anglo-Irish
. Thus there are names such as Fitzgerald and Fitzhugh. Of particular interest is the name Fitzroy, meaning "son of king", which was used by illegitimate Royal children who were acknowledged as such by their fathers.
and Manx
. "Mc" is also a frequent anglicisation in both Scotland and Ireland. In Ireland, the forms "Mag" and "M'" are encountered. The prefix "Mac" is used to form a patronym, such as "MacCoinnich" – or the anglicized 'Mackenzie' – son of Coinneach/Kenneth. Less well known is the female equivalent of Mac, Nic, condensed from nighean mhic (in Scottish Gaelic) or iníon mhic (in Irish). For example, the Scottish Gaelic surname, Nic Dhòmhnaill meaning 'daughter of a son of Dòmhnall' (in English, Donald), as in Mairi Nic Dhòmhnaill, or Mary MacDonald. In Ireland
, the use of Ó (and its feminine equivalent Ní, from iníon uí), anglicised "O'" and meaning 'grandson' predominated over "Mc".
At the north end of the Irish Sea
, in Ulster
, the Isle of Man
and Galloway
(indeed as far north as Argyll
), "Mac" was frequently truncated in speech, leading to such anglicisations as "Qualtrough" (Son of Walter) & "Quayle" (son of Paul, cf. MacPhail) – usually beginning with "C", "K" or "Q". In Ireland, this truncation resulted in surnames such as "Guinness" (son of Aonghus, cf. MacAonghusa) beginning usually in "C" or "G" for patronymics prefixed with Mac, and in "H" (e.g. "Hurley" (descendant of Jarlath, cf. Ua hIarfhlatha/O'Hurley)) for surnames prefixed with "O". Colloquial Scottish Gaelic also has other patronymics of a slightly different form for individuals, still in use (for more information please see: Scottish Gaelic personal naming system
). An interesting crossover variation in the use of "O'" for grandson in Irish and "Ap" for son in Welsh, was that the West Waleian name Ho-well was derived from Ui'Well of old Irish, which then became O'Well... then Howell in their Welsh relatives. As for Ap Howell, that does mean, 'the son of the grandson of...Well'.
In Wales
, before the 1536 Act of Union all Welsh people used patronyms and matronym as the sole way of naming people. Welsh, as a P-Celtic language, used "Map" (Modern Welsh "Mab") in contrast to the Q-Celtic Scottish "Mac". Rhydderch ap Watcyn was Rhydderch son of Watcyn. Daughters were indicated by verch (from merch, meaning 'girl, daughter'), as in Angharad Verch Owain or 'Angharad, daughter of Owain'. This gave rise to names such as ap Hywel being — after the Acts of Union — used as Anglicised surnames; in this case the name ap Hywel became the surnames Howell/Powell. There are many such Anglicised surnames, such as Bowen from ab Owen, Protheroe from ap Rhydderch, and Pulliam from ap William. Up until the Industrial Revolution
the use of patronyms was still widespread, especially in the west and north of Wales. A revival of patronyms during the 20th century continues today: for example, Ifan ab Owen Edwards
, the academic, writer and film-maker, was the son of Sir Owen Morgan Edwards
.
The tradition of patronymic lineage is still used among some Canadian descendants of French colonists: in the oral tradition of many Acadians, for example, Marc à Pierre à Gérard (lit. "Marc of Pierre of Gérard"), means "Marc, son of Pierre, grandson of Gérard".
, there are some common surnames which had a patronymic genesis, but are no longer used in such way. For instance, Álvares was the son of Álvaro and Gonçalves was the son of Gonçalo (it was the case of Nuno Álvares Pereira
, son of Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira, son of Gonçalo Pereira). Other cases include Rodrigues (Rodrigo) and Nunes (Nuno).
In the same way the surname Soares means son of Soeiro (in Latin Suarius). It comes from Latin Suarici (son of Suarius); the Latin genitive suffix -icius/a was used to indicate a patronymic. After it became Suariz, Suarez and eventually Soares. Another theory attributes the Iberian -ez style patronymics to Germanic (Visigothic) rather than Latin influence.
Spanish
patronyms follow a similar pattern to the Portuguese (e.g., López
: of Lope; Hernández
: of Hernando; Álvarez
: of Álvaro). Common endings include -ez, -az, -is, and -oz. (Note: Not all names with similar endings are necessarily patronymic, i.e. Ramas, Vargas
, Morales.)
In the past, both in Spanish and Portuguese, plus Catalan
endings -ez, -es, -iz, -is tended to confound (since pronunciation was quite similar in the three languages). Nowadays, Portuguese has been fully standardized in -es and Catalan in -is, Spanish also is standardized to -ez but is very common to see archaic endings in -es. For instance, Pires, Pérez
and Peris
are the modern forms of "Peterson
" in Portuguese, Spanish and Catalan.
, the ending -ovich, -yevich, -yich is used to form patronymics for men. For example, in Russian
, a man named Ivan with a father named Nikolay would be known as Ivan Nikolayevich or 'Ivan, son of Nikolay' (Nikolayevich being a patronymic). For women, the ending is -yevna, -ovna or -ichna. For masculine names ending in a vowel, such as Ilya or Foma, when they are used as a base for patronymic, the corresponding endings are -ich (for men) and -inichna (for women).
In Russia, the patronymic is an official part of the name, used in all official documents, and when addressing somebody both formally and among friends. A Russian will rarely formally address a person named Mikhail simply as 'Mikhail', but rather as 'Mikhail' followed by his patronymic (i.e. 'Mikhail Nikolayevich' or 'Mikhail Sergeyevich' etc.). However, on informal occasions when a person is called by a diminutive
(such as Misha for Mikhail resp. Nastya for Anastasia), the patronymic is rarely used. In colloquial, informal speech, it is also possible to contract the ending of a patronymic: thus Nikolayevich becomes Nikolaich, and Stepan Ivanovich becomes Stepan Ivanych or simply Ivanych as the given name
may be omitted altogether. In this case the contraction, if possible, is obligatory: Ivan Sergeyevich Sidorov may be called 'Sergeich' or, more rarely, 'Sergeyevich', though such contractions are sometimes avoided as they tend to bring a shade of muzhik-style familiarity. Aleksandr Aleksandrovich (Александр Александрович) may be called San Sanych (Сан Саныч) and Pavel Pavlovich (Павел Павлович) may be called Pal Palych (Пал Палыч). A famous example of a contracted female patronymic is 'Mar' Ivanna' , short for 'Maria Ivanovna' , a young female teacher who is a recurring character in Vovochka jokes. In contrast to male names, if a woman is called by her patronymic name without a given name, the patronymic is never contracted: 'Ivanovna' but 'Mar' Ivanna'. Male and female patronymic names derived from names ending in -slav (Vladislav, Yaroslav) have two possible forms: long, with -vovich/-vovna (Yaroslavovich, Yaroslavovna) and short, with -vich, -vna (Yaroslavich, Yaroslavna). A curious use of a Russian patronymic occurs in some Tom Clancy
novels; the character Jack Ryan
, whose father was Emmet Ryan, is addressed as Ivan Emmetovich by a Russian colleague, Sergei Nikolaich (Nikolaievich) Golovko. Similarly, the name of the Arabic genie
from the Russian book Old Khottabych (Starik Khottabych) by Lazar Lagin
was constructed from the genie's name 'Hassan Abdul-rahman ibn Khattab'.
, the female Patronymic always ends with -івна (-ivna) or -ївна (-yivna). The male Patronymic always ends with -ович (-ovych).
, the patronymics are -ov/-ev and -ova/-eva for men and women, respectively. These are identical to the endings of family names in Bulgarian and some other Slavic family names (such as names in Russian and Czech
). In Bulgarian official documents, the patronymic is inserted before the surname - e.g. Ivan Marinov Yordanov would be the son of Marin Yordanov.
Some South Slavic surnames (usually Serbian
, Croatian
or Bosnian
) look morphologically identical to East Slavic patronymics, but do not change form between masculine
and feminine
: Milla Jovovich
and not 'Jovovna'. In addition, these surnames cannot be contracted using the pattern described above, and generally carry the stress on a different syllable. Examples include Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich
and Vladislav Khodasevich
.
, patronyms were traditionally formed with the ending -fi (sometimes spelled as -fy or -ffy). This system is no longer in common use, though traces of it can still be found in some frequent present-day surnames such as Pálfi (son of Paul), Győrfi, Bánfi or in the name of the famous poet Sándor Petőfi
(who chose this Hungarian form instead of his Slavic birth name Petrovics). In the Old Hungarian period (10th−16th century, see History of Hungarian), when surnames were not in common use, the full genitive was represented as in Péter fia András (Peter's son Andrew); these forms are in frequent use in charters and legal documents dated back to that time.
, the endings -escu and -eanu were used, as in Petrescu, 'son of Petre (Peter)'; many modern Romanian family names were formed from such patronymics. Less commonly, matronymics formed with the genitive
form (using the prefix a-) were used, as in Amariei, 'son of Maria'.
surnames are patronymics by origin, albeit in various forms depending on ancestral locality. Diminutive suffixes which denote "son of", or more generally "descendant of", are produced as follows: starting with the given name Δημήτριος, Dēmétrios, for example, the patronymic surnames Dēmētrópoulos (Peloponnese
), Dēmētrákos (Laconia
), Dēmētréas (Messenia
n Mani
), Dēmētrátos (Cephalonia), Dēmētrákēs (Crete
), Dēmētriádēs/Dēmētr-ídēs (Pontus
, Asia Minor
), Dēmētréllēs (Lesbos), Dēmétroglou (Asia Minor
), or simply Dēmētríou (esp. common in Cyprus
, the first name in the Genitive) are formed. The same principle can apply to surnames deriving from professions, for example from παπάς, papás, priest, one derives the surnames Papadópoulos, Papadákos, Papadéas, Papadátos, Papadákēs, Papadéllēs, Pappá etc., all of which signify a "priest's son". The same principle(s) may apply in combination, e.g. Papanikoláou, Papanikolópoulos, "the son of the priest Nikolaos". A daughter's family name is the same as the son's, but always declined in the Genitive, e.g. Dēmētropoúlou, Papanikoláou etc. In addition to these surnames, actual patronymics are used in official documents as "middle names" preceding the surname. For example, the children of a Giánnēs Papadópoulos are, say, María Ioánnou Papadopoúlou and Andréas Ioánnou Papadópoulos (Ioánnou is the genitive case
form of Ioánnēs, which is the formal form of the father's name, Giánnēs). Traditionally, a married woman would adopt her husband's family name. Now, however, this is optional, and many choose to keep their own names.
, the suffix
used to indicate paternal ancestry is -oğlu, which indicate the ancestry as coming from a certain man. Like many other patronymics in other languages, with the formalization of naming conventions by laws in the late modern contemporary age
many turned into last names. After the 'Surname revolution
' on 1934, many people chose professions or habitat as surnames with or without the suffix -oğlu, such as Bakkaloğlu or Giritlioğlu.
Many Armenian surnames, especially Western Armenian, are patronymics that were first used by distant ancestors or clan founders. These are characterized by the suffix "-ian" in Western Armenian, often transliterated as "-yan" in Eastern Armenian. These are appended to the given name, i.e. Asdvadzadourian, Hagopian, Khachadourian, Mardirosian, Bedrosian, Sarkissian, etc. Patronyms for individuals were common in the 20th century but have since fallen out of use.
, patronymics are formed through oğlu (sometimes transliterated as ogly) for males and qızı (often transliterated as gizi or kizi) for females. Prior to the late 19th–early 20th century, patronymics were used as an essential part of a person's full name, i.e. Sardar Ilyas oğlu ("Sardar, son of Ilyas") and Mina Nabi qızı ("Mina, daughter of Nabi"), since surnames were mostly non-existent before Sovietization
(with the exception of the upper and some middle class families). After surnames were commonly adopted in Azerbaijan
in the 1920s, patronymics still remained parts of full names, i.e. Sardar Ilyas oğlu Aliyev ("Sardar Aliyev, son of Ilyas"). Nowadays in Azerbaijan, patronymics sometimes replace surnames in unofficial use. Normally in such case, they are spelled as one word (i.e. Eldar Mammadoğlu, Sabina Yusifqızı). Many Azeri surnames are also derived from Persian-style patronymics ending in -zadeh (Kazimzadeh, Mehdizadeh, etc.). They are found among both Caucasian and Iranian Azeris. However unlike the former, Azeris in Iran do not generally use patronymics in oglu / qizi. Azeri patronymics are not to be confused with Turkish
surnames in -oğlu and Greek
surnames in -ογλού (-oglou), which do not have specific female versions and do not reflect names of fathers.
's actual name was Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jugashvili. s in Georgian is a possessive, and dze means son. Georgian last names derive mostly from patronymics. Two common elements in Georgian last names, dze and shvili mean son of, and child, respectively.
, the word "ibn" (ابن) (or بن: "bin", "ben" and sometimes "ibni" and "ibnu" to show the final declension
of the noun) is the equivalent of the "-son" suffix discussed above (The prefix ben- is used similarly in Hebrew). In addition, "bint" (بنت) means "daughter of". Thus, for example, "Ali ibn `Amr" means "Ali son of `Amr". In Classical Arabic, the word ibn is written as bn between two names, since the case ending of the first name then supplies a vowel. Consequently, ibn is often written as "b.", as bint is often written as "bt.," in name formulas rendered from Arabic into Roman characters. Thus Hisham ibn al-Kalbi is alternatively written as Hisham b. al-Kalbi. However, the pronunciation "bin" is dialectal and has nothing to do with either the spelling or pronunciation in Classical Arabic. The word "Abu" ("Aba" or "Abi" in different declensions) means "father of", so "Abu `Ali" is another name for "`Amr". In medieval times, an illegitimate child of unknown parentage would sometimes be termed "ibn Abihi", "son of his father" (notably Ziyad ibn Abihi.) In the Qur'an
, Jesus
(Isa
in Arabic) is consistently termed "`Isa ibn Maryam" - a matronymic
(in the Qur'an, Jesus has no father; see Islamic view of Jesus
). An Arabic patronymic can be extended as far back as family tree records will allow: thus, for example, Ibn Khaldun
gives his own full name as "`Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Jabir ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn `Abd ar-Rahman ibn Khaldun".
Patronymics are still standard in parts of the Arab world, notably Saudi Arabia
; however, most of the Arab world has switched to a family name system. As in English, the new family names are sometimes based on what was formerly a patronymic. Another form widely used in the Arab World is the usage of both the Patronymic and a family name, often using both the father's and grandfathers given name in sequence after the own given name, and then the family name. In Iraq
for example, full names are formed by combining the given name of an individual with the given name of their father (sometimes the father is skipped and the grandfather's given name is used instead, sometimes both father and grandfather are used), along with the town, village, or clan name. For instance, Hayder Muhammed al-Tikriti is the son of Muhammed named Hayder, and he is from the town of Tikrit
.
, the prefix bar- means "son" and is used as a prefix meaning "son of". In the Bible, Peter is called Bar-jonah in Matthew 16:17 and Nathanael is possibly called Bartholomew because he is the son of Tolmai. The titles can also be figurative, for example in Acts 4:36-37 a man named Joseph is called Barnabas meaning son of consolation.
patronymic names. In the Jewish patronymic system the first name is followed by either ben- or bat- ("son of" and "daughter of", respectively), and then the father's name. (Bar-, "son of" in Aramaic
, is also seen). Permanent family surnames exist today but only gained popularity among Sephardic Jews
in Iberia
and elsewhere as early as the 10th or 11th century and did not spread widely to the Ashkenazic Jews
of Germany
or Eastern Europe
until much later. While Jews now have permanent surnames for everyday life, the patronymic form is still used in religious life. It is used in synagogue
and in documents in Jewish law
such as the ketubah
(marriage contract). Many Sephardic Jews used the Arabic ibn instead of bat or ben when it was the norm. The Spanish family Ibn Ezra is one example.
Many immigrants
to the modern Israel
Hebraized
their names. This was especially common among Ashkenazic immigrants, because most of their names were taken later and some were imposed by the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires. A prominent example of this is a stateswoman who had two patronymic names, before becoming known without one. Born Golda Mabovitch who married American Morris Meyerson, took the name Golda Meyerson, and upon making Aliyah
and at the urging of Moshe Sharett Hebraized
her last name to Meir
.
A popular form to create a new family name using Jewish patronymics sometimes related to poetic Zionist themes, such as ben Ami ("son of my people"), or ben Artzi ("son of my country"), and sometimes related to the Israeli landscape, such as bar Ilan ("son of the trees").
, Hausa
and Fulani people usually (with some exceptions) follow the Arab naming pattern, however the word "son of" is omitted. So Mohamed son of Ibrahim son of Ahmed is "Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed", and Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed's son Ali is "Ali Mohamed Ibrahim".
Ethiopians also use similar system and there is no concept of family name and surname. If one is to refer to a person with a single name he/she will always use the person's given name.
Kalenjin
use 'arap' meaning 'son of'
Kikuyu
used 'wa' meaning 'of'. Because of polygamy, there was also use of matronyms and 'wa' used to identify which wife the child was born of.
Maasai
use 'ole' meaning 'son of'
Meru
use 'mto' abbreviated M' thus son of Mkindia would be M'Mkindia, pronounced Mto Mkindia.
and Pakistan
. For example, if a father is named Khurram Suleman (a Muslim masculine name), he might name his son Taha Khurram, who in turn might name his son Ismail Taha. As a result, unlike surname
s, patronymics will not pass down through many generations.
In Ancient India
during the Vedic Age, when Sanskrit was the lingua franca, patronymics were common as last names. Sanskrit patronymics were the adjective form of the father's (or clan's forefather's) given name. This adjective is formed by Indo-European ablaut
(a phonological process), which adds an additional /a/ to the first vowel in the patronymic: changing from short /a/ to ā, short and long /i/ and /ē/ to ai, and short and long /u/ and /ō/ to /au/. Sometimes a suffix, such as -ya, was also added. E.g.:
In southern India, Tamil Nadu
and parts of Kerala
and Karnataka
, patronymy is predominant. This is a significant departure from the rest of the country where caste or family names are mostly employed as surnames.
However, rather than using the father's full name, only the first letter—the initial—is prefixed to the given name. For example, if a person's personal name is Saravanan and his father's Krishnan, then the full name is K. Saravanan and is seldom expanded, even in official records. Some families follow the tradition of retaining the name of the hometown, the grandfather's name, or both as initials. The celebrated Indian English novelist R. K. Narayan
's name at birth was Rasipuram Krishnaswami Ayyar Narayanaswami, which was shortened at the behest of his writer friend Graham Greene. Rasipuram, the first name, is a toponym and Krishnaswami Ayyar, the second name, is a patronym.
Nonetheless, the growing trend in cities in southern India and among expatriates is to expand the father’s name and place it ahead of one’s given name. The name stated in the earlier example, K. Saravanan would become Krishnan Saravanan , bringing it partly in line with western naming conventions of first name, middle name and last name order.
In Maharashtra, a very common convention among the Hindu communities is to have the patronymic be the middle name. Examples:
This system works for both boys and girls, except that after marriage, a woman takes her husband's given name as her middle name—her new middle name is no longer a patronymic.
Indians, particularly Tamils in Singapore
often continue the patronymic tradition; this entails having a single given name, followed by son / daughter of, followed by their father's name.
Malaysian Indians may also follow this custom with "son" or "daughter" of being replaced by "anak lelaki" or "anak perempuan" respectively.
Indians of the Isma'ili faith also have patronymic middle names which use the father's first name and the grandfather's first name plus a family name. Someone called "Ramazan Rahim Ali Manji" might call his son "Karim Ramazan Rahim Manji" and his granddaughter might be called "Zahra Karim Ramazan Manji".
's son's given name is based on the last one or two syllable of father's name. Hani people
also have patronymic custom.
Personal name
A personal name is the proper name identifying an individual person, and today usually comprises a given name bestowed at birth or at a young age plus a surname. It is nearly universal for a human to have a name; except in rare cases, for example feral children growing up in isolation, or infants...
based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic
Matronymic
A matronymic is a personal name based on the name of one's mother, grandmother, or any female ancestor. It is the female equivalent of a patronymic. In patriarchal societies, matronymic surnames are far less common than patronyms. In the past, matronymic last names were often given to children of...
. Each is a means of conveying lineage.
In many areas patronyms predate the use of family name
Family name
A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
s. They are common as middle names in Russia, and in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
surnames are an exception, with the law in favour of patronyms (or more recently, matronyms).
Many Celtic
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Iberian
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
, Scandinavian
North Germanic languages
The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages, the languages of Scandinavians, make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages, along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages...
and Slavic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
surnames originate from patronyms, e.g. Wilson
Wilson (surname)
Wilson is a common surname of English origin. It literally means "son of Wil" . It is the seventh most common surname in the United Kingdom, and eighth most common in the United States. In Ireland it is often Gaelicised as "McLiam"...which translated means "Son of William"...
(son of William
William (name)
William is a popular given name of old Germanic origin. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era...
), Powell (from "ap Hywel
Hywel
Hywel may refer to:*Hoel, king of Brittany in Arthurian legend*Saint Hywel, a sixth-century disciple of Saint Teilo*Hywel Dda , or Hywel the Good, king of much of Wales, from Deheubarth...
"), Fernández
Fernández
Fernández is a common Spanish surname meaning "son of Fernando."It is the 8 most popular name in Spain.It is the 138 most popular name in France.It is the 223 most popular name in the USA.It is the fourth most popular name in Argentina....
(son of Fernando
Fernando
Fernando may mean:* A Portuguese, Spanish and Italian given name equivalent to the Germanic given name Ferdinand or Vernon, with an original meaning of "adventurous, bold journey".-First name:* Fernando el Católico, king of Aragon...
), Rodríguez (son of Rodrigo
Rodrigo
Rodrigo is a Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian name derived from the Germanic name Roderick . It may refer to:-Given name:*King Rodrigo, the last Visigothic king of Hispania...
), Carlsson (son of Carl
Carl (name)
.Carl is a popular given name as well as the name of various places. The most popular male variations are Karl, Charles; the popularity stems from the long lines of historical nobility using these names. There also exist many female variations such as Charlotte and Carla...
), Petrov
Petrov (surname)
Petrov or Petroff or Petrova is one of the most common surnames in Russia and Bulgaria. The surname is derived from the first name Pyotr or Petar...
(son of Peter
Peter (given name)
Peter is a common masculine given name. It is derived, via Latin "petra", from the Greek word πέτρος meaning "stone" or "rock"....
), Stefanović (son of Stefan) and O'Connor
O'Connor
O'Connor is a surname of Irish origin, originally meaning Ó Conchobhair .-Law and Politics:*Sandra Day O'Connor O'Connor is a surname of Irish origin, originally meaning Ó Conchobhair ("grandson/descendant of Conchobhar").-Law and Politics:*Sandra Day O'Connor O'Connor is a surname of Irish origin,...
(from "Ó Conchobhair", meaning grandson/descendant of Conchobhar). Other cultures which formerly used patronyms have switched to the more widespread style of passing the father's last name to the children (and wife) as their own.
In biological taxonomy
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
, a patronym is a the second part of a binomial name which is derived from a Latinized surname. These often honor associates of the biologist who named the organism rather than the biologist himself. Examples include Gopherus agassizii, named by James Graham Cooper
James Graham Cooper
James Graham Cooper was an American surgeon and naturalist.Cooper was born in New York. He worked for the California Geological Survey with Josiah Dwight Whitney, William Henry Brewer and Henry Nicholas Bolander...
after Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz
Louis Agassiz
Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was a Swiss paleontologist, glaciologist, geologist and a prominent innovator in the study of the Earth's natural history. He grew up in Switzerland and became a professor of natural history at University of Neuchâtel...
, and Acacia greggii
Acacia greggii
Acacia greggii is a species of Acacia native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, from the extreme south of Utah south through southern Nevada, southeast California, Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas to Baja California, Sinaloa and Nuevo León in...
, named by botanist Asa Gray
Asa Gray
-References:*Asa Gray. Dictionary of American Biography. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928–1936.*Asa Gray. Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998.*Asa Gray. Plant Sciences. 4 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2001....
after explorer Josiah Gregg
Josiah Gregg
Josiah Gregg was a merchant, explorer, naturalist, and author of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico regions. He is most famous for his book Commerce of the Prairies.-Early years:...
.
Western Europe
In Western Europe patronyms were formerly widespread but later became confined to Scandinavia.Nordic countries
In Norse custom patronyms and matronyms were formed by using the ending -son (later -søn and -sen in DanishDanish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
and Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
) to indicate "son of", and -dóttir (Icelandic
Icelandic language
Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...
-dóttir, Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
and Norwegian -dotter, Danish and Norwegian -datter) for "daughter of". This name was generally used as a last name although a third name, a so-called byname based on location or personal characteristic was often added to differentiate people and could eventually develop into a kind of family name
Family name
A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
. Some Early Modern examples of the latter practice, where the patronymic was placed after the given name and was followed by the surname, are Norwegian Peder Claussøn Friis
Peder Claussøn Friis
Peder Claussøn Friis was a Norwegian author.By his translations of the old sagas he rendered great service to the history of Norway; indeed, one saga is extant only in his translation. In his Description of Norway and Adjacent Islands is to be found historical material of value...
, the son of Nicolas Thorolfsen Friis (Claus in Claussøn being short for Nicolas) and Danish Thomas Hansen Kingo, the son of Hans Thomsen Kingo. Eventually, most Nordic countries replaced or complemented this system with the prevailing "international" standard of inherited family names. In Norway, for example, the parliament passed a family name act in 1923, citing the rising population and the need to avoid the confusion of new last names in every generation. The law does allow a person to retain a patronymic as a middle name
Middle name
People's names in several cultures include one or more additional names placed between the first given name and the surname. In Canada and the United States all such names are specifically referred to as middle name; in most European countries they would simply be regarded as second, third, etc....
in addition to the surname, as was common in Early Modern times; this is not a common practice, but does occur, a modern example being Audhild Gregoriusdotter Rotevatn
Audhild Gregoriusdotter Rotevatn
Audhild Gregoriusdotter Rotevatn is a Norwegian journalist, television host, and radio presenter, who has worked for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and the now defunct Kanal 24...
).
The Danish government outlawed the pratice in 1856 and eased the regulations in 1904 to deal with the limited amount of patronymics. In Sweden the practice of children keeping their father's and wives keeping their husband's patronymic as a surname occurs in the 1700s but is first prevalent in the late 1800s, still present yet uncommonly in the 1900s and finally abolished in 1966.
Matronyms were used exceptionally if the child was born out of wedlock or if the mother was much more high-born or well known than the father, a historical example being Sweyn Estridsson.
In Iceland
Icelandic name
Icelandic names differ from most current Western family name systems by being patronymic in that they reflect the immediate father of the child and not the historic family lineage....
, patronymics are still used as last names and this is in fact compulsory by law, with a handful of exceptions
In Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, the use of patronyms instead of family names was very common well into the 19th century. Patronymics were composed similarly as in Swedish language
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
or other Scandinavian languages: the father's name and the suffix -n for genitive plus the word poika for sons, tytär for daughters. For example Tuomas Abrahaminpoika (to be read in English as "Tuomas, Abraham's son") and Martta Heikintytär (to be read in English as "Martta, Heikki's daughter").
Netherlands
In DutchDutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, patronymics were often used in place of family name
Family name
A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
s or as middle names. Patronymics were composed of the father's name plus an ending -zoon for sons, -dochter for daughters. For instance, Abel Janszoon Tasman
Abel Tasman
Abel Janszoon Tasman was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the VOC . His was the first known European expedition to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand and to sight the Fiji islands...
is "Abel son of Jan Tasman", and Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer
Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer
Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer was a wood merchant of Haarlem, Netherlands She was the daughter of Simon Hasselaer and Grietje Koen. When the city was besieged by the Spanish, she led a company of women in defence of the city, becoming famous for bravery...
: "Kenau, daughter of Simon Hasselaer". In written form, these endings were often abbreviated as -sz. and -dr. respectively e.g. Jeroen Cornelisz. "Jeroen son of Cornelis", or Dirck Jacobsz. The endings -s, -se and -sen were also commonly used for sons and often for daughters too. In the northern provinces, -s, as genitive case
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
, was almost universally used for both sons and daughters. Patronymics were common in the Dutch United Provinces
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
until the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
invasion in 1795 and subsequent annexation in 1810. As the Netherlands were now a province of France, a registry of births, deaths and marriages was established in 1811, whereupon emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
forced the Dutch to register and adopt a distinct surname Often, they simply made the patronymics the new family names, and modern Dutch patronymic-based surnames such as Jansen, Pietersen and Willemsen abound. Others chose their profession or habitat as family names: Bakker (baker), Slachter (butcher), van Dijk (of dike) etc.
England
In England, names ending with the suffix "son" were often originally patronymic. In addition, the archaic FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
(more specifically, Norman
Norman language
Norman is a Romance language and one of the Oïl languages. Norman can be classified as one of the northern Oïl languages along with Picard and Walloon...
) prefix fitz (cognate with the modern French fils, meaning "son"), appears in England's aristocratic family lines dating from the Norman Conquest, and also among the Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
. Thus there are names such as Fitzgerald and Fitzhugh. Of particular interest is the name Fitzroy, meaning "son of king", which was used by illegitimate Royal children who were acknowledged as such by their fathers.
Ireland, Scotland and Wales
The use of "Mac" in some form, was prevalent in Scottish Gaelic, IrishIrish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
and Manx
Manx language
Manx , also known as Manx Gaelic, and as the Manks language, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, historically spoken by the Manx people. Only a small minority of the Island's population is fluent in the language, but a larger minority has some knowledge of it...
. "Mc" is also a frequent anglicisation in both Scotland and Ireland. In Ireland, the forms "Mag" and "M'" are encountered. The prefix "Mac" is used to form a patronym, such as "MacCoinnich" – or the anglicized 'Mackenzie' – son of Coinneach/Kenneth. Less well known is the female equivalent of Mac, Nic, condensed from nighean mhic (in Scottish Gaelic) or iníon mhic (in Irish). For example, the Scottish Gaelic surname, Nic Dhòmhnaill meaning 'daughter of a son of Dòmhnall' (in English, Donald), as in Mairi Nic Dhòmhnaill, or Mary MacDonald. In Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, the use of Ó (and its feminine equivalent Ní, from iníon uí), anglicised "O'" and meaning 'grandson' predominated over "Mc".
At the north end of the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
, in Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
, the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
and Galloway
Galloway
Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...
(indeed as far north as Argyll
Argyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
), "Mac" was frequently truncated in speech, leading to such anglicisations as "Qualtrough" (Son of Walter) & "Quayle" (son of Paul, cf. MacPhail) – usually beginning with "C", "K" or "Q". In Ireland, this truncation resulted in surnames such as "Guinness" (son of Aonghus, cf. MacAonghusa) beginning usually in "C" or "G" for patronymics prefixed with Mac, and in "H" (e.g. "Hurley" (descendant of Jarlath, cf. Ua hIarfhlatha/O'Hurley)) for surnames prefixed with "O". Colloquial Scottish Gaelic also has other patronymics of a slightly different form for individuals, still in use (for more information please see: Scottish Gaelic personal naming system
Scottish Gaelic personal naming system
-Forenames:Scottish Gaelic has a number of personal names, such as Ailean, Aonghas, Dòmhnall, Donnchadh, Coinneach, and Murchadh, for which there are traditional forms in English...
). An interesting crossover variation in the use of "O'" for grandson in Irish and "Ap" for son in Welsh, was that the West Waleian name Ho-well was derived from Ui'Well of old Irish, which then became O'Well... then Howell in their Welsh relatives. As for Ap Howell, that does mean, 'the son of the grandson of...Well'.
In Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, before the 1536 Act of Union all Welsh people used patronyms and matronym as the sole way of naming people. Welsh, as a P-Celtic language, used "Map" (Modern Welsh "Mab") in contrast to the Q-Celtic Scottish "Mac". Rhydderch ap Watcyn was Rhydderch son of Watcyn. Daughters were indicated by verch (from merch, meaning 'girl, daughter'), as in Angharad Verch Owain or 'Angharad, daughter of Owain'. This gave rise to names such as ap Hywel being — after the Acts of Union — used as Anglicised surnames; in this case the name ap Hywel became the surnames Howell/Powell. There are many such Anglicised surnames, such as Bowen from ab Owen, Protheroe from ap Rhydderch, and Pulliam from ap William. Up until the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
the use of patronyms was still widespread, especially in the west and north of Wales. A revival of patronyms during the 20th century continues today: for example, Ifan ab Owen Edwards
Ifan ab Owen Edwards
Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards , was a Welsh academic, writer and film-maker, best known as the founder of Urdd Gobaith Cymru, the Welsh League of Youth....
, the academic, writer and film-maker, was the son of Sir Owen Morgan Edwards
Owen Morgan Edwards
Owen Morgan Edwards was a Welsh historian, educationalist and writer. He is often known as O. M. Edwards....
.
France
In France, the terms patronyme and nom patronymique had long been used interchangeably to designate the family name, meaning that it is inherited from the father. This usage is contrary to the international meaning as described in the rest of this article, and a law enacted in 2002 mandated not using these terms for nom de famille (lit. "name of family"), although "patronyme" was removed from most administrative documents decades before 2002.The tradition of patronymic lineage is still used among some Canadian descendants of French colonists: in the oral tradition of many Acadians, for example, Marc à Pierre à Gérard (lit. "Marc of Pierre of Gérard"), means "Marc, son of Pierre, grandson of Gérard".
Iberian Peninsula
In PortugalPortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, there are some common surnames which had a patronymic genesis, but are no longer used in such way. For instance, Álvares was the son of Álvaro and Gonçalves was the son of Gonçalo (it was the case of Nuno Álvares Pereira
Nuno Álvares Pereira
Dom Nuno Álvares Pereira, O. Carm. , also spelled Nun'Álvares Pereira, was a Portuguese general of great success who had a decisive role in the 1383-1385 Crisis that assured Portugal's independence from Castile...
, son of Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira, son of Gonçalo Pereira). Other cases include Rodrigues (Rodrigo) and Nunes (Nuno).
In the same way the surname Soares means son of Soeiro (in Latin Suarius). It comes from Latin Suarici (son of Suarius); the Latin genitive suffix -icius/a was used to indicate a patronymic. After it became Suariz, Suarez and eventually Soares. Another theory attributes the Iberian -ez style patronymics to Germanic (Visigothic) rather than Latin influence.
Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
patronyms follow a similar pattern to the Portuguese (e.g., López
López
López is a common surname in the Spanish language . It was originally a patronymic, meaning Son of Lope, Lope itself being a Spanish given name deriving from Latin lupus, meaning wolf...
: of Lope; Hernández
Hernández
Hernández is a Spanish and Portuguese surname that came into common use around the 15th century. Originally a patronymic, it means son of Hernán or sometimes son of the traveler-Television and film personalities:...
: of Hernando; Álvarez
Alvarez (surname)
Álvarez is a Spanish patronymic surname meaning "son of Álvar".It may refer to several people:* Al Alvarez, a British author* any of several members of a prominent Spanish-American family:*Luis F. Alvarez, U.S. physician...
: of Álvaro). Common endings include -ez, -az, -is, and -oz. (Note: Not all names with similar endings are necessarily patronymic, i.e. Ramas, Vargas
Vargas (surname)
Vargas is a Spanish, Portuguese and South American surname stemming from old nobility with two branches, de Vargas and de Vargas-Machuca, and may refer to the following:-Actors and TV personalities:* Vivian Vargas, Filipino actor....
, Morales.)
In the past, both in Spanish and Portuguese, plus Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
endings -ez, -es, -iz, -is tended to confound (since pronunciation was quite similar in the three languages). Nowadays, Portuguese has been fully standardized in -es and Catalan in -is, Spanish also is standardized to -ez but is very common to see archaic endings in -es. For instance, Pires, Pérez
Pérez
Pérez is a surname with at least two distinct origins. One is a Spanish surname meaning "son of Pero, Pedro, or Peter." In Castilian Spanish, the name is pronounced ; in Latin America, . In American English, it is often the hyperforeign ....
and Peris
Peris
Periş is a commune in the far northwestern corner of Ilfov county, Romania. The population of Periş, in 2002, was 7,151, with a total of 2,800 households . In Romanian, its name means "a place where pear trees grow". The commune is composed of three villages: Bălteni, Buriaş and Periş...
are the modern forms of "Peterson
Peterson (name)
Peterson is a common English language patronymic surname, meaning "son of Peter". There are over 700 variant spellings of the surname. The form Peterson may also have arisen from Danish Petersen with a change of spelling commonly applied by Danish immigrants to English-speaking countries. ...
" in Portuguese, Spanish and Catalan.
Serbian
Vuk Karadžić reported that in Serbia there were no last names "until our times", i.e. until the nineteenth century, and that patronymics were used in the traditional way.Russian
In East Slavic languagesEast Slavic languages
The East Slavic languages constitute one of three regional subgroups of Slavic languages, currently spoken in Eastern Europe. It is the group with the largest numbers of speakers, far out-numbering the Western and Southern Slavic groups. Current East Slavic languages are Belarusian, Russian,...
, the ending -ovich, -yevich, -yich is used to form patronymics for men. For example, in Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, a man named Ivan with a father named Nikolay would be known as Ivan Nikolayevich or 'Ivan, son of Nikolay' (Nikolayevich being a patronymic). For women, the ending is -yevna, -ovna or -ichna. For masculine names ending in a vowel, such as Ilya or Foma, when they are used as a base for patronymic, the corresponding endings are -ich (for men) and -inichna (for women).
In Russia, the patronymic is an official part of the name, used in all official documents, and when addressing somebody both formally and among friends. A Russian will rarely formally address a person named Mikhail simply as 'Mikhail', but rather as 'Mikhail' followed by his patronymic (i.e. 'Mikhail Nikolayevich' or 'Mikhail Sergeyevich' etc.). However, on informal occasions when a person is called by a diminutive
Diminutive
In language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...
(such as Misha for Mikhail resp. Nastya for Anastasia), the patronymic is rarely used. In colloquial, informal speech, it is also possible to contract the ending of a patronymic: thus Nikolayevich becomes Nikolaich, and Stepan Ivanovich becomes Stepan Ivanych or simply Ivanych as the given name
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
may be omitted altogether. In this case the contraction, if possible, is obligatory: Ivan Sergeyevich Sidorov may be called 'Sergeich' or, more rarely, 'Sergeyevich', though such contractions are sometimes avoided as they tend to bring a shade of muzhik-style familiarity. Aleksandr Aleksandrovich (Александр Александрович) may be called San Sanych (Сан Саныч) and Pavel Pavlovich (Павел Павлович) may be called Pal Palych (Пал Палыч). A famous example of a contracted female patronymic is 'Mar' Ivanna' , short for 'Maria Ivanovna' , a young female teacher who is a recurring character in Vovochka jokes. In contrast to male names, if a woman is called by her patronymic name without a given name, the patronymic is never contracted: 'Ivanovna' but 'Mar' Ivanna'. Male and female patronymic names derived from names ending in -slav (Vladislav, Yaroslav) have two possible forms: long, with -vovich/-vovna (Yaroslavovich, Yaroslavovna) and short, with -vich, -vna (Yaroslavich, Yaroslavna). A curious use of a Russian patronymic occurs in some Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
novels; the character Jack Ryan
Jack Ryan (Tom Clancy)
John Patrick "Jack" Ryan, Sr. is a fictional character created by Tom Clancy who appears in many of his novels.-Backstory:Born in 1950, Ryan's background is established in Patriot Games and Red Rabbit. His father was Emmet William Ryan , a police homicide lieutenant in Baltimore, and World War II...
, whose father was Emmet Ryan, is addressed as Ivan Emmetovich by a Russian colleague, Sergei Nikolaich (Nikolaievich) Golovko. Similarly, the name of the Arabic genie
Genie
Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
from the Russian book Old Khottabych (Starik Khottabych) by Lazar Lagin
Lazar Lagin
Lazar Yosifovych Lagin was the pen name of Lazar Ginzburg , a Soviet satirist and children's writer....
was constructed from the genie's name 'Hassan Abdul-rahman ibn Khattab'.
Ukrainian
In UkrainianUkrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
, the female Patronymic always ends with -івна (-ivna) or -ївна (-yivna). The male Patronymic always ends with -ович (-ovych).
Bulgarian
In BulgarianBulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
, the patronymics are -ov/-ev and -ova/-eva for men and women, respectively. These are identical to the endings of family names in Bulgarian and some other Slavic family names (such as names in Russian and Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
). In Bulgarian official documents, the patronymic is inserted before the surname - e.g. Ivan Marinov Yordanov would be the son of Marin Yordanov.
Some South Slavic surnames (usually Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
or Bosnian
Bosnian language
Bosnian is a South Slavic language, spoken by Bosniaks. As a standardized form of the Shtokavian dialect, it is one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina....
) look morphologically identical to East Slavic patronymics, but do not change form between masculine
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
and feminine
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
: Milla Jovovich
Milla Jovovich
Milla Jovovich December 17, 1975)is an American model, actress, musician, and fashion designer. Over her career, she has appeared in a number of science fiction and action-themed films, for which music channel VH1 has referred to her as the "reigning queen of kick-butt".Milla Jovovich began...
and not 'Jovovna'. In addition, these surnames cannot be contracted using the pattern described above, and generally carry the stress on a different syllable. Examples include Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich
Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich
Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich , spelled Miloradovitch in contemporary English sources was a Russian general prominent during the Napoleonic Wars. He entered military service on the eve of the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790 and his career advanced rapidly during the reign of Paul I...
and Vladislav Khodasevich
Vladislav Khodasevich
Vladislav Felitsianovich Khodasevich was an influential Russian poet and literary critic who presided over the Berlin circle of Russian emigre litterateurs....
.
Hungarian
In HungarianHungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
, patronyms were traditionally formed with the ending -fi (sometimes spelled as -fy or -ffy). This system is no longer in common use, though traces of it can still be found in some frequent present-day surnames such as Pálfi (son of Paul), Győrfi, Bánfi or in the name of the famous poet Sándor Petőfi
Sándor Petofi
Sándor Petőfi , was a Hungarian poet and liberal revolutionary. He is considered as Hungary's national poet and he was one of the key figures of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848...
(who chose this Hungarian form instead of his Slavic birth name Petrovics). In the Old Hungarian period (10th−16th century, see History of Hungarian), when surnames were not in common use, the full genitive was represented as in Péter fia András (Peter's son Andrew); these forms are in frequent use in charters and legal documents dated back to that time.
Romanian
In RomanianRomanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
, the endings -escu and -eanu were used, as in Petrescu, 'son of Petre (Peter)'; many modern Romanian family names were formed from such patronymics. Less commonly, matronymics formed with the genitive
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
form (using the prefix a-) were used, as in Amariei, 'son of Maria'.
Greek
Most GreekGreek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
surnames are patronymics by origin, albeit in various forms depending on ancestral locality. Diminutive suffixes which denote "son of", or more generally "descendant of", are produced as follows: starting with the given name Δημήτριος, Dēmétrios, for example, the patronymic surnames Dēmētrópoulos (Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
), Dēmētrákos (Laconia
Laconia
Laconia , also known as Lacedaemonia, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti...
), Dēmētréas (Messenia
Messenia
Messenia is a regional unit in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, one of 13 regions into which Greece has been divided by the Kallikratis plan, implemented 1 January 2011...
n Mani
Mani Peninsula
The Mani Peninsula , also long known as Maina or Maïna, is a geographical and cultural region in Greece. Mani is the central peninsula of the three which extend southwards from the Peloponnese in southern Greece. To the east is the Laconian Gulf, to the west the Messenian Gulf...
), Dēmētrátos (Cephalonia), Dēmētrákēs (Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
), Dēmētriádēs/Dēmētr-ídēs (Pontus
Pontus
Pontus or Pontos is a historical Greek designation for a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day northeastern Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region in antiquity by the Greeks who colonized the area, and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Πόντος...
, Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
), Dēmētréllēs (Lesbos), Dēmétroglou (Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
), or simply Dēmētríou (esp. common in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, the first name in the Genitive) are formed. The same principle can apply to surnames deriving from professions, for example from παπάς, papás, priest, one derives the surnames Papadópoulos, Papadákos, Papadéas, Papadátos, Papadákēs, Papadéllēs, Pappá etc., all of which signify a "priest's son". The same principle(s) may apply in combination, e.g. Papanikoláou, Papanikolópoulos, "the son of the priest Nikolaos". A daughter's family name is the same as the son's, but always declined in the Genitive, e.g. Dēmētropoúlou, Papanikoláou etc. In addition to these surnames, actual patronymics are used in official documents as "middle names" preceding the surname. For example, the children of a Giánnēs Papadópoulos are, say, María Ioánnou Papadopoúlou and Andréas Ioánnou Papadópoulos (Ioánnou is the genitive case
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
form of Ioánnēs, which is the formal form of the father's name, Giánnēs). Traditionally, a married woman would adopt her husband's family name. Now, however, this is optional, and many choose to keep their own names.
Turkish
In TurkishTurkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, the suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
used to indicate paternal ancestry is -oğlu, which indicate the ancestry as coming from a certain man. Like many other patronymics in other languages, with the formalization of naming conventions by laws in the late modern contemporary age
Contemporary history
Contemporary history describes the period timeframe that is without any intervening time closely connected to the present and is a certain perspective of modern history. The term "contemporary history" has been in use at least by the early 19th century. In the widest context of this use,...
many turned into last names. After the 'Surname revolution
Surname Law (Turkey)
The Surname Law of the Republic of Turkey was adopted on June 21, 1934. The law required all citizens of Turkey to adopt the use of surnames. Turkey's Christian and Jewish citizens were already using surnames, but Muslims generally did not use Western-style surnames...
' on 1934, many people chose professions or habitat as surnames with or without the suffix -oğlu, such as Bakkaloğlu or Giritlioğlu.
Armenian
Use of patronymics was introduced in Armenia by Russians during the times of Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Previously to that use of patronymics was very limited. Patronymics are usually formed by addition of "i" to the father's name, e.g. if father's name is "Armen", the corresponding patronymic would be "Armeni". Russified version of the same patronymic would be "Armenovich" for males and "Armenovna" for females. After Armenia re-gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 a massive decline in use of Russified patronymics occurred; nowadays few Armenians use patronymics.Many Armenian surnames, especially Western Armenian, are patronymics that were first used by distant ancestors or clan founders. These are characterized by the suffix "-ian" in Western Armenian, often transliterated as "-yan" in Eastern Armenian. These are appended to the given name, i.e. Asdvadzadourian, Hagopian, Khachadourian, Mardirosian, Bedrosian, Sarkissian, etc. Patronyms for individuals were common in the 20th century but have since fallen out of use.
Azeri
In AzeriAzerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
, patronymics are formed through oğlu (sometimes transliterated as ogly) for males and qızı (often transliterated as gizi or kizi) for females. Prior to the late 19th–early 20th century, patronymics were used as an essential part of a person's full name, i.e. Sardar Ilyas oğlu ("Sardar, son of Ilyas") and Mina Nabi qızı ("Mina, daughter of Nabi"), since surnames were mostly non-existent before Sovietization
Sovietization
Sovietization is term that may be used with two distinct meanings:*the adoption of a political system based on the model of soviets .*the adoption of a way of life and mentality modelled after the Soviet Union....
(with the exception of the upper and some middle class families). After surnames were commonly adopted in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
in the 1920s, patronymics still remained parts of full names, i.e. Sardar Ilyas oğlu Aliyev ("Sardar Aliyev, son of Ilyas"). Nowadays in Azerbaijan, patronymics sometimes replace surnames in unofficial use. Normally in such case, they are spelled as one word (i.e. Eldar Mammadoğlu, Sabina Yusifqızı). Many Azeri surnames are also derived from Persian-style patronymics ending in -zadeh (Kazimzadeh, Mehdizadeh, etc.). They are found among both Caucasian and Iranian Azeris. However unlike the former, Azeris in Iran do not generally use patronymics in oglu / qizi. Azeri patronymics are not to be confused with Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
surnames in -oğlu and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
surnames in -ογλού (-oglou), which do not have specific female versions and do not reflect names of fathers.
Georgian
In Georgian, patronymics, when used, come with the addition of s to the end of the father's name, followed by dze. For example, Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's actual name was Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jugashvili. s in Georgian is a possessive, and dze means son. Georgian last names derive mostly from patronymics. Two common elements in Georgian last names, dze and shvili mean son of, and child, respectively.
Arabic
In ArabicArabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, the word "ibn" (ابن) (or بن: "bin", "ben" and sometimes "ibni" and "ibnu" to show the final declension
Declension
In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles to indicate number , case , and gender...
of the noun) is the equivalent of the "-son" suffix discussed above (The prefix ben- is used similarly in Hebrew). In addition, "bint" (بنت) means "daughter of". Thus, for example, "Ali ibn `Amr" means "Ali son of `Amr". In Classical Arabic, the word ibn is written as bn between two names, since the case ending of the first name then supplies a vowel. Consequently, ibn is often written as "b.", as bint is often written as "bt.," in name formulas rendered from Arabic into Roman characters. Thus Hisham ibn al-Kalbi is alternatively written as Hisham b. al-Kalbi. However, the pronunciation "bin" is dialectal and has nothing to do with either the spelling or pronunciation in Classical Arabic. The word "Abu" ("Aba" or "Abi" in different declensions) means "father of", so "Abu `Ali" is another name for "`Amr". In medieval times, an illegitimate child of unknown parentage would sometimes be termed "ibn Abihi", "son of his father" (notably Ziyad ibn Abihi.) In the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
, Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
(Isa
Islamic view of Jesus
In Islam, Jesus is considered to be a Messenger of God and the Masih who was sent to guide the Children of Israel with a new scripture, the Injīl or Gospel. The belief in Jesus is required in Islam, and a requirement of being a Muslim. The Qur'an mentions Jesus twenty-five times, more often, by...
in Arabic) is consistently termed "`Isa ibn Maryam" - a matronymic
Matronymic
A matronymic is a personal name based on the name of one's mother, grandmother, or any female ancestor. It is the female equivalent of a patronymic. In patriarchal societies, matronymic surnames are far less common than patronyms. In the past, matronymic last names were often given to children of...
(in the Qur'an, Jesus has no father; see Islamic view of Jesus
Islamic view of Jesus
In Islam, Jesus is considered to be a Messenger of God and the Masih who was sent to guide the Children of Israel with a new scripture, the Injīl or Gospel. The belief in Jesus is required in Islam, and a requirement of being a Muslim. The Qur'an mentions Jesus twenty-five times, more often, by...
). An Arabic patronymic can be extended as far back as family tree records will allow: thus, for example, Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...
gives his own full name as "`Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Jabir ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn `Abd ar-Rahman ibn Khaldun".
Patronymics are still standard in parts of the Arab world, notably Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
; however, most of the Arab world has switched to a family name system. As in English, the new family names are sometimes based on what was formerly a patronymic. Another form widely used in the Arab World is the usage of both the Patronymic and a family name, often using both the father's and grandfathers given name in sequence after the own given name, and then the family name. In Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
for example, full names are formed by combining the given name of an individual with the given name of their father (sometimes the father is skipped and the grandfather's given name is used instead, sometimes both father and grandfather are used), along with the town, village, or clan name. For instance, Hayder Muhammed al-Tikriti is the son of Muhammed named Hayder, and he is from the town of Tikrit
Tikrit
Tikrit is a town in Iraq, located 140 km northwest of Baghdad on the Tigris river . The town, with an estimated population in 2002 of about 260,000 is the administrative center of the Salah ad Din Governorate.-Ancient times:...
.
Aramaic
In AramaicAramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
, the prefix bar- means "son" and is used as a prefix meaning "son of". In the Bible, Peter is called Bar-jonah in Matthew 16:17 and Nathanael is possibly called Bartholomew because he is the son of Tolmai. The titles can also be figurative, for example in Acts 4:36-37 a man named Joseph is called Barnabas meaning son of consolation.
Jewish usage
Jews have historically used HebrewHebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
patronymic names. In the Jewish patronymic system the first name is followed by either ben- or bat- ("son of" and "daughter of", respectively), and then the father's name. (Bar-, "son of" in Aramaic
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
, is also seen). Permanent family surnames exist today but only gained popularity among Sephardic Jews
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
in Iberia
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
and elsewhere as early as the 10th or 11th century and did not spread widely to the Ashkenazic Jews
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
or Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
until much later. While Jews now have permanent surnames for everyday life, the patronymic form is still used in religious life. It is used in synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
and in documents in Jewish law
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
such as the ketubah
Ketubah
A ketubah is a special type of Jewish prenuptial agreement. It is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride.-History:...
(marriage contract). Many Sephardic Jews used the Arabic ibn instead of bat or ben when it was the norm. The Spanish family Ibn Ezra is one example.
Many immigrants
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
to the modern Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
Hebraized
Hebraization of surnames
The Hebraization of surnames is the process of adopting Hebrew family names ....
their names. This was especially common among Ashkenazic immigrants, because most of their names were taken later and some were imposed by the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires. A prominent example of this is a stateswoman who had two patronymic names, before becoming known without one. Born Golda Mabovitch who married American Morris Meyerson, took the name Golda Meyerson, and upon making Aliyah
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
and at the urging of Moshe Sharett Hebraized
Hebraization of surnames
The Hebraization of surnames is the process of adopting Hebrew family names ....
her last name to Meir
Meir (name)
Meir is a Jewish masculine given name, and an occasional surname. There are variants and alternate spellings. People with the name include:- Given name :* Rabbi Meir, Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Talmud...
.
A popular form to create a new family name using Jewish patronymics sometimes related to poetic Zionist themes, such as ben Ami ("son of my people"), or ben Artzi ("son of my country"), and sometimes related to the Israeli landscape, such as bar Ilan ("son of the trees").
Africa
Traditionally Muslim and non-Arabic speaking African people, such as SomaliSomali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
, Hausa
Hausa people
The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...
and Fulani people usually (with some exceptions) follow the Arab naming pattern, however the word "son of" is omitted. So Mohamed son of Ibrahim son of Ahmed is "Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed", and Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed's son Ali is "Ali Mohamed Ibrahim".
Ethiopians also use similar system and there is no concept of family name and surname. If one is to refer to a person with a single name he/she will always use the person's given name.
Kenya
Some Kenyan communities used patronyms. The practice has largely dropped of with the use of just the father's last name as a surname.Kalenjin
Kalenjin language
The Nandi languages, or Kalenjin proper, are a dialect cluster of the Kalenjin branch of the Nilotic language family.In Kenya, where speakers make up 18% of the population, the name Kalenjin, a Nandi expression meaning "I say ", gained prominence in the late 1940s and the early 1950s, when several...
use 'arap' meaning 'son of'
Kikuyu
Gikuyu language
Gikuyu or Kikuyu is a language of the Bantu family spoken primarily by the Kikuyu people of Kenya. Numbering about 6 million , they are the largest ethnic group in Kenya. Gikuyu is spoken in the area between Nyeri and Nairobi. Gikuyu is one of the five languages of the Thagichu subgroup of the...
used 'wa' meaning 'of'. Because of polygamy, there was also use of matronyms and 'wa' used to identify which wife the child was born of.
Maasai
Maasai language
The Maasai language is an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania by the Maasai people, numbering about 800,000...
use 'ole' meaning 'son of'
Meru
Meru language
Meru is the language spoken by the Meru people who live on the Eastern and Northern slopes of Mount Kenya, Kenya, Africa and on the Nyambene ranges. They settled in this area after centuries of migration from the north.-Tradition:...
use 'mto' abbreviated M' thus son of Mkindia would be M'Mkindia, pronounced Mto Mkindia.
South Africa
Among the Zulu patronymics were used in the pre-colonial era. The prefix "ka" was attached to the father's name, for example Shaka kaSenzangakhona means Shaka son of Senzangakhona. The practice disappeared from everyday use with the introduction of the modern European style surname system but still remains part of traditional cultural practices, particularly in the case of chieftains and royalty where reciting lineages forms a part of many ceremonial occasions.Indian subcontinent
Patronymy is common in parts of IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. For example, if a father is named Khurram Suleman (a Muslim masculine name), he might name his son Taha Khurram, who in turn might name his son Ismail Taha. As a result, unlike surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
s, patronymics will not pass down through many generations.
In Ancient India
History of India
The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from...
during the Vedic Age, when Sanskrit was the lingua franca, patronymics were common as last names. Sanskrit patronymics were the adjective form of the father's (or clan's forefather's) given name. This adjective is formed by Indo-European ablaut
Indo-European ablaut
In linguistics, ablaut is a system of apophony in Proto-Indo-European and its far-reaching consequences in all of the modern Indo-European languages...
(a phonological process), which adds an additional /a/ to the first vowel in the patronymic: changing from short /a/ to ā, short and long /i/ and /ē/ to ai, and short and long /u/ and /ō/ to /au/. Sometimes a suffix, such as -ya, was also added. E.g.:
- The very first mantra of the RigvedaRigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
has its seer named Madhuchchhandā Vaishvāmitra, meaning Madhuchchhandā, son of (or of the lineage of) the sage Vishvāmitra. - Buddha Shākyamuni had the patronymic Gautama due to his lineage from the sage Gotama.
- The clan descended from Sage Agasti is called Āgastya.
- The full name of DraupadiDraupadiIn the epic Mahābhārata, Draupadi, also known as ' is the "emerged" daughter of King Drupada of Panchāla and the wife of the five Pandavas. When Yudhisthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the war, Draupadi becomes the queen of Indraprastha...
was Krishnā Draupadī, meaning Krishnā, daughter of Drupada. - As KrishnaKrishnaKrishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
(Vishnu's avatar) was the son of Vasudeva, his name was Krishna Vāsudeva. - As Seetā (wife of RāmaRAMARama is a first-person adventure game developed and published by Sierra Entertainment in 1996. The game is based on Arthur C. Clarke's books Rendezvous with Rama and Rama II and supports both DOS and Windows 95. It is the second Rama game to be produced...
, another of Vishnu's avatar) was the daughter of king Janaka, her name was Jānaki. As princess of the country of Videhā, she was also known as Vaidehi. She was also known as Maithili for having been born in the city of Mithilā (capital of Videha),
In southern India, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
and parts of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
and Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, patronymy is predominant. This is a significant departure from the rest of the country where caste or family names are mostly employed as surnames.
However, rather than using the father's full name, only the first letter—the initial—is prefixed to the given name. For example, if a person's personal name is Saravanan and his father's Krishnan, then the full name is K. Saravanan and is seldom expanded, even in official records. Some families follow the tradition of retaining the name of the hometown, the grandfather's name, or both as initials. The celebrated Indian English novelist R. K. Narayan
R. K. Narayan
R. K. Narayan , shortened from Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami Tamil: ) , Madras Presidency, British India. His father was a school headmaster, and Narayan did some of his studies at his father's school...
's name at birth was Rasipuram Krishnaswami Ayyar Narayanaswami, which was shortened at the behest of his writer friend Graham Greene. Rasipuram, the first name, is a toponym and Krishnaswami Ayyar, the second name, is a patronym.
Nonetheless, the growing trend in cities in southern India and among expatriates is to expand the father’s name and place it ahead of one’s given name. The name stated in the earlier example, K. Saravanan would become Krishnan Saravanan , bringing it partly in line with western naming conventions of first name, middle name and last name order.
In Maharashtra, a very common convention among the Hindu communities is to have the patronymic be the middle name. Examples:
- Cricketer Sunil GavaskarSunil GavaskarSunil Manohar "Sunny" Gavaskar is a former cricketer who played during the 1970s and 1980s for Bombay and India. Widely regarded as one of the greatest opening batsmen in cricket history, Gavaskar set world records during his career for the most Test runs and most Test centuries scored by any...
's full name is Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, where Manohar is his father's given name. - Cricketer Sachin TendulkarSachin TendulkarSachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket...
's full name is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, where Ramesh is his father's given name. - Sunil Gavaskar's son Rohan GavaskarRohan GavaskarRohan Sunil Gavaskar is an Indian cricketer who has played in 11 One Day Internationals. He is a specialist middle-order left-handed batsman and an occasional slow left arm orthodox bowler. He studied at St...
would be Rohan Sunil Gavaskar, and so on.
This system works for both boys and girls, except that after marriage, a woman takes her husband's given name as her middle name—her new middle name is no longer a patronymic.
Indians, particularly Tamils in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
often continue the patronymic tradition; this entails having a single given name, followed by son / daughter of, followed by their father's name.
Malaysian Indians may also follow this custom with "son" or "daughter" of being replaced by "anak lelaki" or "anak perempuan" respectively.
Indians of the Isma'ili faith also have patronymic middle names which use the father's first name and the grandfather's first name plus a family name. Someone called "Ramazan Rahim Ali Manji" might call his son "Karim Ramazan Rahim Manji" and his granddaughter might be called "Zahra Karim Ramazan Manji".
China
Yi peopleYi people
The Yi or Lolo people are an ethnic group in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Numbering 8 million, they are the seventh largest of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China...
's son's given name is based on the last one or two syllable of father's name. Hani people
Hani people
thumb|Typical daily attire of ethnic Hani in China. Near [[Yuanyang County, Yunnan|Yuanyang]], [[Yunnan]] Province, [[China]] The Hani people are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 nationalities officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They also form one of the 54 officially...
also have patronymic custom.
See also
- MatronymicMatronymicA matronymic is a personal name based on the name of one's mother, grandmother, or any female ancestor. It is the female equivalent of a patronymic. In patriarchal societies, matronymic surnames are far less common than patronyms. In the past, matronymic last names were often given to children of...
- Arabic nameArabic nameLong ago, Arabic names were based on a long naming system; most Arabs did not simply have given/middle/family names, but a full chain of names. This system was in use throughout the Arab world. Today however, Arabic names are similar in structure to those of Modern and Western names...
- Bulgarian nameBulgarian nameCompared to other systems, the Bulgarian name system can be said to be rather simple. As a whole, it has considerable similarities with most other European name systems, and with those of other Slavic peoples in particular....
- Dutch nameDutch nameDutch names consist of one or more given names and a surname. The given name, as in English, is usually gender-specific.-Dutch given names:The given name is given to a child by the parents shortly after, or before, birth. It is common to give a child several given names, particularly among...
- Georgian name
- German nameGerman nameGerman names consist of one or several Vornamen and a Nachname . The Vorname is usually gender-specific.-Forenames:...
- Icelandic nameIcelandic nameIcelandic names differ from most current Western family name systems by being patronymic in that they reflect the immediate father of the child and not the historic family lineage....
- Jewish name
- Malay name
- Mongolian name
- Pakistani namePakistani nameIn Pakistan, as in other Muslim countries, the use of family names is not as prominent as in Western countries. The majority of Pakistani names are derived from Arabic, Turkish, Pashto, Persian and Urdu origin. As most Pakistanis are Muslims, all of them use either Urdu, Arabic, Afghan, Persian or...
- Polish namePolish nameA Polish personal name, like names in most European cultures, consists of two main elements: imię, the first name, or given name, followed by nazwisko, the last name, surname, or family name....
- Russian name
- Scots Gaelic nameScottish Gaelic personal naming system-Forenames:Scottish Gaelic has a number of personal names, such as Ailean, Aonghas, Dòmhnall, Donnchadh, Coinneach, and Murchadh, for which there are traditional forms in English...
- Taiwanese aboriginal name