title: Al-Baqara 256

text: The overwhelming majority of Muslim scholars consider that verse to be a Medinan one, when Muslims lived in their period of political ascendance, and to be non abrogated, including Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qayyim, Al-Tabari, Abi ʿUbayd, Al-Jaṣṣās, Makki bin Abi Talib, Al-Nahhas, Ibn Jizziy, Al-Suyuti, Ibn Ashur, Mustafa Zayd, and many others. According to all the theories of language elaborated by Muslim legal scholars, the Quranic proclamation that 'There is no compulsion in religion. The right path has been distinguished from error' is as absolute and universal a statement as one finds, and so under no condition should an individual be forced to accept a religion or belief against his or her will according to the Quran.


title: Al-Baqara 256

text: The meaning of the principle that there is no compulsion in religion was not limited to freedom of individuals to choose their own religion. Islam also provided non-Muslims with considerable economic, cultural, and administrative rights.


title: Al-Baqara 256

text: Let there be no compulsion in religion, for the truth stands out clearly from falsehood. So whoever renounces false gods and believes in God has certainly grasped the firmest, unfailing hand-hold. And God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.


title: Al-Baqara 256

text: Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.


title: Al-Baqara 256

text: There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And is Hearing and Knowing.


title: Al-Baqara 256

text: According to some commentators, the verse was only directed towards a small group of residents of Medina. During the time of prophet, a boy from one of the Muslim families, who had been educated in the town's Jewish schools, decided to depart with the Jewish tribe being expelled from Medina. His distraught parents were told by the Prophet in this verse that they could not compel their son to stay.


title: Al-Baqara 256

text: In all cases, following the famous maxim ("Consideration is granted to the Generality of the Language, not to the Specificity of the Reason [for Revelation]") it is concluded that the verse is general in meaning, and thus the verse has been understood over the centuries as a general command that people cannot be forced to convert to Islam.


title: Al-Baqara 256

text: According to Khaled Abou El Fadl, and other scholars such as S. A. Rahman, the phrase "there is no compulsion in religion" from verse Q.2:256 enunciates a general, overriding principle that cannot be contradicted by isolated traditions attributed to the Prophet and that the verse indicates that Quran never intended a punishment for apostasy in this life.


title: Al-Baqara 256

text: Other Islamic scholars disagree. First, the "no compulsion" phrase should not be used out of context and all exegesis of Quran that is "linear-atomistic" analysis of one small phrase in one verse is flawed. The complete verse and nearby verses should be read to understand the "complex hermeneutic totality" of context for anything in Quran.


title: Al-Baqara 256

text: It is reported that Mujahid said that "This verse was revealed about a man of the Helpers [Ansar of Medina] who had a black boy called Subayh whom he used to coerce to become Muslim". In addition scholar argue, no single phrase or verse in Quran is less or more relevant in Islam than other phrases or verses in Quran; and other verses in Quran such as verse 66 of At-Tawba state "Make ye no excuses: ye have rejected Faith after ye had accepted it. If We pardon some of you, We will punish others amongst you, for that they are in sin.", As well as "Say, "The truth is from your Lord": Let him who will believe, and let him who will, reject (it): ...", "And if your Lord had pleased, surely all those who are in the earth would have believed, all of them; will you then force men till they become believers?", "Therefore do remind, for you are only a reminder. You are not a watcher over them;", "He said: "O my people! See ye if (it be that) I have a Clear Sign from my Lord, and that He hath sent Mercy unto me from His own presence, but that the Mercy hath been obscured from your sight? shall we compel you to accept it when ye are averse to it?". According to some western scholars, in the history of Islamic exegesis scholarship, that verse is considered as an early revelation, and abrogated by verses that were revealed to Muhammad at a later stage in his life. However, as stated by the famous British orientalist Sir Thomas Walker Arnold the verse in question is a Medinan verse, when Muslims lived in their period of political ascendance. Moreover, Muslim scholars have established the abrogated verses and Q.2:256 isn't among them. Finally, to understand the Quran, the sayings and actions of Muhammad as recorded in Hadith collections are considered by Islamic scholars. Taken together, the vast majority of Islamic scholars of every fiqh have traditionally held with the position that there should be punishment for apostasy in Islam.


title: Al-Baqara 256

text: The Quran commentator ("Muffasir") Ibn Kathir, a Sunni, suggests that the verse implies that Muslims should not force anyone to convert to Islam since the truth of Islam is so self-evident that no one is in need of being coerced into it,


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: Jorge Gilberto Ramos Ávalos (; born March 16, 1958) is a Mexican-American journalist and author. Regarded as the best-known Spanish-language news anchor in the United States of America, he has been referred to as "The Walter Cronkite of Latin America". Based in Miami, Florida, he anchors the Univision news television program "Noticiero Univision", the Univision Sunday-morning political news program "Al Punto", and the Fusion TV English-language program "America with Jorge Ramos". He has covered five wars, and events ranging from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the War in Afghanistan.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: Ramos has won ten Emmy Awards and the Maria Moors Cabot Prize for excellence in journalism. He has also been included on "Time" magazine's list of "The World's Most Influential People".


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: Jorge Gilberto Ramos Ávalos was born on March 16, 1958 in Mexico City, Mexico, to a Roman Catholic family, and he was raised in the Bosques de Echegaray neighborhood of Naucalpan, a suburb of Mexico City. His father was an architect. He attended Catholic schools where he states he was abused by the priests.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: Ramos graduated from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City where he majored in communications. Ramos has a Master's degree in International Studies from the University of Miami. In 2007, the University of Richmond conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters on him.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: Ramos worked for Grupo Televisa's flagship XEW-TV in Mexico City for the network's local version of "60 Minutes". At the age of 24, he quit that job after a story he produced that was critical of Mexico's government was censored. In 1983, he left Mexico on a student visa for Los Angeles, where he planned to enroll in the UCLA Extension's journalism classes. In 1984, he was hired by KMEX-TV, an affiliate of what was then the Spanish International Network (SIN) in Los Angeles, which operated on a shoestring budget in a run-down facility on Melrose Avenue. At KMEX, Ramos felt he could express himself freely: "To me it was a palace... the United States gave me opportunities that my country of origin could not: freedom of the press and complete freedom of expression." Three years later, he became the host for KMEX's morning program, "Mundo Latino". In 1987, Ramos then joined SIN's national operation which was rebranded as the Univision network a year later after coming under new ownership; Univision has a broad entertainment and news-sharing agreement with Televisa.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: Since 1987, Ramos has been the anchorman for "Noticiero Univision", a nightly Spanish language newscast, alongside colleague María Elena Salinas. He also hosts "Al Punto", a Spanish-language Sunday public affairs program aired weekly on Univision, and "America with Jorge Ramos", an English language news magazine on Fusion TV.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: In 1989, as he watched the fall of the Berlin Wall, Ramos has said he remembered thinking, "This is why I am what I am!" Other world events he covered include the Salvadoran Civil War, the Persian Gulf War, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. During the United States's War in Afghanistan, Ramos traveled there on his own while on vacation because his network refused to send him. Throughout his career he has covered five wars.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: As of 2014, KMEX-DT his Univision 34 news shows regularly beat their English language competition among young viewers. He has interviewed multiple world leaders including Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega and Hugo Chávez.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: Ramos also writes a bilingual newspaper column that is published internationally, and appears regularly as a pundit on English-language cable networks, like CNN and MSNBC. Polls among American Latinos rank him as the most trusted and influential Hispanic in America, surpassing all other political leaders, and his Q Score among Latino audiences places him between soccer star Lionel Messi and pop singer Shakira.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: In 2002, he founded "Despierta Leyendo" ("Wake Up Reading"), the first book club in the history of Spanish-language television.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: On February 21, 2008, he represented Univision in a Democratic debate between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on The University of Texas at Austin campus in Austin, Texas.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: In 2012, Ramos, critical of the lack of Latino moderators in any of the U.S. presidential debates, complained that the debate commission was "stuck in the 1950s". When Univision held its own forums with candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, Ramos challenged both of them on their immigration policies, specifically Romney's "self-deportation" policy, which Ramos considered an insult to Latinos, and Obama's deportation of more than 1.4 million people, and his reneging on his promise to address immigration during his first term. "Washington Monthly" named Ramos the broadcaster who would most determine the 2012 presidential election. Ramos' increased notability, however, led to criticism of his advocacy approach. To this Ramos has stated, "Our position is clearly pro-Latino or pro-immigrant ... We are simply being the voice of those who don't have a voice."


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: In 2015, after Donald Trump became a presidential candidate, Ramos pursued an interview with Trump for months. When he sent Trump a handwritten request in June, Trump, who had filed a lawsuit against Univision over its decision to drop the Miss Universe pageant following the candidate's comments about Mexican immigrants, posted Ramos's letter on Instagram, which exposed Ramos's cell phone number. Trump later deleted the post.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: On August 25, 2015, Ramos attended a news conference held in Dubuque, Iowa, by Trump. Prior to attending, Ramos studied previous Trump press conferences and discovered a pattern of Trump repetitively interjecting "excuse me" and calling on another reporter when asked a question opposing his beliefs. Due to this knowledge, Ramos refused to sit down and persistently continued questioning Trump about his immigration policies when rebuffed. Ramos insisted on his rights as a reporter and United States citizen to ask a question, prompting Trump's Head of Security Keith Schiller to push him backwards out of the conference room. About 15 minutes later, Trump allowed Ramos to return to the conference, where he and Trump engaged in a heated exchange on the issue. Trump later explained that he had not called on Ramos for a question, as he had called on another reporter in the audience. Ramos accused Trump of "spreading hate" with his calls for mass deportations of undocumented families, and repealing birthright citizenship, and questioned the feasibility of Trump's proposals. He also questioned Trump's viability as a candidate among Latino voters, citing a poll indicating that 75% of those voters held unfavorable opinions of him, and projected that Trump would only get 16% of the Latino vote. Election exit polls showed Trump getting 29% of the Hispanic vote, a 13% increase over Ramos's projection. Most Latinos did not vote though. Latino turnout was actually under 50%, even lower than the historically low election turnout overall. It was higher in the prior election since Obama was running.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: The press conference incident inspired Ramos to create his documentary "Hate Rising" focused on increasing incidents of racial bigotry and violence across the country, which aired October 23, 2016, on Univision and Fusion. In preparation for the documentary, Ramos met with members of various hate groups across the country including Ku Klux Klan members and neo-Nazis, along with Latino and Muslim victims. His journey lasted nine months, often placing him in danger as both an immigrant and a Mexican-American man. In order to gain face time with members of white supremacist groups, Ramos partnered with director Catherine Tambini, an American who the groups were under the impression they would be speaking to, and only right before the interview started did Ramos sit down to ask questions.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: In 2016, Ramos began leveraging Facebook Live to stream raw footage taken on his phone to social media audiences, gaining 2.6 million views on his Iowa caucus videos and over four million on his reports during the New Hampshire primaries.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: On February 25, 2019, he was held with his journalistic group in the Miraflores Palace after an interview with Nicolás Maduro. After seizing the equipment and interview recordings, he was released hours later and deported from the country. During the interview, Maduro denied there was a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, which led Ramos to show Maduro images of Venezuelans eating garbage to point out that there was indeed a crisis. After being released, Ramos stated that he and his group were held because this action bothered Maduro. The Information Minister of Maduro, Jorge Rodríguez, described the incident as a "cheap show."


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: On April 12, 2019, his intervention in the morning conference of Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador was controversial over the confrontation he held with López Obrador, around homicide figures in Mexico in the period of the administration. The episode opened a debate on the use of figures of malicious homicides in Mexico and its different sources. He interviewed Fidel Castro, confronted Obama on deportations, confronted Trump and is reportedly an admirer of Oriana Fallaci.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: In 2008, Ramos became a United States citizen, after many years of feeling personally conflicted over the matter. He had considered himself just another "Mexican with a green card." That year, however, his 50th birthday, he had lived in Mexico 25 years and 25 years in the United States, and came to a realization, explaining, "You have to go through a mental and emotional process to recognize who you really are," Ramos said. "I finally recognized that I cannot be defined by one country. I am from both countries. It took me many years to make peace with that thought, and that I was never going back to Mexico."


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: Ramos has been married twice. His first wife was Gina Montaner, daughter of exiled Cuban author Carlos Alberto Montaner; they had one daughter, Paola (born 1988). They divorced in 1990 and Paola was raised by her mother in Spain. In 1992, he married Lisa Bolivar in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They had one son, Nicolas, and they divorced in 2005. He dated Mexican actress Ana de la Reguera, but since 2011, he has been in a relationship with Venezuelan TV host and actress Chiquinquirá Delgado, who has two daughters from previous relationships. He lives in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: Although raised Roman Catholic, Ramos does not believe in God, calling himself an agnostic. He has criticized Pope Francis for presiding over the canonization of Pope John Paul II, who he believes willingly covered up abuses committed by Catholic priests.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: Ramos disclosed in June 2015 that his daughter, Paola Ramos, was working for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.


title: Jorge Ramos (news anchor)

text: In 2015, Ramos was one of the people selected for the five different covers of "Time"s issue listing "The World's 100 Most Influential People". That same year he was awarded the International Career in Journalism accolade by Ondas Awards.


title: Surnames by country

text: Surname conventions and laws vary around the world. This article gives an overview of surnames around the world.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Argentina, normally only one family name, the father's paternal family name, is used and registered, as in English-speaking countries. However, it is possible to use both the paternal and maternal name. For example, if "Ana Laura Melachenko" and "Emanuel Darío Guerrero" had a daughter named "Adabel Anahí", her full name could be "Adabel Anahí Guerrero Melachenko". Women, however, do not change their family names upon marriage and continue to use their birth family names instead of their husband's family names. However, women have traditionally, and some still choose to use the old Spanish custom of adjoining ""de"" and her husband's surname to her own name. For example, if Paula Segovia marries Felipe Cossia, she might keep her birth name or become "Paula Segovia de Cossia" or "Paula Cossia".


title: Surnames by country

text: There are some province offices where a married woman can use only her birth name, and some others where she has to use the complete name, for legal purposes. The Argentine Civilian Code states both uses are correct, but police offices and passports are issued with the complete name. Today most women prefer to maintain their birth name given that "de" can be interpreted as meaning they belong to their husbands.


title: Surnames by country

text: When Eva Duarte married Juan Domingo Perón, she could be addressed as Eva Duarte de Perón, but the preferred style was Eva Perón, or the familiar and affectionate "Evita" (little Eva).


title: Surnames by country

text: Combined names come from old traditional families and are considered one last name, but are rare. Although Argentina is a Spanish-speaking country, it is also composed of other varied European influences, such as Italian, French, Russian, German, etc.


title: Surnames by country

text: Children typically use their fathers' last names only. Some state offices have started to use both last names, in the traditional father then mother order, to reduce the risk of a person being mistaken for others using the same name combinations, e.g. if Eva Duarte and Juan Perón had a child named Juan, he might be misidentified if he were called "Juan Perón", but not if he was known as Juan Perón Duarte.


title: Surnames by country

text: In early 2008, some new legislation is under consideration that will place the mother's last name ahead the father's last name, as it is done in Portuguese-speaking countries and only optionally in Spain, despite Argentina being a Spanish-speaking country.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Chile, marriage has no effect at all on either of the spouses' names, so people keep their birth names for all their life, no matter how many times marital status, theirs or that of their parents, may change. However, in some upper-class circles or in older couples, even though considered to be old-fashioned, it is still customary for a wife to use her husband's name as reference, as in "Doña María Inés de Ramírez" (literally Lady María Inés (wife) of Ramírez).


title: Surnames by country

text: Children will always bear the surname of the father followed by that of the mother, but if there is no known father and the mother is single, the children can bear either both of her mother's surnames or the mother's first surname followed by any of the surnames of the mother's parents or grandparents, or the child may bear the mother's first surname twice in a row.


title: Surnames by country

text: There are about 1,000,000 different family names in German. German family names most often derive from given names, geographical names, occupational designations, bodily attributes or even traits of character. Hyphenations notwithstanding, they mostly consist of a single word; in those rare cases where the family name is linked to the given names by particles such as "von" or "zu", they usually indicate noble ancestry. Not all noble families used these names (see Riedesel), while some farm families, particularly in Westphalia, used the particle "von" or "zu" followed by their farm or former farm's name as a family name (see "Meyer zu Erpen").


title: Surnames by country

text: Family names in German-speaking countries are usually positioned last, after all given names. There are exceptions, however: in parts of Austria and Bavaria and the Alemannic-speaking areas, the family name is regularly put in front of the first given name. Also in many – especially rural – parts of Germany, to emphasize family affiliation there is often an inversion in colloquial use, in which the family name becomes a possessive: "Rüters Erich", for example, would be Erich of the Rüter family.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Germany today, upon marriage, both partners can choose to keep their birth name or choose either partner's name as the common name. In the latter case the partner whose name wasn't chosen can keep their birth name hyphenated to the new name (e.g. "Schmidt" and "Meyer" choose to marry under the name "Meyer". The former "Schmidt" can choose to be called "Meyer", "Schmidt-Meyer" or "Meyer-Schmidt"), but any children will only get the single common name. In the case that both partners keep their birth name they must decide on one of the two family names for all their future children. (German name)


title: Surnames by country

text: Changing one's family name for reasons other than marriage, divorce or adoption is possible only if the application is approved by the responsible government agency. In Germany, permission will usually be granted if:


title: Surnames by country

text: In the Nordic countries, family names often, but certainly not always, originate from a patronymic. In Denmark and Norway, the corresponding ending is "-sen", as in "Karlsen". Names ending with "dotter/datter" (daughter), such as "Olofsdotter", are rare but occurring, and only apply to women. Today, the patronymic names are passed on similarly to family names in other Western countries, and a person's father does not have to be called Karl if he or she has the surname Karlsson. However, in 2006 Denmark reinstated patronymic and matronymic surnames as an option. Thus, parents Karl Larsen and Anna Hansen can name a son Karlsen or Annasen and a daughter Karlsdotter or Annasdotter.


title: Surnames by country

text: Before the 19th century there was the same system in Scandinavia as in Iceland today. Noble families, however, as a rule adopted a family name, which could refer to a presumed or real forefather (e.g. Earl Birger Magnusson "Folkunge" ) or to the family's coat of arms (e.g. King Gustav Eriksson "Vasa"). In many surviving family noble names, such as "Silfversparre" ("silver chevron"; in modern spelling, "Silver-") or "Stiernhielm" ("star-helmet"; in modernized spelling, "stjärnhjälm"), the spelling is obsolete, but since it applies to a name, remains unchanged. (Some names from relatively modern times also use archaic or otherwise aberrant spelling as a stylistic trait; e.g. "-quist" instead of standard "-kvist" "twig" or "-grén" instead of standard "-gren", "branch".)


title: Surnames by country

text: Later on, people from the Scandinavian middle classes, particularly artisans and town dwellers, adopted names in a similar fashion to that of the nobility. Family names joining two elements from nature such as the Swedish "Bergman" ("mountain man"), "Holmberg" ("island mountain"), "Lindgren" ("linden branch"), "Sandström" ("sand stream") and "Åkerlund" ("field meadow") were quite frequent and remain common today. The same is true for similar Norwegian and Danish names.


title: Surnames by country

text: Even more important a driver of change was the need, for administrative purposes, to develop a system under which each individual had a "stable" name from birth to death. In the old days, people would be known by their name, patronymic and the farm they lived at. This last element would change if a person got a new job, bought a new farm, or otherwise came to live somewhere else. (This is part of the origin, in this part of the world, of the custom of women changing their names upon marriage. Originally it indicated, basically, a change of address, and from older times, there are numerous examples of men doing the same thing). The many patronymic names may derive from the fact that people who moved from the country to the cities, also gave up the name of the farm they came from. As a worker, you passed by your father's name, and this name passed on to the next generation as a family name. Einar Gerhardsen, the Norwegian prime minister, used a true patronym, as his father was named Gerhard Olsen (Gerhard, the son of Ola). Gerhardsen passed his own patronym on to his children as a family name. This has been common in many working-class families. The tradition of keeping the farm name as a family name got stronger during the first half of the 20th century in Norway.


title: Surnames by country

text: These names often indicated the place of residence of the family. For this reason, Denmark and Norway have a very high incidence of last names derived from those of farms, many signified by the suffixes like "-bø", "-rud", "-heim/-um", "-land" or "-set" (these being examples from Norway). In Denmark, the most common suffix is "-gaard" — the modern spelling is "gård" in Danish and can be either "gård" or "gard" in Norwegian, but as in Sweden, archaic spelling persists in surnames. The most well-known example of this kind of surname is probably "Kierkegaard" (combined by the words "kirke/kierke" (= church) and "gaard" (= farm) meaning "the farm located by the Church". It is, however, a common misunderstanding that the name relates to its direct translation: churchyard/cemetery), but many others could be cited. It should also be noted that, since the names in question are derived from the original owners' domiciles, the possession of this kind of name is no longer an indicator of affinity with others who bear it.


title: Surnames by country

text: In many cases, names were taken from the nature around them. In Norway, for instance, there is an abundance of surnames based on coastal geography, with suffixes like "-strand", "-øy", "-holm", "-vik", "-fjord" or "-nes". Like the names derived from farms, most of these family names reflected the family's place of residence at the time the family name was "fixed", however. A family name such as Swedish "Dahlgren" is derived from "dahl" meaning valley and "gren" meaning branch; or similarly "Upvall" meaning "upper-valley"; It depends on the country, language, and dialect.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Scandinavia family names often, but certainly not always, originate from a patronymic. Later on, people from the Scandinavian middle classes, particularly artisans and town dwellers, adopted surnames in a similar fashion to that of the gentry. Family names joining two elements from nature such as the Swedish "Bergman" ("mountain man"), "Holmberg" ("island mountain"), "Lindgren" ("linden branch"), "Sandström" ("sand stream") and "Åkerlund" ("field grove") were quite frequent and remain common today.


title: Surnames by country

text: Finland including Karelia and Estonia was the eastern part of The Kingdom of Sweden from its unification around 1100–1200 AD until the year 1809 when Finland was conquered by Russia. During the Russian revolution 1917, Finland proclaimed the republic Finland and Sweden and many European countries rapidly acknowledged the new nation Finland. Finland has mainly Finnish (increasing) and Swedish (decreasing) surnames and first names. There are two predominant surname traditions among the "Finnish" in Finland: the West Finnish and the East Finnish. The surname traditions of "Swedish-speaking" farmers, fishermen and craftsmen resembles the West Finnish tradition, while smaller populations of "Sami" and "Romani people" have traditions of their own. Finland was exposed to a very small immigration from Russia, so Russian names barely exists.


title: Surnames by country

text: Until the mid-20th century, Finland was a predominantly agrarian society, and the names of West Finns were based on their association with a particular area, farm, or homestead, e.g. "Jaakko Jussila" ("Jaakko from the farm of Jussi"). On the other hand, the East Finnish surname tradition dates back to at least the 13th century. There, the Savonians pursued slash-and-burn agriculture which necessitated moving several times during a person's lifetime. This in turn required the families to have surnames, which were in wide use among the common folk as early as the 13th century. By the mid-16th century, the East Finnish surnames had become hereditary. Typically, the oldest East Finnish surnames were formed from the first names of the patriarchs of the families, e.g. "Ikävalko", "Termonen", "Pentikäinen". In the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, new names were most often formed by adding the name of the former or current place of living (e.g. "Puumalainen" < Puumala). In the East Finnish tradition, the women carried the family name of their fathers in female form (e.g. "Puumalatar" < "Puumalainen"). By the 19th century, this practice fell into disuse due to the influence of the West-European surname tradition.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Western Finland, agrarian names dominated, and the last name of the person was usually given according to the farm or holding they lived on. In 1921, surnames became compulsory for all Finns. At this point, the agrarian names were usually adopted as surnames. A typical feature of such names is the addition of prefixes "Ala-" (Sub-) or "Ylä-" (Up-), giving the location of the holding along a waterway in relation of the main holding. (e.g. "Yli-Ojanperä", "Ala-Verronen"). The Swedish speaking farmers along the coast of Österbotten usually used two surnames – one which pointed out the father's name (e.g. "Eriksson", "Andersson", "Johansson") and one which related to the farm or the land their family or bigger family owned or had some connection to (e.g. "Holm", "Fant", "Westergård", "Kloo"). So a full name could be "Johan Karlsson Kvist", for his daughter "Elvira Johansdotter Kvist", and when she married a man with the Ahlskog farm, Elvira kept the first surname Johansdotter but changed the second surname to her husbands (e.g. "Elvira Johansdotter Ahlskog"). During the 20th century they started to drop the -son surname while they kept the second. So in Western Finland the Swedish speaking had names like "Johan Varg", "Karl Viskas", "Sebastian Byskata" and "Elin Loo", while the Swedes in Sweden at the other side of the Baltic Sea kept surnames ending with "-son" (e.g. "Johan Eriksson", "Thor Andersson", "Anna-Karin Johansson").


title: Surnames by country

text: A third tradition of surnames was introduced in south Finland by the Swedish-speaking upper and middle classes, which used typical German and Swedish surnames. By custom, all Finnish-speaking persons who were able to get a position of some status in urban or learned society, discarded their Finnish name, adopting a Swedish, German or (in the case of clergy) Latin surname. In the case of enlisted soldiers, the new name was given regardless of the wishes of the individual.


title: Surnames by country

text: In the late 19th and early 20th century, the overall modernization process, and especially the political movement of fennicization, caused a movement for adoption of Finnish surnames. At that time, many persons with a Swedish or otherwise foreign surname changed their family name to a Finnish one. The features of nature with endings "-o/ö", "-nen" ("Meriö" < "Meri" "sea", "Nieminen" < "Niemi" "point") are typical of the names of this era, as well as more or less direct translations of Swedish names ("Paasivirta" < "Hällström").


title: Surnames by country

text: In 21st-century Finland, the use of surnames follows the German model. Every person is legally obligated to have a first and last name. At most, three first names are allowed. The Finnish married couple may adopt the name of either spouse, or either spouse (or both spouses) may decide to use a double name. The parents may choose either surname or the double surname for their children, but all siblings must share the same surname. All persons have the right to change their surname once without any specific reason. A surname that is un-Finnish, contrary to the usages of the Swedish or Finnish languages, or is in use by any person residing in Finland cannot be accepted as the new name, unless valid family reasons or religious or national customs give a reason for waiving this requirement. However, persons may change their surname to any surname that has ever been used by their ancestors if they can prove such claim. Some immigrants have had difficulty naming their children, as they must choose from an approved list based on the family's household language.


title: Surnames by country

text: In the Finnish language, both the root of the surname and the first name can be modified by consonant gradation regularly when inflected to a case.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Iceland, most people have no family name; a person's last name is most commonly a patronymic, i.e. derived from the father's first name. For example, when a man called "Karl" has a daughter called "Anna" and a son called "Magnús", their full names will typically be "Anna Karlsdóttir" ("Karl's daughter") and "Magnús Karlsson" ("Karl's son"). The name is not changed upon marriage.


title: Surnames by country

text: Slavic countries are noted for having masculine and feminine versions for many (but not all) of their names. In most countries the use of a feminine form is obligatory in official documents as well as in other communication, except for foreigners. In some countries only the male form figures in official use (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia), but in communication (speech, print) a feminine form is often used.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Slovenia the last name of a female is the same as the male form in official use (identification documents, letters). In speech and descriptive writing (literature, newspapers) a female form of the last name is regularly used.


title: Surnames by country

text: If the name has no suffix, it may or may not have a feminine version. Sometimes it has the ending changed (such as the addition of "-a"). In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, suffixless names, such as those of German origin, are feminized by adding "-ová" (for example, "Schusterová").


title: Surnames by country

text: Bulgarian names usually consist of three components – given name, patronymic (based on father's name), family name.


title: Surnames by country

text: Given names have many variations, but the most common names have Christian/Greek (e.g. Maria, Ivan, Christo, Peter, Pavel), Slavic (Ognyan, Miroslav, Tihomir) or Protobulgarian (Krum, Asparukh) (pre-Christian) origin.


title: Surnames by country

text: Father's names normally consist of the father's first name and the "-ov" (male) or "-ova" (female) or "-ovi" (plural) suffix.


title: Surnames by country

text: Family names usually also end with the "-ov", "-ev" (male) or "-ova", "-eva" (female) or "-ovi", "-evi" (plural) suffix.


title: Surnames by country

text: In many cases (depending on the name root) the suffixes can be also "-ski" (male and plural) or "-ska" (female); "-ovski", "-evski" (male and plural) or "-ovska", "-evska" (female); "-in" (male) or "-ina" (female) or "-ini" (plural); etc.


title: Surnames by country

text: The meaning of the suffixes is similar to the English word "of", expressing membership in/belonging to a family.


title: Surnames by country

text: Regarding the different meaning of the suffixes, "-ov", "-ev"/"-ova", "-eva" are used for expressing relationship to the father and "-in"/"-ina" for relationship to the mother (often for orphans whose father is dead).


title: Surnames by country

text: Names of Czech people consist of given name ("křestní jméno") and surname ("příjmení"). Usage of the second or middle name is not common. Feminine names are usually derived from masculine ones by a suffix "-ová" ("Nováková") or "-á" for names being originally adjectives ("Veselá"), sometimes with a little change of original name's ending ("Sedláčková" from "Sedláček" or "Svobodová" from "Svoboda"). Women usually change their family names when they get married. The family names are usually nouns ("Svoboda", "Král", "Růžička", "Dvořák", "Beneš"), adjectives ("Novotný", "Černý", "Veselý") or past participles of verbs ("Pospíšil"). There are also a couple of names with more complicated origin which are actually complete sentences ("Skočdopole", "Hrejsemnou" or "Vítámvás"). The most common Czech family name is "Novák" / "Nováková".


title: Surnames by country

text: In addition, many Czechs and some Slovaks have German surnames due to mixing between the ethnic groups over the past thousand years. Deriving women's names from German and other foreign names is often problematic since foreign names do not suit Czech language rules, although most commonly "-ová" is simply added ("Schmidtová"; umlauts are often, but not always, dropped, e.g. "Müllerová"), or the German name is respelled with Czech spelling ("Šmitová"). Hungarian names, which can be found fairly commonly among Slovaks, can also be either left unchanged (Hungarian "Nagy", fem. "Nagyová") or respelled according to Czech/Slovak orthography (masc. "Naď", fem. "Naďová").


title: Surnames by country

text: In Poland and most of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, surnames first appeared during the late Middle Ages. They initially denoted the differences between various people living in the same town or village and bearing the same name. The conventions were similar to those of English surnames, using occupations, patronymic descent, geographic origins, or personal characteristics. Thus, early surnames indicating occupation include "Karczmarz" ("innkeeper"), "Kowal" ("blacksmith"), "Złotnik" ("gold smith") and "Bednarczyk" ("young cooper"), while those indicating patronymic descent include "Szczepaniak" ("Son of "Szczepan"), "Józefowicz" ("Son of "Józef"), and "Kaźmirkiewicz" ("Son of "Kazimierz""). Similarly, early surnames like "Mazur" ("the one from Mazury") indicated geographic origin, while ones like "Nowak" ("the new one"), "Biały" ("the pale one"), and "Wielgus" ("the big one") indicated personal characteristics.


title: Surnames by country

text: In the early 16th century, (the Polish Renaissance), toponymic names became common, especially among the nobility. Initially, the surnames were in a form of "[first name] "z" ("de", "of") [location]". Later, most surnames were changed to adjective forms, e.g. "Jakub Wiślicki" ("James of Wiślica") and "Zbigniew Oleśnicki" (""Zbigniew" of Oleśnica"), with masculine suffixes "-ski", "-cki", "-dzki" and "-icz" or respective feminine suffixes "-ska", "-cka", "-dzka" and "-icz" on the east of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Names formed this way are adjectives grammatically, and therefore change their form depending on sex; for example, "Jan Kowalski" and "Maria Kowalska" collectively use the plural "Kowalscy".


title: Surnames by country

text: Names with masculine suffixes "-ski", "-cki", and "-dzki", and corresponding feminine suffixes "-ska", "-cka", and "-dzka" became associated with noble origin. Many people from lower classes successively changed their surnames to fit this pattern. This produced many "Kowalski"s, "Bednarski"s, "Kaczmarski"s and so on.


title: Surnames by country

text: A separate class of surnames derive from the names of noble clans. These are used either as separate names or the first part of a double-barrelled name. Thus, persons named "Jan Nieczuja" and "Krzysztof Nieczuja-Machocki" might be related. Similarly, after World War I and World War II, many members of Polish underground organizations adopted their war-time pseudonyms as the first part of their surnames. "Edward Rydz" thus became Marshal of Poland "Edward Śmigły-Rydz" and "Zdzisław Jeziorański" became "Jan Nowak-Jeziorański".


title: Surnames by country

text: Most Russian family names originated from patronymics, that is, father's name usually formed by adding the adjective suffix "-ov(a)" or "-ev(a)". Contemporary patronymics, however, have a substantive suffix "-ich" for masculine and the adjective suffix "-na" for feminine.


title: Surnames by country

text: Such a pattern of name formation is not unique to Russia or even to the Eastern and Southern Slavs in general; quite common are also names derived from professions, places of origin, and personal characteristics, with various suffixes (e.g. "-in(a)" and "-sky (-skaya)").


title: Surnames by country

text: A considerable number of "artificial" names exists, for example, those given to seminary graduates; such names were based on Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church or Christian virtues.


title: Surnames by country

text: Many freed serfs were given surnames after those of their former owners. For example, a serf of the Demidov family might be named "Demidovsky", which translates roughly as "belonging to Demidov" or "one of Demidov's bunch".


title: Surnames by country

text: Grammatically, Russian family names follow the same rules as other nouns or adjectives (names ending with "-oy", "-aya" are grammatically adjectives), with exceptions: some names do not change in different cases and have the same form in both genders (for example, "Sedykh", "Lata").


title: Surnames by country

text: Ukrainian and Belarusian names evolved from the same Old East Slavic and Ruthenian language (western Rus') origins. Ukrainian and Belarusian names share many characteristics with family names from other Slavic cultures. Most prominent are the shared root words and suffixes. For example, the root "koval" (blacksmith) compares to the Polish "kowal", and the root "bab" (woman) is shared with Polish, Slovakian, and Czech. The suffix "-vych" (son of) corresponds to the South Slavic "-vic", the Russian "-vich", and the Polish "-wicz", while "-sky", "-ski", and "-ska" are shared with both Polish and Russian, and "-ak" with Polish.


title: Surnames by country

text: However some suffixes are more uniquely characteristic to Ukrainian and Belarusian names, especially: "-chuk" (Western Ukraine), "-enko" (all other Ukraine) (both son of), "-ko" (little [masculine]), "-ka" (little [feminine]), "-shyn", and "-uk". See, for example, Mihalko, Ukrainian Presidents Leonid Kravchuk, and Viktor Yushchenko, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, or former Soviet diplomat Andrei Gromyko. Such Ukrainian and Belarusian names can also be found in Russia, Poland, or even other Slavic countries (e.g. Croatian general Zvonimir Červenko), but are due to importation by Ukrainian, Belarusian, or Rusyn ancestors.


title: Surnames by country

text: Surnames of some South Slavic groups such as Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins, and Bosniaks traditionally end with the suffixes "-ić" and "-vić" (often transliterated to English and other western languages as "ic", "ich", "vic" or "vich". The v is added in the case of a name to which "-ić" is appended would otherwise end with a vowel, to avoid double vowels with the "i" in "-ić".) These are a diminutive indicating descent i.e. "son of". In some cases the family name was derived from a profession (e.g. blacksmith – "Kovač" → "Kovačević").


title: Surnames by country

text: An analogous ending is also common in Slovenia. As the Slovenian language does not have the softer consonant "ć", in Slovene words and names only "č" is used. So that people from the former Yugoslavia need not change their names, in official documents "ć" is also allowed (as well as "Đ / đ"). Thus, one may have two surname variants, e.g.: Božič, Tomšič (Slovenian origin or assimilated) and Božić, Tomšić (roots from the Serbo-Croat language continuum area). Slovene names ending in -ič do not necessarily have a patrimonial origin.


title: Surnames by country

text: In general family names in all of these countries follow this pattern with some family names being typically Serbian, some typically Croat and yet others being common throughout the whole linguistic region.


title: Surnames by country

text: Children usually inherit their fathers' family name. In an older naming convention which was common in Serbia up until the mid-19th century, a person's name would consist of three distinct parts: the person's given name, the patronymic derived from the father's personal name, and the family name, as seen, for example, in the name of the language reformer Vuk Stefanović Karadžić.


title: Surnames by country

text: Official family names do not have distinct male or female forms, except in North Macedonia, though a somewhat archaic unofficial form of adding suffixes to family names to form female form persists, with "-eva", implying "daughter of" or "female descendant of" or "-ka", implying "wife of" or "married to". In Slovenia the feminine form of a surname ("-eva" or "-ova") is regularly used in non-official communication (speech, print), but not for official IDs or other legal documents.


title: Surnames by country

text: Bosniak Muslim names follow the same formation pattern but are usually derived from proper names of Islamic origin, often combining archaic Islamic or feudal Turkish titles i.e. Mulaomerović, Šabanović, Hadžihafizbegović, etc. Also related to Islamic influence is the prefix "Hadži-" found in some family names. Regardless of religion, this prefix was derived from the honorary title which a distinguished ancestor earned by making a pilgrimage to either Christian or Islamic holy places; Hadžibegić, being a Bosniak Muslim example, and Hadžiantić an Orthodox Christian one.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Croatia where tribal affiliations persisted longer, Lika, Herzegovina etc., originally a family name, came to signify practically all people living in one area, clan land or holding of the nobles. The Šubić family owned land around the Zrin River in the Central Croatian region of Banovina. The surname became Šubić Zrinski, the most famous being Nikola Šubić Zrinski.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Montenegro and Herzegovina, family names came to signify all people living within one clan or bratstvo. As there exists a strong tradition of inheriting personal names from grandparents to grandchildren, an additional patronymic usually using suffix "-ov" had to be introduced to make distinctions between two persons bearing the same personal name and the same family name and living within same area. A noted example is Marko Miljanov Popović, i.e. Marko, son of Miljan, from Popović family.


title: Surnames by country

text: Due to discriminatory laws in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, some Serb families of Vojvodina discarded the suffix "-ić" in an attempt to mask their ethnicity and avoid heavy taxation.


title: Surnames by country

text: The prefix "Pop-" in Serbian names indicates descent from a priest, for example Gordana Pop Lazić, i.e. descendant of Pop Laza.


title: Surnames by country

text: Some Serbian family names include prefixes of Turkish origin, such as "Uzun-" meaning tall, or "Kara-", black. Such names were derived from nicknames of family ancestors. A famous example is Karađorđević, descendants of Đorđe Petrović, known as Karađorđe or Black Đorđe.


title: Surnames by country

text: Among the Bulgarians, another South Slavic people, the typical surname suffix is "-ov" (Ivanov, Kovachev), although other popular suffixes also exist.


title: Surnames by country

text: Slovenes have a great variety of surnames, most of them differentiated according to region. Surnames ending in -ič are by far less frequent than among Croats and Serbs. There are typically Slovenian surnames ending in -ič, such as Blažič, Stanič, Marušič. Many Slovenian surnames, especially in the Slovenian Littoral, end in -čič (Gregorčič, Kocijančič, Miklavčič, etc.), which is uncommon for other South Slavic peoples (except the neighboring Croats, e.g. Kovačić, Jelačić, Kranjčić, etc.). On the other hand, surname endings in -ski and -ov are rare, they can denote a noble origin (especially for the -ski, if it completes a toponym) or a foreign (mostly Czech) origin. One of the most typical Slovene surname endings is -nik (Rupnik, Pučnik, Plečnik, Pogačnik, Podobnik) and other used surname endings are -lin (Pavlin, Mehlin, Ahlin, Ferlin), -ar (Mlakar, Ravnikar, Smrekar Tisnikar) and -lj (Rugelj, Pucelj, Bagatelj, Bricelj). Many Slovenian surnames are linked to Medieval rural settlement patterns. Surnames like Novak (literally, "the new one") or Hribar (from "hrib", hill) were given to the peasants settled in newly established farms, usually in high mountains. Peasant families were also named according to the owner of the land which they cultivated: thus, the surname Kralj (King) or Cesar (Emperor) was given to those working on royal estates, Škof (Bishop) or Vidmar to those working on ecclesiastical lands, etc. Many Slovenian surnames are named after animals (Medved – bear, Volk, Vovk or Vouk – wolf, Golob – pigeon, Strnad – yellowhammer, Orel – eagle, Lisjak – fox, or Zajec – rabbit, etc.) or plants Pšenica – wheat, Slak – bindweed, Hrast – oak, etc. Many are named after neighbouring peoples: Horvat, Hrovat, or Hrovatin (Croat), Furlan (Friulian), Nemec (German), Lah (Italian), Vogrin, Vogrič or Vogrinčič (Hungarian), Vošnjak (Bosnian), Čeh (Czech), Turk (Turk), or different Slovene regions: Kranjc, Kranjec or Krajnc (from Carniola), Kraševec (from the Karst Plateau), Korošec (from Carinthia), Kočevar or Hočevar (from the Gottschee county).


title: Surnames by country

text: In Slovenia last name of a female is the same as the male form in official use (identification documents, letters). In speech and descriptive writing (literature, newspapers) a female form of the last name is regularly used. Examples: Novak (m.) & Novakova (f.), Kralj (m.) & Kraljeva (f.), Mali (m.) & Malijeva (f.). Usually surenames on -ova are used together with the title/gender: gospa Novakova (Mrs. Novakova), gospa Kraljeva (Mrs. Kraljeva), gospodična Malijeva (Miss Malijeva, if unmarried), etc. or with the name. So we have Maja Novak on the ID card and Novakova Maja (extremely rarely Maja Novakova) in communication; Tjaša Mali and Malijeva Tjaša (rarely Tjaša Malijeva); respectively. Diminutive forms of last names for females are also available: Novakovka, Kraljevka. As for pronunciation, in Slovenian there is some leeway regarding accentuation. Depending on the region or local usage, you may have either Nóvak & Nóvakova or, more frequently, Novák & Novákova. Accent marks are normally not used.


title: Surnames by country

text: Some Arab countries have differences due to historic rule by the Ottoman Empire or due to being a different minority.


title: Surnames by country

text: Names mainly consist of the person's name followed by the father's first name connected by the word "ibn" or "bin" (meaning "son of"). The last name either refers to the name of the tribe the person belongs to, or to the region, city, or town he/she originates from. In exceptional cases, members of the royal families or ancient tribes mainly, the title (usually H.M./H.E., Prince, or Sheikh) is included in the beginning as a prefix, and the first name can be followed by four names, his father, his grandfather, and great – grandfather, as a representation of the purity of blood and to show the pride one has for his ancestry.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Arabic-speaking Levantine countries (Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria) it's common to have family names associated with a certain profession or craft, such as "Al-Haddad"/"Haddad" which means "Blacksmith" or "Al-Najjar"/"Najjar" which means "Carpenter".


title: Surnames by country

text: In India, surnames are placed as last names or before first names, which often denote: village of origin, caste, clan, office of authority their ancestors held, or trades of their ancestors. The use of surnames is a relatively new convention, introduced during British colonisation. Typically, parts of northern India follow English-speaking Western naming conventions by having a given name followed by a surname. This is not necessarily the case in southern India, where people may adopt a surname out of necessity when migrating or travelling abroad.


title: Surnames by country

text: The largest variety of surnames is found in the states of Maharashtra and Goa, which numbers more than the rest of India together. Here surnames are placed last, the order being: the given name, followed by the father's name, followed by the family name. The majority of surnames are derived from the place where the family lived, with the 'kar' (Marathi and Konkani) suffix, for example, Mumbaikar, Punekar, Aurangabadkar, Tendulkar, Parrikar, Mangeshkar, Mahendrakar. Another common variety found in Maharashtra and Goa are the ones ending in 'e'. These are usually more archaic than the 'Kar's and usually denote medieval clans or professions like Rane, Salunkhe, Gupte, Bhonsle, Ranadive, Rahane, Hazare, Apte, Satpute, Shinde, Sathe, Londhe, Salve, Kale, Gore, Godbole, etc.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, surnames usually denote family names. It is easy to track family history and the caste they belonged to using a surname.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Odisha and West Bengal, surnames denote the caste they belong. There are also several local surnames like Das, Patnaik, Mohanty, Jena etc.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Kerala, surnames denote the caste they belong. There are also several local surnames like Nair, Menon , Panikkar etc.


title: Surnames by country

text: It is a common in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and some other parts of South India that the spouse adopts her husband's first name instead of his family or surname name after marriage.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Rajasthan, the community name and sometimes the gotra or clan name are used as surnames. Usage of community name as surname include: Charan, Jat, Meena, Rajput, etc. Sometimes, the faith name (for example: Jain) can also be used as a surname.


title: Surnames by country

text: India is a country with numerous distinct cultural and linguistic groups. Thus, Indian surnames, where formalized, fall into seven general types.


title: Surnames by country

text: The convention is to write the first name followed by middle names and surname. It is common to use the father's first name as the middle name or last name even though it is not universal. In some Indian states like Maharashtra, official documents list the family name first, followed by a comma and the given names.


title: Surnames by country

text: In modern times, in urban areas at least, this practice is not universal and some wives either suffix their husband's surname or do not alter their surnames at all. In some rural areas, particularly in North India, wives may also take a new first name after their nuptials. Children inherit their surnames from their father.


title: Surnames by country

text: Jains generally use Jain, Shah, Firodia, Singhal or Gupta as their last names. Sikhs generally use the words "Singh" ("lion") and "Kaur" ("princess") as surnames added to the otherwise unisex first names of men and women, respectively. It is also common to use a different surname after Singh in which case Singh or Kaur are used as middle names (Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Surinder Kaur Badal). The tenth Guru of Sikhism ordered (Hukamnama) that any man who considered himself a Sikh must use "Singh" in his name and any woman who considered herself a Sikh must use "Kaur" in her name. Other middle names or honorifics that are sometimes used as surnames include Kumar, Dev, Lal, and Chand.


title: Surnames by country

text: The modern-day spellings of names originated when families translated their surnames to English, with no standardization across the country. Variations are regional, based on how the name was translated from the local language to English in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries during British rule. Therefore, it is understood in the local traditions that Baranwal and Barnwal represent the same name derived from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab respectively. Similarly, Tagore derives from Bengal while Thakur is from Hindi-speaking areas. The officially recorded spellings tended to become the standard for that family. In the modern times, some states have attempted standardization, particularly where the surnames were corrupted because of the early British insistence of shortening them for convenience. Thus Bandopadhyay became Banerji, Mukhopadhay became Mukherji, Chattopadhyay became Chatterji, etc. This coupled with various other spelling variations created several surnames based on the original surnames. The West Bengal Government now insists on re-converting all the variations to their original form when the child is enrolled in school.


title: Surnames by country

text: Some parts of Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, and Indonesia have similar patronymic customs to those of India.


title: Surnames by country

text: Nepali surnames are divided into three origins; Indo-Aryan languages, Tibeto-Burman languages and indigenous origins. Surnames of Khas community contains toponyms as Ghimire, Dahal, Pokharel, Sapkota from respective villages, occupational names as (Adhikari, Bhandari, Karki, Thapa). Many Khas surnames includes suffix as -wal, -al as in Katwal, Silwal, Dulal, Khanal, Khulal, Rijal. Kshatriya titles such as Bista, Kunwar, Rana, Rawat, Rawal, Dhami, Shah, Thakuri, Chand, were taken as surnames by various Kshetri and Thakuris. Khatri Kshetris share surnames with mainstream Pahari Bahuns. Other popular Chhetri surnames include Basnyat, Bogati, Budhathoki, Khadka, Khandayat, Mahat, Raut. Similarly, Brahmin surnames such as Acharya, Bhatta, Joshi, Pandit, Sharma, Upadhyay were taken by Pahari Bahuns. Jaisi Bahuns bear distinct surnames as Kattel, Banstola, Jaisi, Padhya and share surnames with mainstream Bahuns. Other Bahun surnames include Aryal, Bhattarai, Banskota, Chaulagain, Devkota, Dhakal, Gyawali, Koirala, Mainali, Pandey, Panta, Laudari Pandey, Paudel, Regmi, Subedi, Tiwari, Upreti, Lamsal, and Dhungel. Many Indian immigrants into Pahari zone are assimilated under Khas peoples and they carried ancestral clan names as Marhatta, Rathaur, Chauhan. Khas-Dalits surnames include Kami, Bishwakarma or B.K., Damai, Mijar, Dewal, Pariyar, Ranapaheli, Sarki. Newar groups of multiethnic background bears both Indo-Aryan surnames (like Shrestha, Joshi, Pradhan) and indigenous surnames like Maharjan, Dangol. Magars bear surnames derived from Khas peoples such as Baral, Budhathoki, Lamichhane, Thapa and indigenous origins as Dura, Gharti, Pun, Pulami. Other Himalayan Mongoloid castes bears Tibeto-Burmese surnames like Gurung, Tamang, Thakali, Sherpa. Various Kiranti ethnic group contains many Indo-Aryan surnames of Khas origin which were awarded by the government of Khas peoples. These surnames are Rai, Subba, Jimmi, Dewan depending upon job and position hold by them. Terai community consists both Indo-Aryan and Indigenous origin surnames. Terai Brahmins bears surnames as Jha, Mishra, Pandit, Tiwari. Terai Rajput and other Kshatriya groups bears the surnames Chauhan, Singh, Rajput, Verma, Pal. Marwari surnames like Agrawal, Baranwal, Jain, Khandelwal, Maheshwari, Tapadia are also common. Nepalese Muslims bears Islamic surnames such as Ali, Ansari, Begum, Khan, Mohammad, Pathan. Other common Terai surnames are Yadav, Mahato, Kamat, Thakur, Dev, Chaudhary, Kayastha.


title: Surnames by country

text: Pakistani surnames are basically divided in three categories: Arab naming convention, tribal or caste names and ancestral names.


title: Surnames by country

text: Family names indicating Arab ancestry, e.g. Shaikh, Siddiqui, Abbasi, Syed, Zaidi, Khawaja, Naqvi, Farooqi, Osmani, Alavi, Hassani, and Husseini.


title: Surnames by country

text: People claiming Afghan ancestry include those with family names like Durrani, Gardezi, Suri, Yousafzai, Afridi, Mullagori, Mohmand, Khattak, Wazir, Mehsud, Niazi.


title: Surnames by country

text: Family names indicating Turkic heritage include Mughal, Baig or Beg, Pasha, Barlas, and Seljuki. Family names indicating Turkish/Kurd ancestry, Dogar.


title: Surnames by country

text: People claiming Indic ancestry include those with family names Barelwi, Lakhnavi, Delhvi, Godharvi, Bilgrami, and Rajput. A large number of Muslim Rajputs have retained their surnames such as Chauhan, Rathore, Parmar, and Janjua.


title: Surnames by country

text: People claiming Iranian ancestry include those with family names Agha, Bukhari, Firdausi, Ghazali, Gilani, Hamadani, Isfahani, Kashani, Kermani, Khorasani, Farooqui, Mir, Mirza, Montazeri, Nishapuri, Noorani, Kayani, Qizilbash, Saadi, Sabzvari, Shirazi, Sistani, Suhrawardi, Yazdani, Zahedi, and Zand.


title: Surnames by country

text: Tribal names include Abro Afaqi, Afridi, Cheema, Khogyani (Khakwani), Amini, Ansari, Ashrafkhel, Awan, Bajwa, Baloch, Barakzai, Baranzai, Bhatti, Bhutto, Ranjha, Bijarani, Bizenjo, Brohi, Khetran, Bugti, Butt, Farooqui, Gabol, Ghaznavi, Ghilzai, Gichki, Gujjar, Jamali, Jamote, Janjua, Jatoi, Jutt Joyo, Junejo, Karmazkhel, Kayani, Khar, Khattak, Khuhro, Lakhani, Leghari, Lodhi, Magsi, Malik, Mandokhel, Mayo, Marwat, Mengal, Mughal, Palijo, Paracha, Panhwar, Phul, Popalzai, Qureshi & qusmani, Rabbani, Raisani, Rakhshani, Sahi, Swati, Soomro, Sulaimankhel, Talpur, Talwar, Thebo, Yousafzai, and Zamani.


title: Surnames by country

text: So and so, son of so and so, of such and such tribe or clan and religion and resident of such and such place. For example, Amir Khan s/o Fakeer Khan, tribe Mughal Kayani or Chauhan Rajput, Follower of religion Islam, resident of Village Anywhere, Tehsil Anywhere, District.


title: Surnames by country

text: In modern Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese, the family name is placed before the given names, although this order may not be observed in translation. Generally speaking, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese names do not alter their order in English (Mao Zedong, Kim Jong-il, Ho Chi Minh) and Japanese names do (Kenzaburō Ōe). However, numerous exceptions exist, particularly for people born in English-speaking countries such as Yo-Yo Ma. This is sometimes systematized: in all Olympic events, the athletes of the People's Republic of China list their names in the Chinese ordering, while Chinese athletes representing other countries, such as the United States, use the Western ordering. (In Vietnam, the system is further complicated by the cultural tradition of addressing people by their given name, usually with an honorific. For example, Phan Văn Khải is "properly" addressed as Mr. Khải, even though Phan is his family name.)


title: Surnames by country

text: Chinese family names have many types of origins, some claiming dates as early as the legendary Yellow Emperor (2nd millennium BC):


title: Surnames by country

text: In history, some changed their surnames due to a naming taboo (from Zhuang 莊 to Yan 嚴 during the era of Liu Zhuang 劉莊) or as an award by the Emperor (Li was often to senior officers during Tang dynasty).


title: Surnames by country

text: In modern times, some Chinese adopt an English name in addition to their native given names: e.g., adopted the English name Martin Lee. Particularly in Hong Kong and Singapore, the convention is to write both names together: Martin Lee Chu-ming. Owing to the confusion this can cause, a further convention is sometimes observed of capitalizing the surname: Martin L Chu-ming. Sometimes, however, the Chinese given name is forced into the Western system as a middle name ("Martin Chu-ming Lee"); less often, the English given name is forced into the Chinese system ("Lee Chu-ming Martin").


title: Surnames by country

text: In Japan, the civil law forces a common surname for every married couple, unless in a case of international marriage. In most cases, women surrender their surnames upon marriage, and use the surnames of their husbands. However, a convention that a man uses his wife's family name if the wife is an only child is sometimes observed. A similar tradition called "ru zhui" (入贅) is common among Chinese when the bride's family is wealthy and has no son but wants the heir to pass on their assets under the same family name. The Chinese character "zhui" (贅) carries a money radical (貝), which implies that this tradition was originally based on financial reasons. All their offspring carry the mother's family name. If the groom is the first born with an obligation to carry his own ancestor's name, a compromise may be reached in that the first male child carries the mother's family name while subsequent offspring carry the father's family name. The tradition is still in use in many Chinese communities outside mainland China, but largely disused in China because of social changes from communism. Due to the economic reform in the past decade, accumulation and inheritance of personal wealth made a comeback to the Chinese society. It is unknown if this financially motivated tradition would also come back to mainland China.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Singaporean cultures, women keep their own surnames, while the family as a whole is referred to by the surnames of the husbands.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Hong Kong, some women would be known to the public with the surnames of their husbands preceding their own surnames, such as Anson Chan Fang On Sang. Anson is an English given name, On Sang is the given name in Chinese, Chan is the surname of Anson's husband, and Fang is her own surname. A name change on legal documents is not necessary. In Hong Kong's English publications, her family names would have been presented in small cap letters to resolve ambiguity, e.g. Anson C F On Sang in full or simply Anson Chan in short form.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Macau, some people have their names in Portuguese spelt with some Portuguese style, such as "Carlos do Rosario Tchiang".


title: Surnames by country

text: Chinese women in Canada, especially Hongkongers in Toronto, would preserve their maiden names before the surnames of their husbands when written in English, for instance, Rosa Chan Leung, where Chan is the maiden name, and Leung is the surname of the husband.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese, surnames are predominantly monosyllabic (written with one character), though a small number of common disyllabic (or written with two characters) surnames exists (e.g. the Chinese name "Ouyang", the Korean name "Jegal" and the Vietnamese name "Phan-Tran").


title: Surnames by country

text: Many Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese surnames are of the same origin, but simply pronounced differently and even transliterated differently overseas in Western nations. For example, the common Chinese surnames Chen, Chan, Chin, Cheng and Tan, the Korean surname Jin, as well as the Vietnamese surname Trần are often all the same exact character 陳. The common Korean surname Kim is also the common Chinese surname Jin, and written 金. The common Mandarin surnames Lin or Lim (林) is also one and the same as the common Cantonese or Vietnamese surname "Lam" and Korean family name Lim (written/pronounced as Im in South Korea). There are people with the surname of Hayashi (林) in Japan too. The common Chinese surname 李, translated to English as Lee, is, in Chinese, the same character but transliterated as Li according to pinyin convention. Lee is also a common surname of Koreans, and the character is identical.


title: Surnames by country

text: 40% of all Vietnamese have the surname Nguyen. This may be because when a new dynasty took power in Vietnam it was custom to adopt that dynasty's surname. The last dynasty in Vietnam was the Nguyen dynasty, so as a result, many people have this surname.


title: Surnames by country

text: In several Northeast Bantu languages such as Kamba, Taita and Kikuyu in Kenya the word "wa" (meaning "of") is inserted before the surname, for instance, Mugo wa Kibiru (Kikuyu) and Mekatilili wa Menza (Mijikenda).


title: Surnames by country

text: In Burundi and Rwanda, most, if not all surnames have God in it, for example, Hakizimana (meaning God cures), Nshimirimana (I thank God) or Havyarimana/Habyarimana (God gives birth). But not all surnames end with the suffix -imana. Irakoze is one of these (technically meaning Thank God, though it is hard to translate it correctly in English or probably any other language). Surnames are often different among immediate family members, as parents frequently choose unique surnames for each child, and women keep their maiden names when married. Surnames are placed before given names and frequently written in capital letters, e.g. HAKIZIMANA Jacques.


title: Surnames by country

text: The patronymic custom in most of the Horn of Africa gives children the father's first name as their surname. The family then gives the child its first name. Middle names are unknown. So, for example, a person's name might be "Bereket Mekonen ". In this case, "Bereket " is the first name and "Mekonen" is the surname, and also the first name of the father.


title: Surnames by country

text: The paternal grandfather's name is often used if there is a requirement to identify a person further, for example, in school registration. Also, different cultures and tribes use the father's or grandfather's given name as the family's name. For example, some Oromos use Warra Ali to mean families of Ali, where Ali, is either the householder, a father or grandfather.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Ethiopia, the customs surrounding the bestowal and use of family names is as varied and complex as the cultures to be found there. There are so many cultures, nations or tribes, that currently there can be no one formula whereby to demonstrate a clear pattern of Ethiopian family names. In general, however, Ethiopians use their father's name as a surname in most instances where identification is necessary, sometimes employing both father's and grandfather's names together where exigency dictates.


title: Surnames by country

text: Many people in Eritrea have Italian surnames, but all of these are owned by Eritreans of Italian descent.


title: Surnames by country

text: A full Albanian name consists of a given name (), patronymic () and family name (), for example "Agron Mark Gjoni". The patronymic is simply the given name of the individual's father, with no suffix added. The family name is typically a noun in the definite form or at the very least ends with a vowel or -j (an approximant close to -i). Many traditional last names end with -aj (previously -anj), which is more prevalent in certain regions of Albania and Kosovo. For clarification, the "family name" is typically the father's father's name (grandfather).


title: Surnames by country

text: Proper names in Albanian are fully declinable like any noun (e.g. "Marinelda", genitive case "i/e Marineldës" "of Marinelda").


title: Surnames by country

text: Armenian surnames almost always have the ending () transliterated into English as -yan or -ian (spelled -ean (եան) in Western Armenian and pre-Soviet Eastern Armenian, of Ancient Armenian or Iranian origin, presumably meaning "son of"), though names with that ending can also be found among Persians and a few other nationalities. Armenian surnames can derive from a geographic location, profession, noble rank, personal characteristic or personal name of an ancestor. Armenians in the diaspora sometimes adapt their surnames to help assimilation. In Russia, many have changed -yan to -ov (or -ova for women). In Turkey, many have changed the ending to -oğlu (also meaning "son of"). In English and French-speaking countries, many have shortened their name by removing the ending (for example Charles Aznavour). In ancient Armenia, many noble names ended with the locative -t'si (example, Khorenatsi) or -uni (Bagratuni). Several modern Armenian names also have a Turkish suffix which appears before -ian/-yan: -lian denotes a placename; -djian denotes a profession. Some Western Armenian names have a particle Der, while their Eastern counterparts have Ter. This particle indicates an ancestor who was a priest (Armenian priests can choose to marry or remain celibate, but married priests cannot become a bishop). Thus someone named Der Bedrosian (Western) or Ter Petrosian (Eastern) is a descendant of an Armenian priest. The convention is still in use today: the children of a priest named Hagop Sarkisian would be called Der Sarkisian. Other examples of Armenian surnames: Adonts, Sakunts, Vardanyants, Rshtuni.


title: Surnames by country

text: Traditional Azeri surnames usually end with "-lı", "-lu", (Turkic for 'with' or 'belonging to'), "-oğlu", "-qızı" (Turkic for 'son of' and 'daughter of'), "-zade" (Persian for 'born of'). Azerbaijanis of Iranian descent traditionally use suffixes such as '-pour' or '-zadeh', meaning 'born of' with their father's name. It is, however, more usual for them to use the name of the city in which their ancestors lived (e.g. Tabrizpour for those from Tabriz) or their occupation (e.g. Damirchizadeh for blacksmiths). Also, due to it being a part of the Russian Empire, many last names carry Slavic endings of "-ov" for men and "-ova" for women.


title: Surnames by country

text: Most eastern Georgian surnames end with the suffix of "-shvili", (e.g. Kartveli'shvili) Georgian for "child" or "offspring". Western Georgian surnames most commonly have the suffix "-dze", (e.g. ) Georgian for "son". Megrelian surnames usually end in "-ia", "-ua" or "-ava". Other location-specific endings exist: In Svaneti "-iani", meaning "belonging to", or "hailing from", is common. In the eastern Georgian highlands common endings are "uri" and "uli". Some noble family names end in "eli", meaning "of (someplace)".


title: Surnames by country

text: In Georgian, the surname is not normally used as the polite form of address; instead, the given name is used together with a title. For instance, Nikoloz Kartvelishvili is politely addressed as "bat'ono Nikoloz" "My Lord. Nikoloz".


title: Surnames by country

text: Greek surnames are most commonly patronymics. Occupation, characteristic, or ethnic background and location/origin-based surnames names also occur; they are sometimes supplemented by nicknames.


title: Surnames by country

text: Commonly, Greek male surnames end in -s, which is the common ending for Greek masculine proper nouns in the nominative case. Exceptionally, some end in -ou, indicating the genitive case of this proper noun for patronymic reasons.


title: Surnames by country

text: Although surnames are static today, dynamic and changing patronym usage survives in middle names in Greece where the genitive of the father's first name is commonly the middle name.


title: Surnames by country

text: Because of their codification in the Modern Greek state, surnames have Katharevousa forms even though Katharevousa is no longer the official standard. Thus, the Ancient Greek name Eleutherios forms the Modern Greek proper name Lefteris, and former vernacular practice (prefixing the surname to the proper name) was to call John Eleutherios Leftero-giannis.


title: Surnames by country

text: Modern practice is to call the same person Giannis Eleftheriou: the proper name is vernacular (and not Ioannis), but the surname is an archaic genitive. However, children are almost always baptised with the archaic form of the name so in official matters, the child will be referred to as Ioannis Eleftheriou and not Giannis Eleftheriou.


title: Surnames by country

text: Female surnames are most often in the Katharevousa genitive case of a male name. This is an innovation of the Modern Greek state; Byzantine practice was to form a feminine counterpart of the male surname (e.g. masculine Palaiologos, Byzantine feminine Palaiologina, Modern feminine Palaiologou).


title: Surnames by country

text: In the past, women would change their surname when married to that of their husband (again in the genitive case) signifying the transfer of "dependence" from the father to the husband. In earlier Modern Greek society, women were named with -aina as a feminine suffix on the husband's first name: "Giorgaina", "Mrs George", "Wife of George". Nowadays, a woman's legal surname does not change upon marriage, though she can use the husband's surname socially. Children usually receive the paternal surname, though in rare cases, if the bride and groom have agreed before the marriage, the children can receive the maternal surname.


title: Surnames by country

text: Some surnames are prefixed with Papa-, indicating ancestry from a priest, e.g. "Papageorgiou", the "son of a priest named George". Others, like Archi- and Mastro- signify "boss" and "tradesman" respectively.


title: Surnames by country

text: Prefixes such as Konto-, Makro-, and Chondro- describe body characteristics, such as "short", "tall/long" and "fat". "Gero-" and "Palaio-" signify "old" or "wise".


title: Surnames by country

text: Other prefixes include Hadji- (Χαντζή- or Χαντζι-) which was an honorific deriving from the Arabic Hadj or pilgrimage, and indicate that the person had made a pilgrimage (in the case of Christians, to Jerusalem) and Kara- which is attributed to the Turkish word for "black" deriving from the Ottoman Empire era. The Turkish suffix -oglou (derived from a patronym, "-oğlu" in Turkish) can also be found. Although they are of course more common among Greece's Muslim minority, they still can be found among the Christian majority, often Greeks or Karamanlides who were pressured to leave Turkey after the Turkish Republic was founded (since Turkish surnames only date to the founding of the Republic, when Atatürk made them compulsory).


title: Surnames by country

text: Arvanitic surnames also exist; an example is "Tzanavaras" or "Tzavaras", from the Arvanitic word "çanavar" or "çavar" meaning "brave" ("pallikari" in Greek).


title: Surnames by country

text: Most Greek patronymic suffixes are diminutives, which vary by region. The most common Hellenic patronymic suffixes are:


title: Surnames by country

text: Either the surname or the given name may come first in different contexts; in newspapers and in informal uses, the order is "given name + surname", while in official documents and forums (tax forms, registrations, military service, school forms), the surname is often listed or said first.


title: Surnames by country

text: In Hungarian, like Asian languages but unlike most other European ones (see French and German above for exceptions), the family name is placed before the given names. This usage does not apply to non-Hungarian names, for example "Tony Blair" will remain "Tony Blair" when written in Hungarian texts.


title: Surnames by country

text: Indonesians comprise more than 1,300 ethnic groups. Not all of these groups traditionally have surnames, and in the populous Java surnames are not common at all – regardless of which one of the six officially recognized religions the name carrier profess. For instance, a Christian Javanese woman named "Agnes Mega Rosalin" has three forenames and no surname. "Agnes" is her Christian name, but "Mega" can be the first name she uses and the name which she is addressed with. "Rosalin" is only a middle name. Nonetheless, Indonesians are well aware of the custom of family names, which is known as "marga" or "fam", and such names have become a specific kind of identifier. People can tell what a person's heritage is by his or her family or clan name.


title: Surnames by country

text: Javanese people are the majority in Indonesia, and most do not have any surname. There are some individuals, especially the old generation, who have only one name, such as "Suharto" and "Sukarno". These are not only common with the Javanese but also with other Indonesian ethnic groups who do not have the tradition of surnames. If, however, they are Muslims, they might opt to follow Arabic naming customs, but Indonesian Muslims don't automatically follow Arabic name traditions.


title: Surnames by country

text: In conjunction with migration to Europe or America, Indonesians without surnames often adopt a surname based on some family name or middle name. The forms for visa application many Western countries use, has a square for writing the last name which cannot be left unfilled by the applicant.


title: Surnames by country

text: Most Chinese Indonesians substituted their Chinese surnames with Indonesian-sounding surnames due to political pressure from 1965 to 1998 under Suharto's regime.


title: Surnames by country

text: Suffixes include: -an (plural suffix), -i ("of"), -zad/-zadeh ("born of"), -pur ("son of"), -nejad ("from the race of"), -nia ("descendant of"), -mand ("having or pertaining to"), -vand ("succeeding"), -far ("holder of"), -doost ("-phile"), -khah ("seeking of"), -manesh ("having the manner of"), -ian/-yan, -gar and -chi ("whose vocation pertains").


title: Surnames by country

text: An example is names of geographical locations plus "-i": Irani ("Iranian"), Gilani ("of Gilan province"), Tabrizi ("of the city of Tabriz").


title: Surnames by country

text: Another example is last names that indicate relation to religious groups such as Zoroastrian (e.g. Goshtaspi, Namiranian, Azargoshasp), Jewish (e.g. Yaghubian [Jacobean], Hayyem [Life], Shaul [Saul]) or Muslim (e.g. Alavi, Islamnia, Montazeri)


title: Surnames by country

text: Traditionally in Iran, the wife does not take her husband's surname, although children take the surname of their father. Individual reactions notwithstanding, it is possible to call a married woman by her husband's surname. This is facilitated by the fact that English words "Mrs.", "Miss", "Woman", "Lady" and "Wife (of)" in a polite context are all translated into "خانم" (Khaanom). Context, however, is important: "خانم گلدوست" (Khaanom Goldust) may, for instance, refer to the daughter of Mr. Goldust instead of his wife.


title: Surnames by country

text: When most of Iranian surnames are used with a name, the name will be ended with a suffix _E or _ie (of) such as Hasan_e roshan (Hasan is name and roshan is surname) that means Hasan of Roshan or Mosa_ie saiidi (Muses of saiidi). The _e is not for surname and it is difficult to say it is a part of surname.


title: Surnames by country

text: Italy has around 350,000 surnames. Most of them derive from the following sources: patronym or ilk (e.g. "Francesco di Marco", "Francis, son of Mark" or "Eduardo de Filippo", "Edward belonging to the family of Philip"), occupation (e.g. "Enzo Ferrari", "Heinz (of the) Blacksmiths"), personal characteristic (e.g. nicknames or pet names like "Dario Forte", "Darius the Strong"), geographic origin (e.g. "Elisabetta Romano", "Elisabeth from Rome") and objects (e.g. "Carlo Sacchi", "Charles Bags"). The two most common Italian family names, "Russo" and "Rossi", mean the same thing, "Red", possibly referring to the hair color.


title: Surnames by country

text: Both Western and Eastern orders are used for full names: the given name usually comes first, but the family name may come first in administrative settings; lists are usually indexed according to the last name.


title: Surnames by country

text: Since 1975, women have kept their own surname when married, but until recently (2000) they could have added the surname of the husband according to the civil code, although it was a very seldom-used practice. In recent years, the husband's surname cannot be used in any official situation. In some unofficial situations, sometimes both surnames are written (the proper first), sometimes separated by "in" (e.g. "Giuseppina Mauri in Crivelli") or, in case of widows, "ved." ("vedova").


title: Surnames by country

text: Latvian male surnames usually end in "-s", "-š" or "-is" whereas the female versions of the same names end in "-a" or "-e" or "s" in both unmarried and married women.


title: Surnames by country

text: Before the emancipation from serfdom (1817 in Courland, 1819 in Vidzeme, 1861 in Latgale) only noblemen, free craftsmen or people living in towns had surnames. Therefore, the oldest Latvian surnames originate from German or Low German, reflecting the dominance of German as an official language in Latvia till the 19th century. Examples: "Meijers/Meijere" (German: "Meier", farm administrator; akin to Mayor), "Millers/Millere" (German: "Müller", miller), "Šmits/Šmite" (German: "Schmidt", smith), "Šulcs/Šulce, Šulca" (German: "Schultz" or "Schulz", constable), "Ulmanis" (German: "Ullmann", a person from Ulm), "Godmanis" (a God-man), "Pētersons" (son of Peter). Some Latvian surnames, mainly from Latgale are of Polish or Belorussian origin by changing the final "-ski/-cki" to "-skis/-ckis", "-czyk" to "-čiks" or "-vich/-wicz" to "-vičs", such as "Sokolovkis/Sokolovska", "Baldunčiks/Baldunčika" or "Ratkevičs/Ratkeviča".


title: Surnames by country

text: Most Latvian peasants received their surnames in 1826 (in Vidzeme), in 1835 (in Courland), and in 1866 (in Latgale). Diminutives were the most common form of family names. Examples: "Kalniņš/Kalniņa" (small hill), "Bērziņš/Bērziņa" (small birch).


title: Surnames by country

text: Nowadays many Latvians of Slavic descent have surnames of Russian, Belarusian, or Ukrainian origin, for example "Volkovs/Volkova" or "Antoņenko".


title: Surnames by country

text: Libya's names and surnames have a strong Islamic/Arab nature, with some Turkish influence from Ottoman Empire rule of nearly 400 years.


title: Surnames by country

text: Due to its location as a trade route and the different cultures that had their impact on Libya throughout history, one can find names that could have originated in neighboring countries, including clan names from the Arabian Peninsula, and Turkish names derived from military rank or status ("Basha", "Agha").


title: Surnames by country

text: Lithuanian names follow the Baltic distinction between male and female suffixes of names, although the details are different. Male surnames usually end in "-a", "-as", "-aitis", "-ys", "-ius", or "-us", whereas the female versions change these suffixes to "-aitė, -ytė, -iūtė", and "-utė" respectively (if unmarried), "-ienė" (if married), or "-ė" (not indicating the marital status). Some Lithuanians have names of Polish or another Slavic origin, which are made to conform to Lithuanian by changing the final "-ski" to "-skas", such as "Sadauskas", with the female version bein -"skaitė" (if unmarried), "-skienė" (if married), or "-skė" (not indicating the marital status).


title: Surnames by country

text: Different cultures have their impact on the demographics of the Maltese islands, and this is evident in the various surnames Maltese citizens bear nowadays. There are very few "Maltese" surnames per se: the few that originate from Maltese places of origin include "Chircop" (Kirkop), "Lia" (Lija), "Balzan" (Balzan), "Valletta" (Valletta), and "Sciberras" (Xebb ir-Ras Hill, on which Valletta was built). The village of Munxar, Gozo is characterised by the majority of its population having one of two surnames, either "Curmi" or "de Brincat". In Gozo, the surnames "Bajada" and "Farrugia" are also common.


title: Surnames by country

text: Sicilian and Italian surnames are common due to the close vicinity to Malta. Sicilians were the first to colonise the Maltese islands. Common examples include "Azzopardi", "Bonello", "Cauchi", "Farrugia", "Gauci", "Rizzo", "Schembri", "Tabone", "Vassallo", "Vella".


title: Surnames by country

text: English surnames exist for a number of reasons, but mainly due to migration as well as Malta forming a part of the British Empire in the 19th century and most of the 20th. Common examples include "Bone", "Harding", "Atkins", "Mattocks", "Smith", "Jones", "Woods", "Turner".


title: Surnames by country

text: Arabic surnames occur in part due to the early presence of the Arabs in Malta. Common examples include "Sammut", "Camilleri", "Zammit", and "Xuereb".


title: Surnames by country

text: Many of the earliest Maltese surnames are Sicilian Greek, e.g. "Cilia", "Calleia", "Brincat", "Cauchi". Much less common are recent surnames from Greece; examples include "Dacoutros", and "Trakosopoulos"


title: Surnames by country

text: The original Jewish community of Malta and Gozo has left no trace of their presence on the islands since they were expelled in January 1493.


title: Surnames by country

text: In line with the practice in other Christian, European states, women generally assume their husband's surname after legal marriage, and this is passed on to any children the couple may bear. Some women opt to retain their old name, for professional/personal reasons, or combine their surname with that of their husband.


title: Surnames by country

text: Mongolians do not use surnames in the way that most Westerners, Chinese or Japanese do. Since the socialist period, patronymics – then called "ovog", now called "etsgiin ner" – are used instead of a surname. If the father's name is unknown, a matronymic is used. The patro- or matronymic is written before the given name. Therefore, if a man with given name Tsakhia has a son, and gives the son the name Elbegdorj, the son's full name is Tsakhia Elbegdorj. Very frequently, the patronymic is given in genitive case, i.e. Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj. However, the patronymic is rather insignificant in everyday use and usually just given as an initial – Ts. Elbegdorj. People are normally just referred to and addressed by their given name (Elbegdorj "guai" – Mr. Elbegdorj), and if two people share a common given name, they are usually just kept apart by their initials, not by the full patronymic.


title: Surnames by country

text: Since 2000, Mongolians have been officially using clan names – "ovog", the same word that had been used for the patronymics before – on their IDs. Many people chose the names of the ancient clans and tribes such Borjigin, Besud, Jalair, etc. Also many extended families chose the names of the native places of their ancestors. Some chose the names of their most ancient known ancestor. Some just decided to pass their own given names (or modifications of their given names) to their descendants as clan names. Some chose other attributes of their lives as surnames. Gürragchaa chose Sansar (Cosmos). Clan names precede the patronymics and given names, e.g. Besud Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj. These clan names have a significance and are included in Mongolian passports.


title: Surnames by country

text: People from Myanmar or Burmese, have no family names. This, to some, is the only known Asian people having no family names at all. Some of those from Myanmar or Burma, who are familiar with European or American cultures, began to put to their younger generations with a family name – adopted from the notable ancestors. For example, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of the late Father of Independence General Aung San; Hayma Ne Win, is the daughter of the famous actor Kawleikgyin Ne Win etc.


title: Surnames by country

text: Until the middle of the 19th century, there was no standardization of surnames in the Philippines. There were native Filipinos without surnames, others whose surnames deliberately did not match that of their families, as well as those who took certain surnames simply because they had a certain prestige, usually ones related to the Roman Catholic religion, such as de los Santos ("of the saints") and de la Cruz ("of the cross").


title: Surnames by country

text: On 21 November 1849, the Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines, Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa, decreed an end to these arbitrary practices, the systematic distribution of surnames to Filipinos without prior surnames and the universal implementation of the Spanish naming system. This produced the "Catálogo alfabético de apellidos" ("Alphabetical Catalogue of Surnames"), which listed permitted surnames with origins in Spanish, Filipino, and Hispanicised Chinese words, names, and numbers. Thus, many Spanish-sounding Filipino surnames are not surnames common to the rest of the Hispanophone world. Surnames with connections to nobility, either Spanish or local, however, was explicitly prohibited, and only allowed to be retained by families with noble status or having the surname used in three consecutive generations. The book contained many words coming from Spanish and the Philippine languages such as Tagalog, as well as many Basque surnames such as Zuloaga or Aguirre.


title: Surnames by country

text: The colonial authorities implemented this decree because too many (early) Christianized Filipinos assumed religious names. There soon were too many people surnamed "de los Santos" ("of the saints"), "de la Cruz" ("of the cross"), "del Rosario" ("of the Rosary"), "Bautista" ("Baptist"), et cetera, which made it difficult for the Spanish colonists to control the Filipino people, and most importantly, to collect taxes. These extremely common names were also banned by the decree unless the name has been used by a family for at least four generations. This Spanish naming custom also countered the native custom before the Spanish period, wherein siblings assumed different surnames. Clavería's decree was enforced to different degrees in different parts of the colony.


title: Surnames by country

text: Because of this implementation of Spanish naming customs, of the arrangement "given_name + paternal_surname + maternal_surname", in the Philippines, a Spanish surname does not necessarily denote Spanish ancestry.


title: Surnames by country

text: In practice, the application of this decree varied from municipality to municipality. Most municipalities received surnames starting with only one initial letter, but some are assigned surnames starting with two or three initial letters. For example, the majority of residents of the island of Banton in the province of Romblon have surnames starting with F such as "Fabicon", "Fallarme", "Fadrilan", and "Ferran". Other examples are case of Batangas, Batangas (present-day Batangas City), where most residents bear surnames starting with the letters A, B, and C, such as "Abacan", "Albayalde", "Almarez", "Andal", "Arce", "Arceo", "Arguelles", "Arrieta", "Babasa", "Balmes", "Basco", "Baylosis", "Berberabe", "Biscocho", "Blanco", "Borbon", "Calingasan", "Caringal", "Chavez", "Cuenca", and "Custodio" (in addition to some bearing native Tagalog surnames, such as "Dimaano", "Dimacuha", "Macatangay", "Malabanan", and "Marasigan"), and Argao, Cebu, where most residents bear surnames starting with "VI" and "Al", such as "Villaluz", "Villaflor", "Villamor", "Villanueva", "Albo", "Alcain", "Alcarez", "Algones", etc.


title: Surnames by country

text: Thus, although perhaps a majority of Filipinos have Spanish surnames, such a surname does not indicate Spanish ancestry. In addition, most Filipinos currently do not use Spanish accented letters in their Spanish derived names. The lack of accents in Filipino Spanish has been attributed to the lack of accents on the predominantly American typewriters after the US gained control of the Philippines.


title: Surnames by country

text: The vast majority of Filipinos follow a naming system in the American order (i.e. given_name + middle_name + surname), which is the reverse of the Spanish naming order (i.e. given_name + paternal_surname + maternal_surname). Children take the mother's surname as their middle name, followed by their father's as their surname; for example, a son of Juan de la Cruz and his wife María Agbayani may be David Agbayani de la Cruz. Women usually take the surnames of their husband upon marriage, and consequently lose their maiden middle names; so upon her marriage to David de la Cruz, the full name of Laura Yuchengco Macaraeg would become Laura Macaraeg de la Cruz. Their maiden last names automatically become their middle names upon marriage.


title: Surnames by country

text: There are other sources for surnames. Many Filipinos also have Chinese-derived surnames, which in some cases could indicate Chinese ancestry. Many Hispanicised Chinese numerals and other Hispanicised Chinese words, however, were also among the surnames in the "Catálogo alfabético de apellidos". For those whose surname may indicate Chinese ancestry, analysis of the surname may help to pinpoint when those ancestors arrived in the Philippines. A Hispanicised Chinese surname such as Cojuangco suggests an 18th-century arrival while a Chinese surname such as Lim suggests a relatively recent immigration. Some Chinese surnames such as Tiu-Laurel are composed of the immigrant Chinese ancestor's surname as well as the name of that ancestor's godparent on receiving Christian baptism.


title: Surnames by country

text: In the predominantly Muslim areas of the southern Philippines, adoption of surnames was influenced by Islamic religious terms. As a result, surnames among Filipino Muslims are largely Arabic-based, and include such surnames as Hassan and Haradji.


title: Surnames by country

text: There are also Filipinos who, to this day, have no surnames at all, particularly if they come from indigenous cultural communities.