Demonym

A demonym /ˈdɛmənɪm/, or gentilic, is a term for the residents of a locality. It is usually but not always derived from the name of a locality. For example, the demonym for the people of Canada is Canadian; the demonym for the people of Sweden is Swede; the demonym for the people of Germany is German; the demonym for the people of Switzerland is Swiss; but the most common English language demonym for the people of the Netherlands is Dutch. Some locations have double forms; for example, the demonym for the people of Britain can be either British or Briton.

Etymology

The word demonym comes from the Greek word for "populace" (δῆμος demos) with the suffix for "name" (-onym).

National Geographic Magazine attributes this term to Merriam-Webster editor Paul Dickson in a work from 1990. It was subsequently popularized in this sense in 1997 by Dickson in his book Labels for Locals. Dickson himself, however, in What Do You Call a Person From...? A Dictionary of Resident Names (the first edition of Labels for Locals) attributed the term to George H. Scheetz, in his Names' Names: A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon (1988), which is apparently where the term first appears. The term is foreshadowed in demonymic, which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as the name of an Athenian citizen according to the deme to which he belonged, with first usage traced to 1893.

Some places, particularly smaller cities and towns, may not have an established word for their residents, which poses a challenge to toponymists, who have a particular challenge in researching these.

Demonyms as roots

While many demonyms are derived from placenames, many countries are named for their inhabitants (Finland for the Finns, Germany for the Germans, Thailand for the Thai, Denmark for the Danes, France for the Franks, Slovakia for the Slovaks, and Slovenia for the Slovenes). Tribes and peoples generally have a longer continuous history than their countries; tribal names often imply a descent from a single ancestor, such as Rus, the legendary ancestor of the Kievan Rus, the precursor to modern Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. In Bantu languages the name of the land and the name of the inhabitants will have a common root distinguished by different prefixes (e.g. Buganda, land, and Baganda, inhabitants).

Adjectives as placenames

Some placenames originated as adjectives. In such cases the placename and the demonym are often the same word. This dual function is very common in French, where for example Lyonnais means either the region or an inhabitant of Lyon. Examples include:

• Argentina: properly República Argentina (Argentine Republic) or Tierra Argentina (Land of Silver), from Latin argentum (silver). In English, the Spanish form Argentina is used for the country, the parallel English form Argentine as demonym and general adjective. The adjectival forms of Argentinean or Argentinian are used in the United Kingdom and the United States; however, the Oxford English Dictionary lists Argentine as the correct demonym. (Argentinian is a demonym for the Argentine, an archaic name for Argentina, and hence a less direct derivation.)
• Brazil: from pau brasil (pau: wood; brasil: ember-red color), the name of a native Brazilian tree highly regarded by the Portuguese explorers. The adjective brasil (Brazil in the old Portuguese spelling) came to be the official name for the whole country and lost its adjectival nature.
• Philippines: from Philippine Islands (Spanish: Islas Filipinas) or Isla ng Pilipinas, named after King Philip II of Spain. Here, Philippine is the general adjective, while the Spanish masculine noun Filipino is the demonym in English (or "Pilipino" in the Philippine national language of Tagalog), with the plural Filipinos, as in Spanish or simply "Pilipino". Filipina or Pilipina is often used to distinguish a female Filipino, but she or anyone may also apply the masculine as the general form.

Suffixation

The English language uses several models to create demonyms. The most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location's name, slightly modified in some instances. These may be modeled after Late Latin, Semitic, Celtic or Germanic suffixes, such as:

-(a)n

continents:

• Africa â†' African
• Antarctica â†' Antarctican
• Asia â†' Asian
• Australia â†' Australian
• Europe â†' European
• North America â†' North American
• South America â†' South American

countries:

states / provinces:

cities:

″German″ is not derived by suffixation of the term "Germ"; rather, it is the shortened form of Latin "Germani."

-ian

countries:

cities / states / provinces:

• Western Australia â†' Western Australian, Westralian (informal)

-anian

countries:

• Guam â†' Guamanian

-nian

• Bendigo â†' Bendigonian
• Buffalo â†' Buffalonian
• Oxford â†'Oxonian
• Panama â†' Panamanian
• Sligo â†' Sligonian
• Tobago â†' Tobagonian
• Toronto â†' Torontonian
• South Carolina â†' South Carolinian

-in(e)

• Argentina â†' Argentine (and less commonly as "Argentinian" or "Argentinean")
• Byzantium â†' Byzantine
• Florence â†' Florentine (also Latin "Florentia")
• The Levant â†' Levantine
• Montenegro â†' Montenegrin
• Palatinate â†' Palatine
• Philistia â†' Philistine

-ite

-(e)r

Often used for European locations and Canadian locations.

-(en)(in)o

as adaptations from the standard Spanish suffix -(eñ/n)o. countries:

• Andorra â†' andorrano
• China â†' chino
• El Salvador â†' salvadoreño (also "Salvadoran")
• Philippines â†' Filipino

cities:

• Los Angeles â†' Angeleno or Los Angeleno
• Madrid â†' madrileño
• Málaga â†' malagüeño
• Manila â†' manileño
• Davao City â†' Davaoeño
• Zamboanga City â†' zamboangueño

-ish

"-ish" is usually only proper as an adjective. Thus many common "-ish" forms have irregular demonyms, e.g. Britain/British/Briton; Denmark/Danish/Dane; England/English/Englishman; Finland/Finnish/Finn; Flanders/Flemish/Fleming; Ireland/Irish/Irishman; Kurdistan/Kurdish/Kurd; Poland/Polish/Pole; Scotland/Scottish/Scot; Spain/Spanish/Spaniard; Sweden/Swedish/Swede; Turkey/Turkish/Turk.

-ene

• Cairo â†' Cairene
• Cyrenaica â†' Cyrene
• Damascus â†' Damascene
• Hellas (Greece) â†' Hellene
• Nazareth â†' Nazarene
• Slovenia â†' Slovene (also "Slovenian")

Often used for Middle Eastern locations and European locations.

-ensian

• Kingston-upon-Hull (UK) â†' Hullensian

-ard

• Spain â†' Spaniard
• Savoy â†' Savoyard

-ese, -lese or -nese

"-ese" is usually considered proper only as an adjective, or to refer to the entirety. Thus, "a Chinese person" is used rather than "a Chinese". Often used for East Asian and Francophone locations, from the similar-sounding French suffix -ais(e), which is originally from the Latin adjectival ending -ensis, designating origin from a place: thus Hispaniensis (Spanish), Danensis (Danish), etc.

-i

Mostly for Middle Eastern and South Asian locales and in Latinate names for the various people that ancient Romans encountered (e.g. Allemanni, Helvetii)

-ic

• Finland â†' Finnic â†' (also "Finnish" or "Finn")
• Greenland â†' Greenlandic
• Hispania â†' Hispanic
• Iceland â†' Icelandic (also "Icelander")
• Semite â†' Semitic
• Turkey â†' Turkic (also "Turkish" or "Turk")

Derives from a Greek suffix widely used outside ethnonyms (e.g., chemical compounds), which with regard to people is mostly used adjectivally (Semite vs. Semitic Arab/Arabian vs. Arabic) to refer to a wider ethnic or linguistic group (Turkic vs. Turkish, Finnic vs. Finnish).

-iot(e)

• Corfu â†' Corfiot
• Cyprus â†' Cypriot
• Phanar â†' Phanariote

Used especially for Greek locations.

-asque

• Monaco â†' Monégasque (for natural born citizens of Monaco, not naturalized citizens, see above)
• Menton â†' Mentonasque

Often used for French locations.

-gian

• Galloway â†' Galwegian
• Galway â†' Galwegian
• Georgia â†' Georgian
• Glasgow â†' Glaswegian
• Norway â†' Norwegian

-onian

• Aberdeen â†' Aberdonian
• Bath â†' Bathonian
• Cork â†' Corkonian
• Dundee â†' Dundonian
• Halifax â†' Haligonian
• Newport â†' Newportonian

Often used for British and Irish locations.

-vian

• Barrow-in-Furness â†' Barrovian
• Oamaru â†' Oamaruvian
• Oslo â†' Oslovian
• Peru â†' Peruvian
• Warsaw â†' Varsovian
• Waterloo â†' Waterluvian

Irregular forms

There are many irregular demonyms for recently formed entities, such as those in the New World. There are other demonyms that are borrowed from the native or another language.

In some cases, both the location's name and the demonym are produced by suffixation, for example England and English and English(wo)man (derived from the Angle tribe). In some cases the derivation is concealed enough that it is no longer morphemic: France â†' French (or Frenchman/Frenchwoman) or Flanders â†' Flemish or Wales â†' Welsh.

In some of the latter cases the noun is formed by adding -man or -woman, for example English/Englishman/Englishwoman; Irish/Irishman/Irishwoman; Chinese/Chinese man/Chinese woman (versus the archaic or derogatory terms Chinaman/Chinawoman).

From Latin or Latinization

• Alsace â†' Alsatian (Alsatia)
• Ashbourne â†' Ashburnian (Essiburn)
• Colchester â†' Colcestrian
• Courland â†' Couronian (Curonia)
• Exeter â†' Exonian
• Germany â†' German (Germani)
• Guernsey â†' Sarnian (Sarnia)
• Halifax â†' Haligonian
• Leeds â†' Leodensian (Ledesia)
• Lviv â†' Leopolitan (Leopolis)
• Manchester â†' Mancunian (Mancunia)
• Melbourne â†' Melburnian (Melburnia)
• Naples â†' Neapolitan (Neapolis)
• Newcastle â†' Novocastrian (Novum Castrum)
• Orkney Islands â†' Orcadian (Orcadia)
• Shropshire â†' Salopian (Salopia)
• St Albans â†' Verulamian (Verulamium)
• Tripoli â†' Tripolitan (Tripolis)
• University of Cambridge â†' Cantabrigian
• University of Durham â†' Dunelmensis
• University of Oxford â†' Oxonian
• University of North Texas â†' Aquilonemtexian
• Venice â†' Venetian
• Wolverhampton â†' Wulfrunian

From native or other languages

• Aberteifi â†' Cardi
• Andhra â†' Andhraite
• Aguascalientes (lit. "hot waters") â†' Hidrocálido, from Mexico's state and city.
• Bangalore â†' Bangalorean
• Barbados â†' Bajan A colloquial term a shortened form of Barbadian â†' Bar-bajan â†' Bajan
• Birmingham â†' Brummie
• Bordeaux â†' Bordelais (from French)
• Botswana â†' Batswana (plural), Motswana (singular)
• Brittany â†' Breton (from French)
• Brussels â†' Bruxellois (from French)
• Burkina Faso â†' Burkinabè
• Burma/Myanmar â†' Myanma
• Cambodia â†' Khmer (also Cambodian)
• Colchester â†' Colcestrian
• County Cork â†' Corkonian
• Dundee â†' Dundonian
• Fontainebleau â†' Bellifontain (from French)
• Gascony â†' Gascon (from French)
• Glasgow â†' Glaswegian
• Hartlepool â†' Hartlepudlian
• Karnataka â†' Kannadiga (from the local demonym)
• Kiribati â†' i-Kiribati
• Kosovo â†' Kosovar (Albanian language)
• Lesotho â†' Basotho (from Sesotho), Mosotho (singular)
• Liverpool â†' Liverpudlian or Scouse
• Lyon â†' Lyonnais (from French)
• Marseille â†' Marseillais (from French)
• Meru â†' Merian (Residents of Meru, Kenya)
• Maharashtra â†' Maharashtrian (either gender, singular or plural)
• Mumbai â†' Mumbaikar (either gender), Mumbaikars
• Naples â†' Napoletano/a
• Netherlands â†' Dutch (from Middle Dutch: Duuts, High German: Deutsch, or Proto-Germanic: *þeudiskaz (all three meaning "national/popular"))
• Nice â†' Niçois (from French)
• Niger â†' Nigerien (from French)
• Normandy â†' Norman (from French)
• Nunavut â†' Nunavummiuq (from Inuktitut)
• Odisha â†' Oriya
• Paisley â†' Buddie
• Parma â†' Parmesan in English, Parmigiano in Italian, Pram'zan in emilian, while Parmense is for people born in the province of Parma, (emilian language: Arijoz)
• Philippines â†' Pinoy (m.)/ Pinay (f.)
• Picardy â†' Picard (from French)
• Puerto Rico â†' Puerto Rican. In Spanish, Boricua
• Pune â†' Punekar (either gender), Punekars
• Pegswood â†' Pegswardian
• Quebec â†' Québécois (from French)
• Rivière-du-Loup â†' Louperivois
• Seychelles â†' Seychellois (from French)
• Stockport â†' Stopfordian
• Tamil Nadu â†' Tamilian
• The Hague â†' Hagenees (people born in the inner city), Hagenaar (people born elsewhere)
• Tuscany â†' Tuscan (from French Toscane)
• Twente â†' Tukker
• Vanuatu â†' ni-Vanuatu

Irregular singular forms

• Afghanistan â†'Afghan
• Balochistan â†' Balochi
• Bashkortostan â†' Bashkir
• Chechnya â†' Chechen
• Croatia â†' Croat (also Croatian)
• Czech Republic â†' Czech
• Denmark â†' Dane
• Finland â†' Finn
• France â†' French
• Greece â†' Greek
• Ingushetia â†' Ingush
• Isle of Man â†' Manx
• Kazakhstan â†' Kazakh
• Kurdistan â†' Kurd
• Kyrgyzstan â†' Kyrgyz
• Mongolia â†' Mongol (Mongolian is for citizens of Mongolia, Mongol is for the ethnic group)
• Poland â†' Pole
• Saxony â†' Saxon
• Serbia â†' Serb (also Serbian)
• Seychelles â†' Seychellois
• Slovakia â†' Slovak
• Soviet Union â†' Soviet
• Spain â†' Spaniard
• St Etienne â†' Stephanois
• Sweden â†' Swede
• Switzerland â†' Swiss
• Tajikistan â†' Tajik
• Tatarstan â†' Tatar
• Thailand â†' Thai
• Turkey â†' Turk
• Turkmenistan â†' Turkmen
• Uzbekistan â†' Uzbek
• Wallonia â†' Walloon
• Yakutistan â†' Yakut

New World forms

In the case of most Canadian provinces and territories and U.S. states, it is unusual to use demonyms as attributive adjectives (for example "Manitoba maple", not "Manitoban maple" and "Canada geese", not "Canadian geese"); thus they are generally used only predicatively ("Ben Franklin was Pennsylvanian") or substantively ("Eight Virginians have become Presidents of the United States"). There are some exceptions â€" the attributive adjective for Alaska for many is Alaskan; the same is true for Alberta (Albertan), Texas (Texan), and Hawaii (Hawaiian).

• Annapolis â†' Annapolitan
• Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío â†' Paisa, although the correct term for Antioquia citizen is Antioquenian or Antioqueño (Spanish)
• Buenos Aires â†' Porteño (city), Bonaerense (province)
• Canada â†' Canadien (male), Canadienne (female), when referring to someone of French-Canadian heritage
• Cape Breton â†' Caper
• Connecticut â†' Connecticuter
• Espírito Santo â†' espírito-santense or capixaba
• Halifax â†' Haligonian
• Indianapolis â†' Indianapolitan
• Indiana â†' Hoosier
• Los Angeles â†' Angeleno
• Maine â†' Mainer
• Maryland â†' Marylander (/ˈmærɨlÉ™ndÉ™r/ MARR-i-lÉ™nd-É™r, sometimes /ˈmɛərlÉ™ndÉ™r/ MAIR-lÉ™nd-É™r)
• Massachusetts â†' Bay Stater
• Mexico City â†' Chilango
• Michigan â†' Michigander or Michiganian (the latter is almost never heard, the former is almost universally preferred) (coming from the Upper Peninsula â†' Yooper (from UP-er)) (coming from the Lower Peninsula â†' Loper or Troll (as they live, according to Yoopers, "under" the bridge.)
• Minneapolis â†' Minneapolitan
• Moose Jaw â†' Moose Javian
• Nepal â†' Gurkhas (also Nepali or Nepalese)
• New Zealand â†' Kiwi
• Newfoundland and Labrador â†' Newfoundlander, Labradorian, Newfie (also Newf or sometimes Newfy)
• Oklahoma â†' Oklahoman
• Phoenix, Arizona â†' Phoenician
• Portland â†' Portlander
• Quebec â†' Quebecker or Quebecer, English alternatives to Québécois(e) (which may carry language and political implications)
• Rio de Janeiro â†' Fluminense (State), Carioca (City)
• São Paulo â†' Paulista (State), Paulistano (City)
• Sydney â†' Sydneysider
• Texas â†' Texan (see also Texian and Tejano)
• Toronto â†' Torontonian
• Vitória, Espírito Santo â†' Capixaba (strictly, for a person from the city, Vitória, but loosely, for a person from the state)
• Waterloo â†' Waterluvian
• Wisconsin â†' Sconnie (see also Cheesehead)

A person who is a native or resident of Indiana is a Hoosier, an irregular demonym whose origin is obscure. The state's official nickname is "The Hoosier State". Hoosier is also an attributive adjective (e.g.: "the Hoosier Lottery"). Demonyms like "Indianan" or "Indianian" are attributed to the state by federal publications and dictionaries, but are confusing at best and not used in practice. (Since "Indiana" literally means "land of the Indians", the historical mistake initiated by Columbus becomes inherently absurd and clunky: "of the people of the land of the Indians," or perhaps "of the land of the land of the Indians", or even "of the land of the land of the land of the people of India") A search of the state's official website at in.gov on June 16, 2010 found 13 instances of the word Indianian and 47 of the word Indianan, compared to more than 20,000 of the word Hoosier.

Double forms

Some regions and populaces also have double forms, as the concepts of nation and state are diverging once more. Hence, one whose ancestors were from the United Kingdom is a Briton (derived from Roman "Brittonic", which is in turn derived from the Greek "Pretani") - not to be confused with the ancient tribe, the Britons - and citizens are also considered British. The Franks settled France, but the citizens are French. This may be the case for states that were formed or dissolved relatively recently. As in the examples below, another reason for double forms of demonyms may be in relation to historical, cultural or religious issues.

• Greek gods but Ode on a Grecian Urn â€" Greek may apply to anything connected with Greece, but Grecian is restricted to ancient culture.
• Israelite but Israeli â€" Israelite pertaining to the ancient tribes and kingdom of Israel; Israeli pertaining to the modern nation of the same name.
• Scotch whisky but Scottish art â€" Scotch used primarily for food and drink products of Scotland (broth, oats. Also mist) â€" in most other contexts it is archaic and often considered mildly derogatory; Scottish for anything else pertaining to Scotland. A person from Scotland may be a Scot or a Scotsman. All these forms come from Latin Scoti via English. Scotland's own Germanic language used (and was named) Scots, through the continued mixture of English and the Scots language, the adjective Scots has continued to be the preferred adjective of the people in Scotland.

In the United States, Asian refers to people or objects from Asia (most commonly when unqualified East Asia) but Oriental refers to objects. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Asian without qualification would usually refer to people and things from the Indian sub-continent, and Oriental is not considered an offensive term. It is far more common, however, to use the demonym of the specific nationality when it is known.

Due to the flexibility of the international system, the opposite is often also true, where one word might apply to multiple groups. The U.S. Department of State states that 98 percent of the Austrian population is ethnically German, while the CIA World Factbook contradicts this assertion by saying Austrians are a separate group (see Various terms used for Germans).

Fiction

Literature and science have created a wealth of demonyms that are not directly associated with a cultural group. These will typically be formed using the standard models above. Examples include Martian for hypothetical people of Mars (credited to scientist Percival Lowell) or Gondorian for the people of Tolkien's fictional land of Gondor.

Other science fiction examples include Jovian for those of Jupiter or its moons, and Venusian for those of Venus. Fictional aliens refer to the inhabitants of Earth as Earthling (from the diminutive -ling, ultimately from Old English -ing meaning "descendant"), as well as "Terran", "Terrene", "Tellurian", "Earther", "Earthican", "terrestrial", and "Solarian" (from Sol, the sun). Said demonyms of planets are often used astronomically to describe characteristics, such as surface, satellites, and weather, of the same planets: e.g., a Jovian storm.

Fantasy literature which involves other worlds or other lands also has a rich supply of demonyms. Examples include Lilliputians and Brobdingnagians, from the islands of Lilliput and Brobdingnag in the satire Gulliver's Travels.

In a few cases, where a linguistic background has been created, non-standard demonyms are formed (or the eponyms back-formed). Examples include Tolkien's Rohirrim (from Rohan) and the Star Trek world's Klingon people (with various version of homeworld name).

Cultural problems

There will often be differences between endonyms (terms used by groups themselves) and exonyms (terms used by outsiders to describe a group). Exonyms often lack the internal variety of endonyms: they often lump together groups who see themselves as distinct. For example, terms like Iroquois, Aztec, Māori, and Eskimo might be used by outsiders to refer to groups as a whole, whereas members of each of these groups will favor more differentiated endonyms. In extreme cases, groups may take an exonym as being pejorative; one prominent example is the case of the Inuit of Canada, who are often grouped together with the linguistically related but distinct Yupik people by the exonym Eskimo. Languages also might make use of grammatical differences that are lost when translated: in Czech, for example, the language is Čeština, the nation is Česká republika, and the people are Češi.

The governments of both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China officially adhere to the One-China policy, use "Chinese" to describe their nationals, and refuse to have diplomatic relations with states that recognize the other. However, in the Republic of China, consisting mostly of Taiwan, some inhabitants do not consider themselves Chinese, while others consider themselves both Chinese and Taiwanese.

Both North Korea and South Korea officially refer to their nationals simply as Koreans, since they recognize a single nationhood even if they refuse to recognize each other. They have diplomatic relations with states that recognize their rival.

The demonym for citizens of the United States of America suffers a similar problem albeit non-politically, because "American" may ambiguously refer to both the nation, the USA, and the conjoined continent pair, North and South America. The word "American" in English may to most English speakers refer exclusively to a person, place or object from the USA, but the word "americano" in Spanish would usually refer to anyone from either North or South America, including Latin Americans, and Latin Americans speaking English might also use the word "American" in the same way. Until the United States rose to world prominence in the 20th century, many Europeans would also use the word "American" in their own languages to refer to anyone from the entire Americas (more often to those of native American descent), and not just to people from the United States.

To give a more specific English-language demonym for US citizens other than "American" however would be somewhat challenging: United Statesian is not used in English, but a similar word exists in Spanish (estadounidense), French (étatsunien(ne), although américain(e) is preferred), Portuguese (estado-unidense or estadunidense), Italian (statunitense), and also in Interlingua (statounitese). US American (for the noun) and US-American (when used as a compound modifier preceding a noun) is another option, and is a common demonym in German (US-Amerikaner). Latin Americans (who are the most affected by this use of American) also have yanqui (Yankee) and the euphemism norteamericano/norte-americano "North American", which technically includes the USA, Mexico and Canada, but is frequently used in Spanish and Portuguese to refer to the United States only. Frank Lloyd Wright proposed Usonian, from the abbreviation for United States of North America, and which is used in Esperanto (country Usono, demonym Usonano, adjective usona). In the spirit of Sydneysider, Statesider is also sometimes seen. See main article: Names for Americans.

Sharing a demonym does not necessarily bring conflict. During the 1996 Summer Olympics, the residents of Atlanta, Georgia gave a rousing applause to the Eurasian state of Georgia during the opening ceremony. Many cities that share the same name have sister city relations, such as Toledo, Ohio and Toledo, Spain. The demonyms for the Caribbean nations Dominican Republic and Dominica, though pronounced differently, are spelt the same way, Dominican. The former country's demonym is the ordinary English adjective "Dominican", stressed on the second syllable. The demonym for Dominica, like the name of the country, is stressed on the third syllable: /ËŒdÉ'mɪˈniːkÉ™n/. Another example is the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their nationals are both known as Congolese. Another is that of Washington D.C. and Washington State; their inhabitants are both known as Washingtonians.

A few residents of the island of Lesbos tried to ban homosexual women from being called lesbians but it was rejected by a court in Athens.