Surname prefixes and suffixes by ethnicity.

[Sikeliot]

I saw a list going somewhere and I wanted to know what are some other distinctive surname prefixes and suffixes that give away one's ethnic origin.

The examples that come to my mind first:

Irish; O'- and Mc-
Armenian; -ian or -yan
Greek; -akis, -idis, -opoulos

As far as Portuguese and Spanish names go, names that end in -ez in Spanish end in -es in Portuguese (Lopez/Lopes, Marquez/Marques, etc.).

Any others?

[Norbert]

Polish:

-ski, cki, dzki (signifying place of origin)
-wicz ("son of")
-czyk, -czak, -czek, -ek, -ak (diminutive)

Serbian:

-vić ("son of")

Russian:

-ov, -yev (of, signifying place of origin or descent)

Ukrainian:

-enko (diminutive)

-shin (?)

[Norbert]

English:

-ley ("woodland clearing")

-son ("son of")

-ton (town)

[Sikeliot]

I'll throw out there that in Portuguese, -es names, like Marques, Soares, Henriques, Rodrigues etc. are patronymic, same with -ez names in Spain.

[Daos]

Many Romanian surnames end in -(e)an(u), when derived from toponyms, or -ei, -escu, -așcu, when derived from a parent's name.

The suffixes -chuk, -(en)ko, -(y)uk, -(y)ak are common for Ukrainian surnames.

Many Hungarian surnames have the ending -ás, -es, -os, -fi(a).

[Sikeliot]

Is there any truth to the idea that the Mc- prefix is Irish and Mac- is Scottish? Or do you find both in both places?

[The Ripper]

Finnish names often end in -nen or -la/-lä.

[Sikeliot]

Finnish names often end in -nen or -la/-lä.

I only know one person of Finnish ancestry in real life and her last name is Renkainen.

[Svanhild]

German:

-er (someone who's making something or living there)

For instance: Bauer, Friesländer, Hitler, Laiendecker...

[Rouxinol]

My middle name ends in -es and my last name is preceded by "de".