What do you call a person from ?

It seems like a simple question, and it's a common one too. As a geography teacher I was often asked what you called a person from a country we might have been investigating. It's not always as obvious as we'd like, and it would help if everywhere followed the same rules, but of course the English language is well known for being a little eccentric at times :-)

For example, with most countries ending with the letter 'a' you just need to add an 'n' to the end of the country name to create the name for it's citizens. Thus a person from Angola is an Angolan, a person from Cuba is a Cuban and a person from Russia is a Russian.

But just as you get the hang of it, you discover that a person from China isn't a Chinan , but is Chinese, and people from Croatia are Croats, not Croatians.

And then, of course, there are silly confusions such as people from Malta are NOT Maltesers (a sweet) , they are Maltese, and people from Scotland are Scots, not Scotch (a strong alcoholic drink)

Geographers call the word that describes where somebody comes from a DEMONYM (pronounced demo - nim) and we tend to use them quite a lot. Listen to the news, read a paper or just chat on MSN or IRC and you will see / hear plenty of demonyms.

History students should remember though, that country names as well as ways of referring to their inhabitants have changed frequently throughout history and what we call people today ,from for example Uganda, is not what they would have been called 300 years ago when Uganda didn't even exist as a British Protectorate.

 

So, here's a list showing the most generally accepted demonyms in use today, arranged alphabetically by country.

 

 

Country Demonym
Afghanistan Afghan
Albania Albanian
Algeria Algerian
Andorra Andorran
Angola Angolan
Anguilla Anguillan
Antigua and Barbuda Antiguans, Barbudans
Argentina Argentine
Armenia Armenian
Australia Australian (Ozzie or Aussie)
Austria Austrian
Azerbaijan Azerbaijani - also Azeri's
The Bahamas Bahamian
Bahrain Bahraini
Bangladesh Bangladeshi
Barbados Barbadian or Bajuns
Belarus Belarusian
Belgium Belgian
Belize Belizean
Benin Beninese
Bermuda Bermudian
Bhutan Bhutanese
Bolivia Bolivian
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnian, Herzegovinian
Botswana Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural)
Brazil Brazilian
British Virgin Islands British Virgin Islander
Brunei Bruneian
Bulgaria Bulgarian
Burkina Faso Burkinabe
Burundi Burundian
Cambodia Cambodian
Cameroon Cameroonian
Canada Canadian
Cape Verde Cape Verdian or Cape Verdean
Cayman Islands Caymanian
Central African Republic Central African
Chad Chadian
Chile Chilean
China Chinese
Christmas Island Christmas Islander
Cocos Islands (Keeling Islands) Cocos Islander
Colombia Colombian
Comoros Comoran
Congo, Republic of the Congolese
Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congolese
Costa Rica Costa Rican
Cote d'Ivoire Ivorian
Croatia Croat
Cuba Cuban
Cyprus Cypriot
Czech Republic Czech
Denmark Dane
Djibouti Djibouti
Dominica Dominican
Dominican Republic Dominican
East Timor East Timorese
Ecuador Ecuadorean
Egypt Egyptian
El Salvador Salvadoran
England English => UK Demonyms
Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinean or Equatoguinean
Eritrea Eritrean
Estonia Estonian
Ethiopia Ethiopian
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Falkland Islander
Fiji Fijian
Finland Finn
France French
French Guiana French Guianese
Gabon Gabonese
The Gambia Gambian
Georgia Georgian
Germany German
Ghana Ghanaian
Gibraltar Gibraltarian, British
Greece Greek
Greenland Greenlander
Grenada Grenadian or Grenadan
Guadeloupe Guadeloupean
Guatemala Guatemalan
Guernsey Channel Islander
Guinea Guinean
Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissauan
Guyana Guyanese
Haiti Haitian
Honduras Honduran
Hong Kong Hong Kong Chinese, Chinese
Hungary Hungarian
Iceland Icelander
India Indian
Indonesia Indonesian
Iran Iranian
Iraq Iraqi
Ireland Irishman or Irishwoman or Irish
Isle of Man Manxman, Manxwoman, Manx
Israel Israeli
Italy Italian
Jamaica Jamaican
Japan Japanese
Jordan Jordanian
Kazakhstan Kazakhstani
Kenya Kenyan
Kiribati I-Kiribati
Korea, North North Korean
Korea, South South Korean
Kuwait Kuwaiti
Kyrgyz Republic Kyrgyz, Kyrgyzstani or Kirghiz
Laos Lao or Laotian
Latvia Latvian
Lebanon Lebanese
Lesotho Mosotho (plural Basotho)
Liberia Liberian
Libya Libyan
Liechtenstein Liechtensteiner
Lithuania Lithuanian
Luxembourg Luxembourger
Macedonia Macedonian
Madagascar Malagasy
Malawi Malawian
Malaysia Malaysian
Maldives Maldivan
Mali Malian
Malta Maltese
Marshall Islands Marshallese
Martinique Martiniquais, Martinican
Mauritania Mauritanian
Mauritius Mauritian
Mayotte Mahorais
Mexico Mexican
Federated States of Micronesia Micronesian
Moldova Moldovan
Monaco Monegasque or Monacan
Mongolia Mongolian
Montserrat Montserratian
Morocco Moroccan
Mozambique Mozambican
Myanmar (Burma) Burmese or Myanmarese
Namibia Namibian
Nauru Nauruan
Nepal Nepalese
Netherlands Netherlander or Dutch
Netherlands Antilles Dutch Antillean
New Zealand New Zealander or Kiwi
Nicaragua Nicaraguan
Niger Nigerien
Nigeria Nigerian
Norway Norwegian
Oman Omani
Pakistan Pakistani
Palau Palauan
Palestine Palestinian
Panama Panamanian
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinean
Paraguay Paraguayan
Peru Peruvian
Philippines Filipino
Poland Pole
Portugal Portuguese
Puerto Rico Puerto Rican, American
Qatar Qatari
Reunion Reunionese
Romania Romanian
Russia Russian
Rwanda Rwandan
Saint Helena Saint Helenian
Saint Kitts and Nevis Kittian and Nevisian
Saint Lucia Saint Lucian
Saint Vincent and Grenadines Saint Vincentian, Vincentian
Samoa Samoan
San Marino Sammarinese or San Marinese
Sao Tome and Principe Sao Tomean
Saudi Arabia Saudi or Saudi Arabian
Scotland Scottish (NOT Scotch) => UK Demonyms
Senegal Senegalese
Serbia and Montenegro Serbian or Montenegrin
Seychelles Seychellois
Sierra Leone Sierra Leonean
Singapore Singaporean
Slovakia Slovak
Slovenia Slovene
Solomon Islands Solomon Islander
Somalia Somali
South Africa South African
Spain Spaniard
Sri Lanka Sri Lankan
Sudan Sudanese
Suriname Surinamer
Swaziland Swazi
Sweden Swede
Switzerland Swiss
Syria Syrian
Taiwan Taiwanese
Tajikistan Tajik or Tadzhik
Tanzania Tanzanian
Thailand Thai
Togo Togolese
Tonga Tongan
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidadian or Tobagonian
Tunisia Tunisian
Turkey Turk
Turkmenistan Turkmen(s)
Tuvalu Tuvaluan
Uganda Ugandan
Ukraine Ukrainian
United Arab Emirates Emirati
United Kingdom British, Britons, (Brits)
United States American (Yanks) => USA Demonyms
Uruguay Uruguayan
Uzbekistan Uzbek or Uzbekistani
Vanuatu Ni-Vanuatu
Vatican City (Holy See) Citizen of the Holy See
Venezuela Venezuelan
Vietnam Vietnamese
Virgin Islands Virgin Islander
Wales Welsh => UK Demonyms
Yemen Yemeni or Yemenite
Zambia Zambian
Zimbabwe Zimbabwean

 

 

 

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