Have you ever wondered what to call someone from a different country? Most people have at one point or another. The truth is, many nationality labels are formed by simply combining the full or partial name of a country with the suffix -an, -ean, -ian, or -ese. These labels are called demonyms.
What Is a Demonym?
The term demonym refers to the name used to describe natives or residents of a particular place. Interestingly, the first known usage of this title to label the inhabitant of a given nation was only in 1990. Before then, the word was used to denote an author's pen name. For example, Samuel Clemens' demonym was Mark Twain.
The Greek prefix dem-, meaning "the people", is attached to terms commonly used to talk about large populations, including demographic and democracy. The form or suffix -onym is found in many words having to do with naming. Therefore, the word essentially translates to "naming the people".
Ethnonym Vs. Demonym
Demonyms and ethnonyms are not to be confused with each other. Ethnonym refers to people of a particular ethnic group and demonym refers to inhabitants of a particular location—these are not one and the same. Often, which term to use for a person is a matter of preference and circumstance.
Ethnicity and nationality sometimes clash. For example, when regions with several strong ethnic identities join under one nation's umbrella, ethnonyms are often preferred over demonyms as individuals might feel that they associate more with their ethnicity than their region.
Residents of Northern Iraq that are of Kurdish heritage and desire Kurdistan independence, for instance, would probably rather be called Kurds than Iraqis. Likewise, people of Irish and Scottish descent living in the U.K. might ask to be called Irish persons and Scots rather than Britons.
Demonyms of Every Country
This list provides the demonyms for every country in the world. Taiwan, not officially recognized as a country by the United Nations, is also included in this list. There is no term for a person from Vatican City or the Holy See.
Demonyms | |
---|---|
Country | Demonym |
Afghanistan | Afghan |
Albania | Albanian |
Algeria | Algerian |
Andorra | Andorran |
Angola | Angolan |
Antigua and Barbuda | Antiguan and Barbudans |
Argentina | Argentine or Argentinean |
Armenia | Armenian |
Australia | Australian or Aussie |
Austria | Austrian |
Azerbaijan | Azerbaijani |
The Bahamas | Bahamian |
Bahrain | Bahraini |
Bangladesh | Bangladeshi |
Barbados | Barbadian or Bajuns |
Belarus | Belarusian |
Belgium | Belgian |
Belize | Belizean |
Benin | Beninese |
Bhutan | Bhutanese |
Bolivia | Bolivian |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bosnian and Herzegovinian |
Botswana | Motswana (singular) and Batswana (plural) |
Brazil | Brazilian |
Brunei | Bruneian |
Bulgaria | Bulgarian |
Burkina Faso | Burkinabe |
Burundi | Burundian |
Cambodia | Cambodian |
Cameroon | Cameroonian |
Canada | Canadian |
Cape Verde | Cape Verdian or Cape Verdean |
Central African Republic | Central African |
Chad | Chadian |
Chile | Chilean |
China | Chinese |
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 or Croatian |
Cuba | Cuban |
Cyprus | Cypriot |
Czech Republic | Czech |
Denmark | Dane or Danish |
Djibouti | Djibouti |
Dominica | Dominican |
Dominican Republic | Dominican |
East Timor | East Timorese |
Ecuador | Ecuadorean |
Egypt | Egyptian |
El Salvador | Salvadoran |
Equatorial Guinea | Equatorial Guinean or Equatoguinean |
Eritrea | Eritrean |
Estonia | Estonian |
Ethiopia | Ethiopian |
Fiji | Fijian |
Finland | Finn or Finnish |
France | French or Frenchmanwoman |
Gabon | Gabonese |
The Gambia | Gambian |
Georgia | Georgian |
Germany | German |
Ghana | Ghanaian |
Greece | Greek |
Grenada | Grenadian or Grenadan |
Guatemala | Guatemalan |
Guinea | Guinean |
Guinea-Bissau | Guinea-Bissauan |
Guyana | Guyanese |
Haiti | Haitian |
Honduras | Honduran |
Hungary | Hungarian |
Iceland | Icelander |
India | Indian |
Indonesia | Indonesian |
Iran | Iranian |
Iraq | Iraqi |
Ireland | Irish or Irishman/woman |
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 |
Kosovo | Kosovar |
Kuwait | Kuwaiti |
Kyrgyz Republic/Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyz or Kirghiz |
Laos | Lao or Laotian |
Latvia | Latvian |
Lebanon | Lebanese |
Lesotho | Mosotho (singular) and Basotho (plural) |
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 |
Mauritania | Mauritanian |
Mauritius | Mauritian |
Mexico | Mexican |
Federated States of Micronesia | Micronesian |
Moldova | Moldovan |
Monaco | Monegasque or Monacan |
Mongolia | Mongolian |
Montenegro | Montenegrin |
Morocco | Moroccan |
Mozambique | Mozambican |
Myanmar (Burma) | Burmese or Myanmarese |
Namibia | Namibian |
Nauru | Nauruan |
Nepal | Nepalese |
Netherlands | Netherlander, Dutchman/woman, Hollander, or Dutch (collective) |
New Zealand | New Zealander or Kiwi |
Nicaragua | Nicaraguan |
Niger | Nigerien |
Nigeria | Nigerian |
Norway | Norwegian |
Oman | Omani |
Pakistan | Pakistani |
Palau | Palauan |
Panama | Panamanian |
Papua New Guinea | Papua New Guinean |
Paraguay | Paraguayan |
Peru | Peruvian |
Philippines | Filipino |
Poland | Pole or Polish |
Portugal | Portuguese |
Qatar | Qatari |
Romania | Romanian |
Russia | Russian |
Rwanda | Rwandan |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | Kittian and Nevisian |
Saint Lucia | Saint Lucian |
Samoa | Samoan |
San Marino | Sammarinese or San Marinese |
Sao Tome and Principe | Sao Tomean |
Saudi Arabia | Saudi or Saudi Arabian |
Senegal | Senegalese |
Serbia | Serbian |
Seychelles | Seychellois |
Sierra Leone | Sierra Leonean |
Singapore | Singaporean |
Slovakia | Slovak or Slovakian |
Slovenia | Slovene or Slovenian |
Solomon Islands | Solomon Islander |
Somalia | Somali |
South Africa | South African |
Spain | Spaniard or Spanish |
Sri Lanka | Sri Lankan |
Sudan | Sudanese |
Suriname | Surinamer |
Swaziland | Swazi |
Sweden | Swede or Swedish |
Switzerland | Swiss |
Syria | Syrian |
Taiwan | Taiwanese |
Tajikistan | Tajik or Tadzhik |
Tanzania | Tanzanian |
Thailand | Thai |
Togo | Togolese |
Tonga | Tongan |
Trinidad and Tobago | Trinidadian and Tobagonian |
Tunisia | Tunisian |
Turkey | Turk or Turkish |
Turkmenistan | Turkmen(s) |
Tuvalu | Tuvaluan |
Uganda | Ugandan |
Ukraine | Ukrainian |
United Arab Emirates | Emirian |
United Kingdom | Briton or British (collective), Englishman/woman, Scot or Scotsman/woman, Irish (collective), Welshman/woman, Northern Irishman/woman or Northern Irish (collective) |
United States | American |
Uruguay | Uruguayan |
Uzbekistan | Uzbek or Uzbekistani |
Vanuatu | Ni-Vanuatu |
Venezuela | Venezuelan |
Vietnam | Vietnamese |
Yemen | Yemeni or Yemenite |
Zambia | Zambian |
Zimbabwe | Zimbabwean |