A Baiana with her food stall in Salvador
We all know Londoner, Parisian and New Yorker. But what are the names for the citizens of other cities and states? Or, as we cal them, demonyms?
I’ve been long interested in the obscurer appellations and so, I have collected them here.
Britain
I bet even the Brits don’t know some of those names.
Bath: Bathonian
Birmingham: Brummie
Colchester: Colcestrian
Glasgow: Glaswegian
Hartlepool: Hartlepulian (with a u)
Isle of Man: Manx
Leeds: Loiner or the more posh-sounding Leodensian
Liverpool: Liverpudlian or Scouse
Manchester: Mancunian
Newcastle: Geordie but the correct form is Novocastrian
The Orkneys: Orcadian
Winchester: Wintonian
Yorkshire: Tyke
France
France presents us with a wonderful range of demonyms. Yes there are lots of –ien like Parisien or –ois like Auxerrois, but did you know these?
Aix-en-Provence: Aixois
Auvergne: Auvergnat
Béziers: Biterrois
Biarritz: Biarrot
Bordeaux: Bordelais
Brittany: Breton
Le Mans: Manceaux
Le Puy-en-Velay: Anicien
Lyon: Lyonnais
Metz: Messien
Nancy: Nancèien
Nice : Niçois
Paris: remember a Parisian is a Parisien in France
Poitiers: Poitevin
Rodez: Ruthénois
Savoy: Savoyard
St-Étienne: Stephanois
Europe
Ah, now we’re off.
Cork: not a Corker, but Corkonian
Cyprus: Cypriot. In fact, the inhabitant of almost every Greek island is an –iot: Mykoniot, Chiot, Corfiot, Tiniot, but Cretan, Parian, Rhodian and, of course, Lesbian.
Greenland: Inuk, plural Inuit
The Hague: Hagenar
Krakow: Krakovian
Lisbon: Lisboeta
Lviv: Leopolitan
Madrid: Madrileño
Monaco: Monegasque
Moscow: Muscovite
Munich: Münchner
Naples: Neapolitan
Oslo: Oslovian
St Petersburg: Peterburgian or, in Russian, Piterech or Peterburzhech.
Twente: Tukker
Vatican: Here the adjective is the same as the city – Vatican. Is this unique?
Vienna: Viennese or Viennois
Warsaw: Varsovian
Zurich: Zürcher
I am stumped for Helsinki and Turku: The local word is Helsinkiläinen, Turkulainen, but surely there must be something better?
Latin America & Caribbean
You can reach a completely new level of fun with Latin American demonyms.
Bahia: Baiano (no H).
Bermuda: Bajan
Brasília: no, it’s not Brasilian, it’s Brasiliense or Candango.
Buenos Aires: Porteño.
Honduras: Catracho.
Mexico City: Chilango
Minas Gerais: Mineiro.
Rio de Janeiro: Carioca (not to be confused with Fluminense which is someone born in Rio de Janeiro state).
Rio Grande do Sul: Gaúcho
São Paulo: Paulistano – Paulista is someone born in São Paulo state.
Australasia
Bit of a letdown here.
Australia: Australian and Aussie
Hawaii: not only Hawaiian but also Kamaaina
New Zealand: New Zealander and Kiwi
Sydney: Sydneysider
Tasmania: Tasmanian or, as I prefer it, Taswegian
North America
As you can imagine the Americans (don’t forget the term ‘Yanks’) don’t disappoint.
Connecticut: Nutmegger
Indiana: Hoosier
Los Angeles: Angeleno
Louisiana: Cajun
New Jersey: New Jerseyite
Ohio: Buckeye
Oklahoma: Okie
Wisconsin: Sconnie
Africa and Asia
On the whole, rather boring, except for Hong Kong, bless it. From Hong Kongese to Hong Kongolese, they’re rather fun to pronounce. Anyway, here are…
Burkina Faso: Burkinabé
Cairo: Cairene
Damascus: Damascene
Gaza: Ghazzawi
Istanbul: Istanbulu
Kampuchea: Khmer
Mumbai: Mumbaiker
Philippines: Filipino (with a F) or Pinoy
Zululand or kwaZulu: one Zulu, many Zulu, but the correct plural is amaZulu
Anyone have any strange demonyms for inclusion. And please don’t forget the names for Helsinki and Turku.
