On What Defines a People

“What defines a people is not race, not tradition, not geography, but the free choice of a group of human beings to live together as fellow citizens.”

– Thomas G. West

The Grammar of Demonyms

Demonyms, previously gentilics, are used to describe the inhabitants of a particular country or place. In English, they come in many forms; some bear a close relation to a country’s name (e.g. Germany = German), others appear completely irregular (Isle of Man = Manx). To make matters even more confusing, some countries even have multiple demonyms.

• -(a)n Australia = Australian
• -anian Guam = Guamanian
• -ard Spain = Spaniard (archaic)
• -asque Basque Country = Basque
• -be Burkina Faso = Burkinabe
• -ene Greece = Hellene (archaic)
• -ensian Micronesia = Micronesian
• -ese Japan = Japanese
• -gian Belgium = Belgian
• -i(e) Bangladesh = Bangladeshi
• -ian Hungary = Hungarian
• -ic Iceland = Icelandic
• -ien Niger = Nigerien
• -in(e) Montenegro = Montenegrin
• -iot(e) Cyprus = Cypriot
• -ish England = English
• -lese Togo = Togolese
• -nese San Marino = Sammarinese
• -nian Panama = Panamanian
• -onian Tobago = Tobagonian (Trinidad and Tobago = Trinidadians)
• -(en)(in)o Philippines = Philippino
• -(e)r Luxembourg = Luxembourger
• -vian Peru = Peruvian
• Irregulars Netherlands = Dutch