Search a Romanian given name or surname and see, step by step, the words it derives from — with a source for every link. An atlas of 9,928 forms, based on Wiktionary and the cited supplementary dictionaries.
9,928 forms from lexical sources · 9,889 entries with extended explanations. Selection & sources ↗
Ionescu adds the suffix -escu to the given name Ion. The same formation process connects personal names to many surnames.
Wiktionary entry ↗Choose a form to read its explanation. The explorer follows only relationships stated in the source.
Every name in the atlas leads somewhere — some close by, others across several languages and a thousand years. Choose one.
Each dot is a form the name passed through. Some names take a single step; others, five — and the path is visible at a glance.
A suffix appears in the analysis of 5,108 forms: 51.5% of this edition’s 9,928 forms. Every dot below keeps the identity of one name. Change the grouping and watch the register rearrange.
Touch a dot or search for a name.
The groups count lexical forms. A form may be borne by any number of people; this register does not measure that number.
| Formation | Forms |
|---|---|
| With a suffix | 5,108 |
| From a base | 3,594 |
| Borrowings | 1,173 |
| Shortenings | 43 |
| Genitives | 10 |
Ioan → Ion → Ioniță → Ionițoaia → Ionițoaiei. Reveal another level of the tree to see which names grew from those already shown. Follow any branch to its name entry.
Each line follows a relationship recorded in the entries. The tree describes name formation; a human family’s history requires records. On narrow screens, the tree scrolls sideways.
1,389 forms end in the letters “escu”. Yet the dictionary uses the suffix -escu in the analysis of 1,394 forms, including Amărăscu, Borăscu and Fierăscu. Compare spelling with explanation and open the cases that differ.
Both bars start at zero on the same scale. Spelling checks the final letters; analysis uses the entry’s etymological relationship.
A given name can generate a surname, be shortened to a familiar form or move into another language. Each transformation leaves different traces.
Ion remains easy to recognise in Ionescu. In Nițoiu, the connection emerges when we retrace the path through Niță and Ioniță. Linked entries make this backward reading possible even when the final form has moved far from its starting point. Nițoiu ↗
The 1,394 forms analysed with -escu include derivatives of given names and common words. Ion and popă have different histories; the suffix supplies the same formation process. A shared ending alone does not prove a shared suffix; the comparison separates spelling from the relationship recorded in the dictionary.
Vasile passes through a Church Slavonic form, while its meaning becomes clear in Greek: basileios means “royal”. Each stage in the extended entries carries a language label. The intermediary form and the distant origin can answer different questions. Vasile ↗
Marius comes from a Roman gentilic name, which identified membership of a gens. What it meant before its use at Rome remains uncertain. Several explanations have been proposed for the Greek origin of Elena. The entries discuss these hypotheses where they change our understanding of a name. Marius ↗ · Elena ↗
This edition contains 9,928 forms. The initial selection uses the Romanian section of English Wiktionary through the 5 August 2026 Kaikki dump. A further 336 forms, mostly given names, come from cited dictionaries (Behind the Name, the Mică enciclopedie onomastică and others), including international forms requested by readers. Inclusion does not establish frequency in Romania. The 9,510 forms with surname senses and 478 given names overlap in 60 cases.
9,889 entries have extended explanations, including meanings, forms and further reading. Separately, 9,903 entries have a linked glossary meaning: all extended entries plus another 14 with a meaning explanation but no extended essay. The remaining 25 entries retain their lexical relationship without a linked glossary meaning. The glossary contains 9,903 records for bases and names; these are not a count of distinct origins. Trees follow explicit links between forms. Search also finds meanings such as “stone”.
The selection covers explanations that identify a base, a suffix, a genitive form, a shortening or a borrowing. Explanations outside those categories are excluded. A missing name may have a known etymology in other works.
Wiktionary’s coverage is uneven. Rare and regional forms sit beside familiar ones, and some entries may need corrections. Search ignores diacritics; entries preserve dictionary spelling.
This register describes name forms. Population frequency requires demographic evidence. The Iași population records office, for example, publishes names assigned to children born in the city in 2023. Its place, year and population define the scope of that ranking. DLEP Iași ↗
Wiktionary-based entries adapt contributor data under CC BY-SA 4.0. Supplemental entries provide original summaries of explanations in the cited dictionaries. Each entry identifies its source. CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗
5 September 2026