I note many of the countries around Afghanistan also end in ...istan and there is also Istanbul. Anyone have any idea what the ...istan signifies?

In doing family genealogy, I have learned last name endings sometimes signify linage. Stephenson is obvious. However, ...ski also mean son of (in Eastern Europe it is ski. In Russia it is sky). In the Slovic countries, ...ivic, vic, vich or ivich means of the clan of, such as Peter Jankovich would be Peter of the Janko clan.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 15, 2001

Answers

I have no idea what 'istan' signifies but I have heard that Pakistan is a name made up by the British at the time of partitioning British India.

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), November 15, 2001.

John, it was actually the Muslims who wanted to be in what became Pakistan who made up the name. See http://walk.to/pakistan - the "Historical Background" section. They made up the name from the initials of areas that were to make up Pakistan (e.g. "P" for Punjab), and as I understand it they have never forgiven anyone that the letter "K" (for Kashmir) didn't end up where they wanted it to be.

As for the meaning of "istan" (thank you, google) - it means "place".

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), November 16, 2001.

There was an article in our paper two weeks ago about just this thing. Apparently 'istan' means 'place of'. Then a local word describing something in arabic or whatever language is spoken in the area is placed in front. Hope this helps. For what it's worth...

Russ

-- (rwhitworth@sprint.ca), November 16, 2001.

"Stan" means land, like Greenland or Iceland or Ireland. And there are the family-oriented derivatives like "vic" or "vich" from Yugoslavia (son of, or from the family of), and the French De... or Du... or Des..., or Irish O'... as in O'Halloran, or Scottish MacDonald or McGuinness, or Dutch Van.... VanDeVeere, or German Von Furstenburg, or Italian Di..., or Da... as in DaVinci, or Iranian "Zadeh" at the end of the name, like mine: Ashkanizadeh, or Arabic "Ibn" as in Ibn-Saud, or "Bin" like in you-know-what name.

If everyone kept their family name without adulteration, it would be very interesting to trace origins, but names change. Especially in this country, with so many back in the days of Ellis Island wanting to be more Americanized.

-- Leslie A. (lesliea@mm2k.net), November 16, 2001.

Thank you guys. I remember reading someplace where the O' and Mc/Mac indicates gender linage. One indicates the name derived from the father's linage and the other the mother's linage. However, don't remember which is which.

I believe in Spanish countries, family names derive from the mother's linage also.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 16, 2001.

P.S. On the Ellis Island aspect, names were not changed there, but during the naturalization process. The immigration processors at Ellis Island merely took the ship's manifest and checked off who was on board.

A story here. The nephew of my father's first wife said three uncles or cousins were on their way to the U.S. However, they got drunk the night before and missed the ship. It was The Titanic.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 16, 2001.

Another story -- the mother of one of my kindergarten students several years ago told me that her husband's grandfather had enlisted in the army with his two brothers, and they all ended up in the same unit. So the Army changed their names!! Gave them each a slightly different variant on the original name, which I think was Zyla, or something like that. This was WWI, I think.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 16, 2001.

A friend of mine has an interesting family story. His Grandparents were leaving Germany in the 1920's to immigrate to South Africa. When they got to the port, the ship To South Africa had been delayed. However one bound for America was soon to sail. They contacted a sponsor in the USA, got the approval, and now all their descendants live in the United States.

-- Red Neck (Secesh@CSA.com), November 16, 2001.

I once worked with a lady who moved to the U.S. from Bulgaria. Her last name differed from her husband's in that a single "a" was added at the end. She told me that the added "a" signified that she was female. She was a very interesting person.

-- Paul (hoyt@egyptian.net), November 17, 2001.

Well DAG ken, what a twist of fate, ya came close to not being a,"twinkle in dad's eyes!"

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), November 17, 2001.