Personal Names
Prussian Lithuanian surnames often consist of a patronymic with suffixes "-eit" and "-at". It has the same role as the English suffix "-son" in the surnames Abrahamson and Johnson. Examples include: Abromeit, Grigoleit, Jakeit, Wowereit, Kukulat, Szameitat.
Another type of Prussian Lithuanian surname use the suffixes "-ies" or "-us": Kairies, Resgies, Baltßus, Karallus.
A difference existed between female and male surnames in everyday speech. For example, while officially the wife of Kurschat (Prussian Lithuanian Kurßaitis or Kurßatis) was also called Kurschat, in the Prussian Lithuanian language special forms were used in speech: the form of a wife's surname was Kurßaitê / Kurßatė and the form of an unmarried woman was Kurßaitikê / Kurßaitukê.
Read more about this topic: Prussian Lithuanians
Famous quotes containing the words personal and/or names:
“Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice.”
—Alexander Solzhenitsyn (b. 1918)
“Holding myself the humblest of all whose names were before the convention, I feel in especial need of the assistance of all.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)