Local Labels

How do you identify yourself geographically? Sometimes it's easy: If you live in New York, you're a New Yorker; if you're from Canada, you're a Canadian. But it isn't always obvious, as Mike Pope points out in a recent blog post. Mike lives in Seattle, which is in King County. He's a Seattleite, he says ("We're not Seattlers ... we just aren't"), and a Washingtonian, but what about the county identification? Kinger? Kingite? Kingean? (I suggested "Kingon," with a nod to Star Trek.)

Coincidentally, I'd just been reading about resident names—the technical term is demonym or gentilic—in Garner's Modern American Usage, Third Edition, newly published by Oxford University Press, which generously sent me a review copy. (I'll have more to say about this marvelous book in a future post.) Editor Bryan Garner uses the term "denizen label" and devotes three and a half pages to the subject. He refers readers to the historian George R. Stewart (1895-1980)¹, who devised seven rules for naming denizens; H.L. Mencken called them "Stewart's Laws for Municipal Onomastics" and they were cited, Garner writes, "in the best up-to-date work on the subject, Paul Dickson's Labels for Locals (1997)." The rules are:

1. If the place name ends in -a or -ia, add -n (Californian).
2. If the name ends in -i or sounded -e, add -an (Hawaiian).
3. If the name ends in -on, add -ian (Oregonian).
4. If the name ends in -y, change the -y to an -i and add -an (Albany --> Albanian).
5. If the name ends in -o, add -an (Chicagoan).
6. If the name ends in a consonant or a silent -e, add either -ite or -er, depending on euphony (agreeableness of sound) (Mainer, New Hampshireite).
7. If the name ends in -polis, change that to -politan (Minneapolitan).

Naturally, there are exceptions: Utah, for example, ends in a consonant, but state residents are called Utahns.

And then it gets really interesting.

• A resident of Las Cruces, New Mexico, is a Crucen.
• A resident of Phoenix, Arizona, is a Phoenician.
• A resident of Independence, Missouri, is an Independent.
• A resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a Cantabridgian, just like his or her counterpart in England.
• Residents of Los Angeles and Taos (New Mexico) are, respectively, Angelenos and Taosenos, following the Spanish formation rule. (Do not use a tilde over the -n, and do not say "Los Angelean"!)

United Kingdom demonyms often follow a distinct set of rules, sometimes based on Latin origins, sometimes not:

• A resident of Norfolk is a North Anglian.
• A resident of Manchester is a Mancunian.
• A resident of Newcastle, England, is a Geordie². But a resident of Newscastle, Australia, is a Novocastrian.
• A resident of Hampshire is a Hantsian.
• A resident of Shropshire is a Salopian.
• A resident of Dundee, Scotland, is a Dundonian.

Elsewhere, a resident of Buenos Aires is a Porteño/a (which originally denoted any person living in any port city); a resident of Lima, Peru, is a Limeño/a; and a resident of Madrid is a Madrileno/a (no tilde over the n). A resident of Cairo (Egypt, not Illinois) is a Cairene. And a resident of Rio de Janeiro is, of course, a Carioca (from an indigenous term meaning "white man's house"; there is no gender inflection).

Oh, and the preferred spelling for a Seattle resident is "Seattlite," not "Seattleite." Oops: my mistake. I misread the entry in Garner. "Seattleite" is preferred.

For more information about double forms (Greek or Grecian? Norse or Norwegian?) see the StateMaster Encyclopedia of Demonyms.

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¹ This is the same George R. Stewart who wrote the justly famous account of the Donner Party, Ordeal by Hunger. I had nightmares for months after I read that book.

² Read about the derivation of "Geordie" here.

Comments

[Ben Lukoff]

I'm curious to find out where "the preferred spelling for a Seattle resident is 'Seattlite,' not 'Seattleite.'"

I think you'll find that the latter is more common, especially in Seattle itself. (See, e.g., http://www.seattleweekly.com/columns/view/284118/)

As for King County, it's an interesting question — but no one around here really identifies themselves as being from the county, and if they did, I think they would say "I live in..." or "I am from..." rather than "I am a..." I think a more interesting question, actually, regarding King County, is what effect, if any, the "name change" has had on people.

[Alan Palmer]

In the UK, Geordies with delusions of grandeur also call themselves "Novovastrians". "Geordie" is more of a nickname. I can't say I've ever heard of a "Hantsian".

[Alan Palmer]

Sorry, typo. I meant, of course, "Novocastrians".

[Gedaly Guberek]

Reminds me of an article I read maybe 6 years ago about President Bush referring to people of West Timor as "West Timorians," which irked many people -- they prefere "West Timorese."

The Labels for Locals guide doesn't seem to mention the -ese ending as in Chinese, Japanese, West Timorese. I think I'll look into where that suffix comes from.

[Ben Lukoff]

Oh, and speaking of George Stewart, Names on the Land is a great read. As for his fiction, I was quite impressed with Earth Abides. Great, early post-apocalyptic tale..

[Acilius]

"Utah" ends in a consonant? Could have fooled me.

[Jonathon]

Thanks for mentioning the preferred spelling Utahn. I hate it when people spell it Utahan, which looks to me like it should be pronounced with three syllables.

And this is a little nitpicky, but technically Utah doesn't end in a consonant, because the h is silent.

[Austin Tichenor]

Another exception, I think (because that's the goal here, right, picking nits?) is that I, as a 5th-generation San Franciscan, replace the final O with AN, rather than adding the AN to the O and getting San Franciscoan.

[Nancy Friedman]

@Ben: You're right about "Seattleite"; I misread the entry (both spellings are given) and have corrected the post. Agree with you about "Names on the Land"--an excellent reference!

@Gedaly: Garner doesn't cover "-ese," but in general it denotes a country or a language. (Also "in the style of"--e.g., journalese.)

@Acilius and @Jonathon: Well, "Utah" is pronounced with a vowel ending but spelled with an "h," which is a consonant. The confusion arises when you need to determine whether to go by sound or spelling.

@Austin: According to Garner, "San Franciscan" is considered an exception to the rule. Just like the namesake city...

[Lance Knobel]

If you're a particular kind of Oxonian, you call Cantabrigians Tabs -- with a distinct sneer in your voice.

Another interesting British demonym is Glaswegian for people from Glasgow.

As to those Geordies, they are also known as Toons. I suspect it derives from being Tynesiders, if you say it with the right accent.

[Lance Knobel]

Oops. Apparently Toon derives from "town", not "Tyne".

[RB]

I don't know where you got the idea that "madrileño" should be written "without a tilde" (NB: this is not an accent mark but a different letter in Spanish). Here is the entry for the word in the official dictionary of the Royal Academy:

http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltConsulta?TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=madrile%F1o

[Carissa]

What about Massachusetts? I know of the oft-mentioned "Bay Stater," but I feel as if that's a cop out.

Can we say Massachusian?

[Nancy Friedman]

@RB: Garner shows "Madrileno" without the tilde, as do a couple other sources I checked. But obviously the Royal Academy has the last word.

@Carissa: According to Garner, it's "Bay Stater" by state law, but the U.S. Government Printing Office, which publishes its own style guide, uses "Massachusettsan"--quite a mouthful!

[mike]

As my daughter would point out, folks from Indiana are the highly irregular "Hoosiers." Granted, that's basically cheating, although AFAIK people there really don't say Indianans. I could be wrong.

@Ben, as you might have read, the impetus for musing about, er, Kingons was that a folk I know up in Snohomish was interested to discover that she's a Snohomian. If Snohomians get their own demonyms, why can't we Kingons have one? ;-)

[Bob Cumbow]

People from Liverpool are unaccountably "Liverpuddlians." And don't call anyone from Arkansas anything but an "Arkansawyer."

[Nancy Friedman]

@Bob: Garner says "Arkansan" and "Arkie" (!) are equally acceptable. Likewise, "Sooner" and "Okie" are alternatives to "Oklahoman." I'd thought "Arkie" and "Okie" were pejorative, but maybe that's just in California.

As for "Liverpudlian" (one "d," please), all self-respecting Beatles fans learned that one right away!

[Laura Payne]

What about Michigan...I never hear people say Michiganer or Michiganite but there is an ongoing debate over whether we are Michiganders or Michiganians. I prefer Michiganders.

[Nancy Friedman]

@Laura: Garner says it's Michigander by popular consensus, but the official designation is Michiganian. And the USGPO recommends Michiganite.

For the others, you'll have to buy your own copy of Garner! It's well worth it.

[Ryan Ong]

One more exception -- any denizen of North Carolina (or South Carolina, for that matter) would tell you that "Carolinan" sounds as out of place as a rooster in a henhouse. The term is "Carolinian," though where the extra "i" came from is beyond me.

Come to think of it, Florida is the same way: Floridian is the term of choice on the shuffleboard court.