A non-exhaustive list

Make sure they add Newfy.

I thought “Gaspesian” was quaint.

Nice list, fair bit of cohesion in the naming conventions too I notice.

And they saved two characters and one spoken vowel with their version (Airdronians) of people from Airdrie: the Scottish central belt’s small town’s folk are called Airdrieonians, as is the local football (soccer) club. I guess that’s progress!

These led me to wonder if there are unwritten rules in English about how these demonyms are formed eg Washingtonian but not Washingtonite.

Sometimes they respect the name in the language in question eg Parisian, Amsterdammer, Berliner.

But when an English suffix is added to a non-European name you could have Cairoite or Cairoene or Caorinian, Bangkokian or Bangkokite.

Some British places still have Latin ones like Mancunian (Manchester) and Cantabrigian (Cambridge). These are also places in America. What are the adjectives there?

BlackGrey mentions a fair bit of cohesion regarding Canadian naming conventions. How far does it go generally?

OP Tipping - 21 August 2011 02:45 PM

Make sure they add Newfy.

Speaking of Newfy, back in the days of the Prince Edward Island ferry I once noticed a sign on board that said something like “No aluminum cans allowed on Prince Edward Island” and sure enough, the snack bar only sold drinks in glass bottles.  I asked the lady behind the counter why aluminum cans were not allowed on the island and she replied “Ah, who knows with these Newfies!” I was somewhat surprised that she referred to PE Islanders as Newfies.

Newfie/Newfy is considered derogatory by many of the Newfoundlanders I’ve met here. Others, though, don’t mind it. So it’s a word to be avoided unless you’re sure of your company. (By all accounts it’s perfectly okay to use it for the dogs though.)

There’s Londoner too but not Bostoner. New Yorker

The -ton suffix seems to be pretty consistently followed by -ian, as in Washingtonian and Bostonian.

Exceptions from the Canadian list:

Cape Bretoner. (Googling Bretonnian seems to turn up mainly references to Bretonnia in the game Warhammer.)

Those from Bolton-Est are referred to as Boltoners, although it looks like those from Bolton, UK are Boltonians.

Knowlton, Quebec: Knowltonites.

There’s Londoner too but not Bostoner. New Yorker

Huh? “New Yorker” is the standard term for a person from New York.

I know. It was another example of an -er suffix. There’s a York in the UK and I am not sure what they call themselves but I have never heard Yorker. New Yorker makes perfect sense maybe because it is familiar. I am not judging.
There is a difference in some cases between inhabitants and the adjective for a place. You get a London/New York church. A Boston or Bostonian church? It seems arbitrary in many cases and just how things worked out like all etymology (as I have learned here!).

Oh, sorry, I misread your comment—thought there was a comma (implying NY was lumped in with Boston) rather than a period.

There’s a York in the UK and I am not sure what they call themselves

Eboracians?  or maybe just Yorkers (after all, it’s a term long used in cricket, and must have come from somewhere)

York, Yorkshire: I can’t remember hearing anyone saying anything other than they were “from York”.  I don’t think there’s a single word from them.

I have just asked a Thai from Bangkok who is fluent in English what adjective they favour for their capital in English and he said Bangkokian but only from convention. He also said Thais at the time didn’t like the change from Siam to Thailand in 1939 (apparently it was thought to sound more modern and progressive). They used to be Siamese in English but became Thais (khon Siam to khon thai in Thai, I believe, and the language from pasar siam to pasar thai). You don’t get Thailander but you do New Zealander.

Too, Thais never use Bangkok as the name of their capital in Thai - possibly interesting Guinness nomenclatural stuff here. It shows Leghorn/Ligorno the door.

It shows Leghorn/Ligorno the door.

“I’ll get–I say, I’ll get my coat, son.”