Words for where you're from

August 8, 2006 10:17 AM

LanguageFilter: Cypriot. Cairene. Dubliner. These are beautiful, and I'd like more. Name some favourite or exotic words denoting city of origin or residence. And what is the word for this type of word?

Used as noun or adjective, doesn't matter. I'm having trouble with a Google search for what these words might be called, so if anyone knows, do share.

posted by poweredbybeard to writing & language (76 comments total)

See Also
posted by vacapinta at 10:20 AM on August 8, 2006

"Tampan"?
posted by baylink at 10:21 AM on August 8, 2006

Also: Demonym
posted by vacapinta at 10:22 AM on August 8, 2006

Utahn. Tangerine. Phoenician.
posted by ottereroticist at 10:22 AM on August 8, 2006

Haligonian - Halifax.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 10:28 AM on August 8, 2006

Liverpudlian. Glasvegian. Moose Javian.
posted by Brian James at 10:30 AM on August 8, 2006

Glaswegian (Glasgow)
Angeleno (Los Angeles)
posted by scody at 10:31 AM on August 8, 2006

Oh, that's embarassing to have another AskMe post as the first comment. (Thanks vacapinta. Even the word demonym itself is a byoot.)

Phoenician... that's wonderful. And proves that not all the North American variants are stone-cold boring. Keep 'em coming!
posted by poweredbybeard at 10:32 AM on August 8, 2006

Not that excitng, but in Seattle (where you'd be a Seattlite) there's a neighborhood called Freemont. I've heard people from that area referto themselves as Freemontsters. (The "t" at the end of "Freemont" tend to gets swallowed)
posted by piratebowling at 10:39 AM on August 8, 2006

Cantabridgian

Monegasque
posted by briank at 10:45 AM on August 8, 2006

Those of us from the Great Lakes State (Michigan, USA) are known as 'Michiganders' or 'Michiganians'.
posted by TheAnswer at 10:46 AM on August 8, 2006

Torontonian here.
posted by Robot Johnny at 10:50 AM on August 8, 2006

Nutmeggers are from Connecticut. I never stop finding this funny. YMMV.
posted by dame at 10:51 AM on August 8, 2006

Carioca - native of the city of Rio de Janeiro.
posted by msali at 10:52 AM on August 8, 2006

Buckeye.

Note, despite common usage this is not always a sports reference.
posted by m@ at 10:53 AM on August 8, 2006

Former Lancastrian & current Manhattanite.
posted by NYCinephile at 10:54 AM on August 8, 2006

Berliner.
posted by Robot Johnny at 10:55 AM on August 8, 2006

It's actually Cantabrigian, since it is of Latin origin.

I like Tridentine, also Latin. And while it's well-known, Provençal is pretty beautiful.
posted by cacophony at 10:55 AM on August 8, 2006

Not cities, but I like the names for denizens of various planets:

Mercurians ???
Venusians
Terrans
Martians
Asteroid Beltians ????
Jovians
Saturnites? Saterines?
Uranians???
Neptunians???
Plutonians???

What do we call someone from the moon? A Looney?
posted by grumblebee at 10:58 AM on August 8, 2006

People from Indiana are Hooziers. I'm not sure that qualifies as beautiful.

One word for a New Yorker is a Gothamite.
posted by grumblebee at 11:00 AM on August 8, 2006

Manx (of or pertaining to the Isle of Man).
Mancunians are people from Manchester.
Paulistas are natives of Sao Paulo.
posted by nyterrant at 11:06 AM on August 8, 2006

Just remember, never call a Bostonian a "Yankee".
posted by jozxyqk at 11:09 AM on August 8, 2006

Considering the very humble status of being from a small town in Middle Tennessee, I can astound people by telling them I'm a Mancunian.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 11:10 AM on August 8, 2006

Residents of Newcastle-on-Tyne call themselves "Geordies" but I don't know why.

People from Indiana are Hooziers.

But they spell it Hoosiers.
posted by Rash at 11:16 AM on August 8, 2006

As a native of Denver, it always amused me that I was a "Denverite" and a "Coloradan" (and not Colora-do-an, as the state name might suggest).
People from Olympia are, naturally, Olympians.
And some friends of mine who moved to Seattle many years ago wondered about the mysterious Taco Man who was occasionally in the headlines - he was a Tacoma resident, called "Tacoman", and pronounced entirely unlike Taco Man.
posted by dbmcd at 11:17 AM on August 8, 2006

Amsterdammers, Athenians, Winnipegers, Calgarians, Edmontonians, Vancouverites, Londonners, Parisians (and Parigots)
posted by Robot Johnny at 11:22 AM on August 8, 2006

Some African ones are pretty too:

Benin - Beninois (pronounced Benin-wa)
Burkina Faso - Burkinabe (pronounced Burk -in- abey)
Madagascar - Malagasy
Western Sahara - Sahrawi

As are the smaller islands in the various oceans:

St Kitts and Nevis - Kittsian
St. Croix - Cruzan
Kiribati - I-Kiribati
Mayotte - Mahorais
posted by ramix at 11:26 AM on August 8, 2006

Massachusetts residents are officially "Bay Staters" but we are more commonly referred to as "Massholes."
posted by justkevin at 11:27 AM on August 8, 2006

Newfoundlander from St. John's: Townie
Newfoundlander from outside of St. John's: Bayman (applies even when the community is miles and miles from the ocean)
posted by hangashore at 11:28 AM on August 8, 2006

What a great question.

Aberdeen -> Aberdonian
Brighton -> Brightonian
Cardiff -> Cardiffian

And residents of Sunderland are called Mackems.
posted by randomination at 11:39 AM on August 8, 2006

Any one from Maine?
Guess that would make you a Maineac!
posted by ramix at 11:41 AM on August 8, 2006

Residents of Carsac, Dordogne, France are Carsacois; those from the neighboring town of Sarlat are Sarladais.
posted by The Michael The at 11:45 AM on August 8, 2006

Americans will often call a Canadian a "Canuk," a word of (I think) Huron origin meaning "Francophone European."
Many erroneously believe this to be insulting (it may once have been, particularly for the Quebecois), but few Canadians now use this term for anything other than the Vancouver hockey team.

As a Canadian myself, I prefer "Hoser."

However, since moving to Chicago I have learned that the Potawatomi word "Sauganash" (a neighborhood in Chicago named after an early settler) meant something like "Anglophone from the North," which kind of appeals to me.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 11:45 AM on August 8, 2006

Residents of Warsaw are referred to as Varsovians.
posted by jedrek at 11:50 AM on August 8, 2006

Scousers are Liverpudlians.
posted by randomination at 11:53 AM on August 8, 2006

Dundonians (Dundee)
posted by fire&wings at 12:03 PM on August 8, 2006

I've heard of chilango for people from Mexico City.
posted by PY at 12:07 PM on August 8, 2006

Novocastrian is the more elegant alternative for Geordie.

Here in Ireland, the residents of Galway are Galwegians, while the denizens of Cork are Corkonians. To us Dubliners though, they're both Culchies, while they call us Jackeens.

I love language, me.
posted by macdara at 12:08 PM on August 8, 2006

What do we call someone from the moon? A Looney?

Mooninites. Or Lunatacs.

My personal Washington (state) favorite: Bellingham -> Bellinghamsters. Gotta love a place whose motto is "The City of Subdued Excitement". (Still waiting to find out what the residents of Humptulips are called, though.)
posted by Vervain at 12:17 PM on August 8, 2006

Folks in the country in Scotland are sometimes called Teuchters, (pronounced 'tyoochters') though it's pretty much a North East thing. People from Fife are Fifers, people from Orkney are Orcadians (I like that one). Never been able to come up with a satisfactory one for Edinburgh (my home town) myself, most people say, 'er, Edinburgher?' jokingly and then realise there's no real alternative.

Currently I'm a Londoner.

Oh, of course, there's the Cornish, and Pompeys (people from Portsmouth) not to mention Brummies (Birmingham).
posted by Happy Dave at 12:23 PM on August 8, 2006

Baltimorons.
posted by OmieWise at 12:36 PM on August 8, 2006 [1 favorite]

Residents of Timaru, a South Island town in New Zealand, are sometimes known as Timaruvians. We also have Dunedinites and Hamiltonians.

Somehow most of our Maori placenames don't seem to lend themselves to this sort of thing (Timarui being the exception) and local news articles are full of expressions like "Rotorua residents", "Oamaru townsfolk", "the people of Whangarei", and so on.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 12:38 PM on August 8, 2006

I also like Muscovites.

San Diegites?
San Diegoans?
San Diegans?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:47 PM on August 8, 2006

While "Dubliner" may be the proper word, we mostly call ourselves "Doobs".
posted by jamesonandwater at 1:10 PM on August 8, 2006

Awesome! You asked a question to which I've wanted an answer for literally years.
posted by scrump at 1:12 PM on August 8, 2006

I think people from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan call themselves "Yoopies" (sp?). Or is it that others call them that?

People from Somerville Mass. often call themselves Somervillains.
posted by jesourie at 1:24 PM on August 8, 2006

Tar Heels are from North Cackalacky.

(Links pop to wikipedia etymologies.)
posted by 10ch at 1:26 PM on August 8, 2006

People from the city of Gloucester are Gloucestrians - pronounced glowcesstrians - which I think slides rather indulgently off the tongue...
posted by prentiz at 1:35 PM on August 8, 2006

not sure why link doesn't work - not very interesting anyway...
posted by prentiz at 1:35 PM on August 8, 2006

Gloucester. It didn't work because you missed off the "http://" part.

People from Sydney are "Sydney-siders". People from Tasmania are referred to as "Taswegians", derived from "Glaswegians", but not officially.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 2:15 PM on August 8, 2006

Picksburgher.

Meaning, someone from Picksburg, or course.
posted by god hates math at 2:19 PM on August 8, 2006

jesourie - they call themselves "youpers", the spelling of which I'm not certain, unfortunately.
posted by ooga_booga at 2:23 PM on August 8, 2006

Minneapolis: Minneapolitan
posted by Utilitaritron at 3:11 PM on August 8, 2006

Oh yeah, when I lived in the Black Country in the UK, the inhabitants of Netherton, Brierley Hill and neighbouring villages were referred to as Yamyams. In that area they conjugate the verb "to be" "I am", "you am", "he am" ...
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:26 PM on August 8, 2006

People from Michigan are Michiganders - whence the d?

People from Arkansas are Arkansans, pronounced ar-kans-ans, i.e. not like the actual state of Arkansas.

People from Maine are Down Easters, aren't they?
posted by xetere at 3:38 PM on August 8, 2006

You may find a few more in the responses to my tangentially related question a ways back.

Around here it's mostly predictable names such as Portlander, Greshamite and Beavertonian.

Utahn and Illini are personal favourites.
posted by geckoinpdx at 3:42 PM on August 8, 2006

Around here it's mostly predictable names such as Portlander, Greshamite and Beavertonian.

Although you'll sometimes hear native Oregonians refer to themselves as Webfoots or Webfeet. (The original state sobriquet of the Webfoot State was changed to the Beaver State in 1909. I wish they'd kept the original!)
posted by ottereroticist at 4:18 PM on August 8, 2006

Trinbagonian--from Trinidad and Tobago.
posted by feathermeat at 4:26 PM on August 8, 2006

My Romanian French teacher's last name was Timaru- rather interesting that it's a Maori word.
posted by MadamM at 4:38 PM on August 8, 2006

Scousers, aka Liverpudlians
posted by IndigoJones at 5:39 PM on August 8, 2006

People from Tasmania are called Taswegians.
People from Brisbane are called Brisvegans.
posted by wilful at 5:58 PM on August 8, 2006

Buenos Aires → Porteños
Bosnia (Muslim only) → Bosniak
Cuzco → Cuzqueño
Flanders → Fleming
Key West → Conch
Oklahoma → Sooner (or Okie)
Leeds → Loiner
Perth → Perthite
and, more recently:
Auckland → JAFA (its profane origins notwithstanding, the word has been adapted and adopted by many isthmusians)
posted by rob511 at 6:11 PM on August 8, 2006

Costa Rica - ticos
Madrid - madrileños, gatos, manolos/manolas (this one is more specific, and refers to working-class Madrid residents in certain neighborhoods)
Rio de Janeiro - Cariocas
posted by anjamu at 9:04 PM on August 8, 2006

Canadian

Alabamian


WHY are they not Canadan / Alabaman?

I will henceforth commence referring to those places as Canadia and Alabamia, respectively.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 9:46 PM on August 8, 2006

I will henceforth commence referring to those places as Canadia and Alabamia, respectively.

A person from Bermuda is a Bermudian, so you better add Bermudia to your new atlas as well.
posted by Robot Johnny at 9:49 PM on August 8, 2006

Residents of Yakima, Washington, have been known to refer to themselves as "Yakimaniacs."

Vervain, residents of Humptulips (all 216 or so of 'em) but I'm sure they're be called Humptulians.
posted by lhauser at 10:15 PM on August 8, 2006

People from Tasmania -- the island state off the south-east coast of Australia -- are called Vand(i)emonians, because Tasmania used to be known as Van Diemen's Land.
posted by robcorr at 10:26 PM on August 8, 2006

A current or former inhabitant of the island of Rhodes, now a part of Greece, is called a Rhodesli. It sounds like some kind of flower, doesn't it? I suppose the adjective form would be Rhodeslian, but I've never seen or heard that in use.
posted by Asparagirl at 11:54 PM on August 8, 2006

According to Simon Winchester's book Outposts, residents of the island of St. Helena are called Saints.
posted by lukemeister at 12:11 AM on August 9, 2006

Residents of Taradale, a suburb of Napier, New Zealand, are Taradidlians.
posted by TiredStarling at 12:16 AM on August 9, 2006

People born in Salvador, Brazil are known as soteropolitanos.
posted by wallaby at 4:44 AM on August 9, 2006

Krakow, Poland → Cracovian, Krakovian ("krak-oo-vian").
posted by mdonley at 5:39 AM on August 9, 2006

People from Chalmette, LA are Chalmations.
People from Violet, LA are Violations.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 9:02 AM on August 9, 2006

People from York, England are called Yorkists

But New York, NY people are called New Yorkers. I think New Yorkist is much cooler.

The Italians call people from Munich, Germany "Monacins". This may be because the Italian word for Munchen is Manaco (Monk).
posted by parmanparman at 9:40 AM on August 9, 2006

It's San Diegans.

And people from Fresno are Fresnans, I recently learned.
posted by exceptinsects at 11:25 AM on August 10, 2006

Hmm, I just found this. As a current resident of Santa Barbara (California), I've Santa Barbarans (boring), but I've also frequently heard Santa Barbarians. This might be dergatory, though. I'm not sure.
posted by JMOZ at 4:12 PM on May 19, 2007