Abstract
The suffix -escu „is used to form surnames of Romanian type”. The exclusivelyonomastic function of the suffix -escu is patronymic and expresses family descent. Thus,Grigorescu, formed after the model Grigore (father's first name) + the suffix -escu, can beunderstood as „Grigore’s son”.
In Moldovan documents, derived with the suffix -escu names are found since thefourteenth century. Over time, when the mechanism of formation and their significancewere understood, these derivatives became common. Formations with -escu appearednot only from the first name, as "is the rule", but also from other reference names. Theofficialization of the names formed with the suffix -escu took place only at the end of the19th century, when they started to function as family names. In the local anthroponymy,most of the patronymics with the suffix -escu are formed from first names and surnames(various adjectives, nouns and verbs that, previously, were substantivized and used asanthroponyms).
Although the patronymics derived with the suffix -escu are less attested in theBessarabian onomasticon than in the rest of the Romanian territory, we still distinguishseveral types of formation of surnames with the suffix -escu. The themes to which the-escu suffix is attached confirm that this suffix is an anthroponymic one, characteristic ofthe formation of surnames.