Where does “Protopopescu” come from?

Protopopescu (Romanian) comes from Romanian -escu, from Romanian -esc, from Latin -ēscō, from Proto-Italic *-ēskō.

Ancestry of “Protopopescu”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Romanian-escusuffix forming many Romanian surnames, e.g....
2Romanian-esc-esque, -ish; Used with a stem to form the...
3Latin-ēscōAttaches to a stem (a noun or adjective) to form a verb meaning “to become [stem]” or similar
4Proto-Italic*-ēskō—
Every word from Proto-Italic *-ēskō →Every word from Romanian -escu →Every word from Latin -ēscō →
Protopopescu — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer