Approximately in which decade of what century did the typical English peasant start passing on his surname...?

Question

from father to son/daughter? In other words, when did the common English peasant start to inherit his father's surname?

Answer 1

That's a good question; I'd assume that peasants acquired surnames when everyone else did which began roughly around the 12th CEN.

Answer 2

It's not possible to be precise on the decade, but in general for the whole of Britain, surnames became hereditary over the period of the 13th. and 14th. centuries. (1400s- 1500s).

Whilst it is usually the only way in which we can trace our lineage back to that period, it is also the main reason why it is virtually impossible for descendants of the "common man" to trace their lineage back any further than that period, whereas it is comparatively easy for someone descended from a noble or prominent family, to go back somewhat further, because although they did not have surnames either, their families were, by and large, well recorded in various ways.  

There was no point at which, for example, an edict was passed which declared that everyone must have a surname, it was a very gradual process over several generations and the peasantry were amongst the first to begin the use of a surname.

By the time the first parish registers were begun in 1538 everybody had acquired a surname.