Originally..(Last Name)?

Question

If you have the same last name as

someone you've never met before,

does it mean that originally,

yall were related?

Like, wayy back..

?

Answer 1

peters

do you no anyone with the name peters?

if you do tell me please it could be my long lost brother or sister.

Answer 2

Not necessarily.  Most people in European countries did not have a surname until the last melennium.  In England most had one by the end of the 14th century.  In the Netherlands they did not have one until much later.

Surnames were usually taken to denote a) son of someone b) an occupation c) where a person lived d) some characteristic about the person.

When they got through legitimate sons of the same man could have had a different surname and still they could have each shared their surname with others with whom they were not related.  

Of course, many will say the whole human race is related if you go way back.  However, the root person of people with the same surname as ours might have been someone entirely different.

Answer 3

Not necessarily.  It depends on the kind of last name.  Patronymics, like Robertson, simply mean that someone back on the family tree when last names were becoming fixed was the son of someone named Robert, and there were lots of men named Robert.  Likewise, trade names, like Smith, reflect occupations practiced by many people.  However, place names are a little more likely to indicate relationship, since they suggest (at least) that both people's ancestors came from the same place (if there was only one place with that name).  However, theoreticlly, all Scots or Irish with the same last name are members of the same clan or family.  An additional fact for Americans and Canadians is that there may have been only one person of a certain last name who immigrated, so that everyone on this side of the Atlantic with that name is descended from that person.   In that case two people with that last name are definitely, if distantly, related.  And of course, if the last name is a REALLY unusual one, the chances are that all its bearers are members of the same family.

Answer 4

No, alot of people way back when used place names. The people would say such as Anton from Rehlingen. A town in Germany. The norweigions and the swedish named their children after their father or mother. Like simonsen means simons son. Anderson means Anders son and so forth. That is why norweigions  have alot of the same last names.

Answer 5

Depends if y'all play the banjo and are "kissin cuzins".

Answer 6

I know a guy my age who went to my school, i would guess that were related, but i'm not 100% sure!!

My last name starts w/the letter L......

Answer 7

Think: your name is Lee and you are from England and you meet a Lee from China.

Probably not.

I have a fairly rare last name, but since my gggrandfather took the name of the farm the family lived on in Norway, many of those I meet with my surname are not related.  Then there is the possibility that I can meet someone with a different surname, but we are related through the maternal side.