Origins of surnames?

Question

I have always understood that my surname came from england however recently i discovered that many people in Israel share the same surname? As i am not aware of any of my family ever coming from there how is this possible?

Answer 1

A lot of surnames came from the persons occupation, or ones ending 'son' like johnson, are johns son, so there can be variations in other countries. Others are country specific from names of gods etc. some, like Lloyd are english but from llwyr means 'grey one' in welsh, but i think again there are variations in all countries. It could be from a non blood ancestor marring someone from england a VERY long time ago or just a variation.