Where Do You Get Your Last Name?

Question

Ever since I was little, I've always wondered how you got your last name. I didn't know if your great-great-great-great-great-great-grea... (you see where I'm going) granparents chose it, or your ancestors. I've never understood it, so can someone clear it up for me?

Answer 1

ive always wondered this too. i think in the roman times everyone got given surnames, i got mine from spain though?

lol.

Answer 2

Sometimes names were chosen, sometimes they were determined by custom, other times they were assigned by someone else.

In a small village, where there might only be one or two people with any given first name, last names aren't very important, and doubles can be distinguished by some other trait- so in one town you might have John Carpenter and John Red (for hair or skin or a piece of clothing). Over time, as towns grew and widespread taxation and military service became more common, distinguishing individuals became more important, so such nickname-based names might become more important and be passed from parents to children.

Important families might be known by a title or a large piece of land held- hence the ancient noble family of York in Britain.

In other places, names were patronymic or matronymic - children were given their own given name, and distinguished by the addition of their parent's name plus -son or -daughter (hence Svenson or Peterson- son of Sven, son of Peter). This of course made telling people apart in large groups difficult, and made tracking family relationships difficult, as the name changed with each generation.

Some people had names forced on them- in Sweden, the use of patronymics made military service confusing (too many repeated surnames) so the army assigned new surnames to many recruits, usually common nouns (like if you were to join the army today and be given the name "apple" or something). In many parts of Europe in the middle ages. government agents forced names on Jewish families, often of an insulting nature.

American slaves were sometimes given the last name of their owners, and other times after emancipation, chose their own last names, sometimes after a location, other times after a hero or positive trait.

Immigrants to America sometimes chose to simplify or change their surnames, and other times had the change forced on them by immigration officials who misunderstood or just didn't care enough to spell them the original way.

Historically, especially in certain cultures (ancient Rome springs to mind, but it happened in other times and places), wealthy people without biological heirs would adopt someone- sometimes as a child, other times as an adult- and make them their heir, on the agreement that they take on the surname and continue the family name. This is part of the explanation for the many double-barreled surnames in the British nobility- new fortunes could be aquired by those willing to take on another name, or an uneven marriage between a richer and poorer spouse might require one or both to hyphenate or change their name- for example a rich woman whose family had no male heirs might require that her spouse take her name on to continue the family name in the children.

Sometimes, especially now, individuals choose to change their names or their children's names, for a variety of reasons- a desire to honor someone who they consider or discover to be family, a desire to break with old family or traditions, a desire to join with someone else in a new family, a simple dislike of the original name, and many other reasons. Adoption, marriage, repatriation to a new country- all common reasons for changing a name.

These are just some of the places names come from. Sometimes it's chosen, sometimes it's not, sometimes it's clear where it came from, sometimes it's not.

Answer 3

it is a mystery that must remain so.

but to me it would be that people either chose it themselves or other people called them that (maybe as a nickname). That's because, when we think of today, I, for example would call a man selling icecream (if i didnt knw his name) the Icecream man, or the Lolipop man, so maybe that was how it worked back then. The man who stood near a cart selling apples would be called the Applecart, and his son would be called young applecart (or something like that).

Or as i said before, it could be that people changed their names, therefore they were the ones who chose their names.

Becasue, if u think about it, some people do it today. they dont like the names that their parents gave them , so they change it.

Answer 4

People originally did not HAVE last names, and didn't need them. In general, the population was small enough that everyone knew who John or William was.  As populations grew, it became necessary to identify different men who had the same first names, so last names were simply "tags".  Sometimes the names came from occupations, places, appearance, or who John's father was.

If a last name came from an occupation (ie Smith), there could be more than one Smith, and not always related.  Eventually, names came to be used as custom, to identify children of a man (ie his family). Wives took husband's last names since they were thought of more as "belongings".

It evolved into a name being a label to identify a family group. Since wives and children were "his".. children took the name of the father.

And here we are.

Answer 5

Most of my ancestors came from the Netherlands and many of them got their surnames in 1811.  The French emperor Napoleon obliged surnames in 1811 in the Netherlands and also set up the civil registry system. Some Dutch had surnames prior to that, but many of the ones who did were rich or foreigners.

Before 1811 everyone who had no surname was called by his or her first name, followed by the name of the father (also called patronymic names) . If there was e.g. a father Klaas with a son Jan, the son was named Jan Klaassen or Klaasz. Even if the family had a surname, for example Bakker, the name of the father was often included. So the son was Jan Klaasz Bakker.

Most of the Dutch names were "americanized" after immigrating to America.  For example Bakker became Baker, Kok became Cook, and Van Dijk became Van d**e.- just to name a few.

This is just one country... there are many other ways Last names came into being.  Here is a link that I think that you will find interesting.  It tells how several of the larger country's surnames came into being

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_name

Answer 6

A lot of times your last name came from what a family member did. Smith is a popular name and came from being a blacksmith. Miller came from working a mill,In Leonardo Da Vinci's case ,he was Leonardo from Vinci (Venice), get the idea?

Answer 7

Well, I got my surname from my Dad, who got it from his Dad, all the way back to Merry Old England; he was one of those "son of...".

Some sources claim the ancient Chinese had surnames 4,000 years ago...Others claim the Romans invented them.  I don't know about the Chinese, but the Romans limited surnames to the Caesars, their families, and other important folks.  But it was not a case of "first name, last name" as they usually had FOUR names, the third name being the mother's maiden name (still common is some societies).  Several of the Scandinavian countries REQUIRED surnames as early as the 800s; countries such as German required them by 1400s (one of my ancestors had one surname, each of his 2 sons that were my ancestors had a DIFFERENT surname); England started requiring surnames in order to tax every one according to his wealth just after William the Conqueror invaded in 1066.

Just google "origin of surnames" and you will find lots of information, often contradictory.

I know folks who are still choosing surnames; I have known folks with job-related names (Smith, Butcher), folks with place names, including the surname "French". Surnames  come from mother's maiden names, father's surname, other relations, including godparents (which is what they did in Germany from the 1400s to early 1700s, at least); place names; occupational names; and names for features of the individual (Welch, I learned here yesterday, means "stranger", just like "gringo") or where he lives.  Other names, probably the majority of them, apparently were just "invented" as you can not find an origin to them.

Answer 8

Interesting stuff...a good question and really good answers.

Answer 9

The sources from which names are derived are almost endless: nicknames, physical attributes, counties, trades, heraldic charges, and almost every object known to mankind. Tracing a family tree in practice involves looking at lists of these names - this is how we recognise our ancestors when we find them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhisto...

The oldest use of family or surnames is unclear. Surnames have arisen in cultures with large, concentrated populations where single names for individuals became insufficient to identify them clearly. In many cultures, the practice of using additional descriptive terms in identifying individuals has arisen. These identifying terms or descriptors may indicate personal attributes, location of origin, occupation, parentage, patronage, adoption, or clan affiliation. Often these descriptors developed into fixed clan identifications which became family names in the sense that we know them today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_name