Who decides your last name?

Question

I know when you are born you take the last name of your father, but how did people get distinct last names? Did your great great great great great etc. ancestor just decide on some name?

Answer 1

sometimes a last name was picked depending on the occupation of the father.

Answer 2

well American and Old English names used to be decided on what the Father or "head male" did for a living. If he baked, he'd be Mr. Baker. A bad example, but it's true. And perhaps Locksmith just got changed to Smith.  

Answer 3

In answer to your question, the law decides your last name. You are free to change it, within the law.

As to origins of surnames, just google "origin of surnames" because there are so many different answers.

But, yes, basically someone just decided, at the prod of some king, to choose a surname.

Answer 4

your right!... People just decided what they wanted for their last name and ran with it.

Answer 5

Last names first came into use in the 1200-1400s.  Back then, people used a pretty small group of first names; nearly every family had a John, a Thomas, a James or a William.  With so many people having the same name, it became necessary to distinguish one from the other.  The words used to describe this John and that John eventually became their last names.  And those surnames eventually "stuck" and were passed from one generation to the next.

People didn't usually choose the last names themselves; the names got started when other people needed a way to describe them:

"I saw John the other day."

"Oh, which John?"

"John the tailor." (who of course becomes John Taylor)

Referring to someone's occupation was one way to describe them, but there were other ways as well:

Some people were described by a physical or personality trait:

William with red hair was known as William Reid

William with big muscles was known as William Armstrong

William who was loyal and trustworthy was known as William Truman

Some were known by the place where they lived:

Thomas who lived in the glen was called Thomas Glenn

Thomas who lived on the edge of town was called Thomas Townsend

Thomas who lived in the forest of ash trees was called Thomas Ashwood

Some became known by their father's name:

James, John's son, became James Johnson

James, Nels' son, became James Nelson

James, Carl's son, became James Carlson

Many surnames evolved from words that are no longer used, or words from a different language, so it's not always obvious to us what their original meanings were.  But they all have meanings, and that's how they got started.

Answer 6

European surnames first occurred between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, the majority of surnames are derived from patronymics, i.e. the forming of a surname from the father's given name such as Johnson, meaning literally "the son of John".

Surnames are derived from place names or occupational names such as Smith or Carpenter in the British Isles; Schmidt or Zimmerman in Germany etc.