what is the history of last names?

Question

who made up peoples last names and when did it start

Answer 1

A family name, or surname, is the part of a person's name that indicates to what family he or she belongs. The use of family names is not universal throughout history. In parts of the world, they did not appear in common use until the 17th to 19th centuries, and in some cultures they are not used today. In many cultures of Asia, the family name is typically spoken or written first when referring to an individual, while in most Western cultures, the family name is last, giving rise to the term last name for family name.

The word surname is "name" prefixed by the French word sur (meaning "on"), which derives from Latin super ("over"). In the past it was sometimes spelt sirname or sirename (suggesting that it meant "man's name" or "father's name") due to folk etymology.

The use of family names varies among cultures. In particular, Icelanders, Tibetans, Burmese, and Javanese often do not use a family name — well-known people lacking a family name include U Thant (Burmese), Suharto and Sukarno (see Indonesian names). Also, many royal families do not use family names. In China, India, and the Middle East, surname bears important sense of identity.

Answer 2

Good question. At one time, people didn't have last names as such. But, the last name would have given some indication of their occupation or where they originated. The name "Smith" or "Smithy" would have been used by a tradesman who was probably an Iron Smyth or a Black Smyth. The name "Baker" is obvious as is "Carpenter" or "Butcher". The son of a man named Baker would have become "Son of Baker " or "Bakerson".

During the dark ages, it was popular to use a name that was more of a descriptive term of their place of origin: "John of Aguilar" or "Peter of Trudeau" which would, today, be reduced to John Aguilar or Peter Tornado or something like that.

Look up "Heraldry" and that should give you a lot of information.

Answer 3

I believe that many of the last names came from the jobs that people had. Like a blacksmith would have had the last name of Smith, and a baker would have the last name of Baker. Also, when a family had many sons, their last name would pick that up, such as Johnson. Many of the slaves that were brought over were given the last names of the plantation owner, losing their own identity with their past. I would do a search on the internet to find the origins of names. <*)))><

Answer 4

From what I understand it back in the old days they where used as the husbands job. For example if my husbands name was john and he was a blacksmith his name would be John Blacksmith and my name would be Katie Blacksmith. And the kids would take the same till they got mirred(girls) or till they got a job(guys). They the boys started to keep the dads last name and thats how we got our names. Also, one of the reasons smith is so popular is because of blacksmith(smith) get it?!

Answer 5

I high school, we were told that last names were given for the occupation you had. Future generations would later change the name slightly or add another letter on the end.

Banker later became Banks or Tailor later became Taylor.

That's the history I got anyway.

Answer 6

People named themselves after their father, town, job, or nickname. As for when people started to identify themselves with last names...people started to have last names about 2,000 years ago.

Answer 7

It is to tell people apart. With no last names how would you tell the 50 Joseph's apart?

Answer 8

i'm pretty sure it was when these two guys both name john were at a party and people were all confuse, so someone said i'll call you john smith and the other guy is john davis. there you go. in a nut shell.

Answer 9

Most names came from the profession a person worked at. Smith = Black Smith... Potter = Pottery maker... etc... etc...

Answer 10

Most people's last names comes from their lineage (Johnson), their trade (Smith) or where they lived (London).

Eventually these became family or Surnames.