How did people create last names?

Question

What is the origin of our last names????

Answer 1

It depends on the society and the name.

Historically, people will find that the most common origin of last names are:

1. The name of an ancestor.
2. The name of a person's geographic origin.
3. A person's occupation.

Answer 2

Long long ago, people chose the names of their occupations to help identify them. In a small town, you might have had John Baker () or John Smith (a maker) or John Woods (From the forest).

Later people also chose the names of their fathers or mother's as a last name. John Peters ....son of Peter etc

But this leads me to another question, why do married women take on their new husband's surname and not vice versa? Must provoke many sexist comments...the masculinity or the power of breadwinners of days gone by. Just wondering...

Answer 3

Back in the day, last names were usually whatever profession the family was in. Such as Shumaker, Potters, Carpenter, etc.
and later on, the slaves brought over to America usually took the last name of their owner.

Answer 4

Some of them are occupations, like John Smith was a short way of referring to John, the blacksmith.

Some of them are where the family came from, like Da Vinci means "from Vinci," a place in Italy.

It was a way to identify people further.

Answer 5

They started out with jobs and first names. For example,if your father's name was John, and your name was Joe, then people started calling you "Joe, John's Son". When they said it quickly, it became "joe Johnson." If you were, say, a black/gold/silver smith, you became a "smith."

Answer 6

Isn't it obvious? We have names such as Carpenter, Shumaker, Baker, and Johnson.

Answer 7

When my ancestors were forced here on luxury ships centuries ago, their first and last names were taken from them and the slave masters gave them new first and last names.