Why do so many people have the same last name if they aren't related?

Answer 1

I would assume that you are referring to people in the United States. With this being the case, let me try to answer your question.

The use of a last name or surname is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Surnames were adopted in order to legally distinguish two individuals with the same given name. Different areas of the world adopted surnames at different periods in time. For example, surnames were commonly used two thousand years ago in areas occupied or influenced by the Romans. Other areas of the world were slower to begin using surnames, but they were coming into regular use by the time of the Middle Ages, first by the nobility, then by the gentry. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Ireland was one of the first countries to adopt hereditary surnames, and Irish surnames are found as early as the tenth century.

Surnames are generally derived from one of four sources: the name of the person's father, the person's locality, the person's occupation, or a descriptive nickname for the person. When they were created, they answered one of the following questions: Who is this person's father? Where is this person from? What does this person do for a living? What is his or her most prominent feature?

This is why there are so many Smiths and Johnsons for example. Even though they are not related there were a lot of blacksmiths and sons of John. In the early years of surnames, the surname wasn't passed on from father to children, but each child was given a different surname based on one of the items above. I hope this helps answer your question.

Answer 2

Most people's second name (what we would call a surname) came from their trade or business

Peter Carpenter
Mary Potter
James Fisher
Jim Stockman
Laura Blacksmith.

You get the idea, and those are just modern versions. Keep in mind the English language is a bastardisation of French, German, Latin and a few other languages thrown in for luck so there are plenty of variations on the same theme.

Since every little town had all members of these trades you can immediately see how town 1 and town 2 might both have a Mr Blacksmith etc etc.

Some folks were also named from where they came from. Probably the most famous name in history would be "Jesus of Nazareth", although i am sure there are plenty of folks called "Mr or Ms London" too :)

anyway you get the idea.

Answer 3

Most people with the same surname are related in one way or another, maybe not close relations, but if you were to draw a family tree, you would see that they all tie in at one point or another. The only time that would not work would be in the case of adoption or when someone takes on another name. ie. in the 1800's many slaves when they were freed took on the surname of their masters.

Answer 4

There use to be many ways to get the same names: be from a certain place, be a certain persons child, being born a certain sex, changing a last name, or when the Am. revolution freed all the slaves they all chose names of people who infuenced them.
But we are all related but I dont think anyone wants to do that much work to see all of how.

Answer 5

In olden times people took their name from the place they lived so people not related to each other took the same name.
Also some names relate to a person's occupation such as Smith, Cartwright, Wheeler, so people living hundreds of miles apart and not related would have the same name.

Answer 6

A lot of names got changed when immigrants came into Ellis Island. If you saw American Tail, they depicted this but it is actually true. American slaves often took the last names of their slave owners. Also, I believe that in many cultures, last names came from where people lived or their occupation, rather than who they were related to.

Answer 7

Under certain circumstances, the government does allow you to chance your last name. Therefore so many people have the same last name. A friend of mine originally had the last name Phalange, but after being approved by the government, she changed her last name to Nagal.

Answer 8

well history states that back long ago (medieval times im guessing) when you had a job that's what your last name is for example how popular is the last name Baker or Butcher or Buttlerso thats probibley why there are so many same names

Answer 9

Dear Madame,

We are all related. Just keep digging. (Hint: It all began with a single goat...)

Hope this helps,

Pianoguy

Answer 10

Well if you go back far enough we are all related to Adam and Eve.............