Were did all of our last names come from?

Question

I just do not get how our last names came to be? Please help!!!!

Answer 1

When Napolean invaded Holland the people of Holland only had one name, and as many of these names were identical Napolean decided that he had to make everyone in the country have a second name so that they could be put on a register for tax collection purposes. So the Dutch had to turn up to select a second name, and few people took this seriously, so to this day Dutch families are known by the Dutch equivalent as "Born Naked" or "Great Lover". So to answer your question it very much depends on the country. Many European countries developed a system that referenced the children to the father..eg Johnson (the son of John) or by what they did...in England there are so many people called Smith; that was short for blacksmith, and every village had one. Saddler made the saddles, Mr Farmer had a farm etc. Some names came from where people lived...like Moor or Moore, Sands etc. In some communities the lineage of family names went through the mother, and in China, ladies often retain their maiden names after marriage. There is no single rule, it simply depends on what the local people did in the area of the world where your family developed.

Answer 2

They come from different sources.
In Iceland, if I am not mistaken, they still name people after their father's given name, e.g. John Larsson or Jane Larsdottir for the children of Lars. In most countries now, the father's or mother's surname is passed down to the children unchanged, unless somebody decides to change it for some reason.
In the old days (and still, it seems, in the Middle East) a person's surname was often a reference to his/her home town or place of residence. It could also be a reference to the person's occupation or some other thing they are known for.

Answer 3

My uncle started a family genealogical association with about 500 members now.and they went back to the first family ancester that decided to have a last name, when people Begin to form towns and gather in groups many had the same First name so they just made up last names like farmer. carpenter .miller, goldsmith.and had names named after the mountains where they lived are a blue lake are whatever
If your a black in America you probably have the last name of the last person who owned a black man in your family.

Answer 4

In Britain most people only used to have one name, mainly relating to whichever tribe they belonged to, so it was difficult for the rulers of the lands to collect individual taxes, so second names were introduced around The 10th century so that each individual could be more easily identified and this enabled the rulers to collect more taxes.

Answer 5

mine comes from issiah [horn]
melded with the deer in nether lands became hoorn
we were chased into the swamps ,most hated and reviled them our forfathers made our own lands
every dutchie has both feet on top on the land on top of the water
knowing it but in denial of its knowing
for the horns of issiah and the head of the red deer
then came the son of the hoorn[s]
and because he was high born was known as the THE hoorn [son of]
they even named a town
wrote a story and has dreamings
names come from trades /skills or just towns [fiefdoms] usually tagged with the son of prefeix in europre

often locations are known by thier location or inhabitants
ie van die mens land
means of the peoples land
but it was planed to be new jerusalum [new holy land ]
veiled the great south lands under new holland
but really it belonds to die mens
[GOD}
even the jinns were yet in attendance working the land that refused the plow till white man come rename it australis ,creat south lands

neither a colony not a proper state state not country never named by the many nations that were as one under god
the children of
biami[the light]

Answer 6

Mine came from my Dad and Mom. They were married to each other when I was born so they both had the same last name. Can you believe that !!!

Answer 7

Most came either from the places people lived, or the occupations they followed.

Answer 8

It gets puzzling to analyze them regardless of the undeniable fact that. Many final names have been replaced whilst people got here to u.s....much less complicated variations & spellings. My maiden call grow to be Weed...my super-grandparents have been farmers as have been many generations beforehand of that, yet I have no thought if that's the place it comes from. My mom's kinfolk did analyze theirs...and it grow to be replaced in Austria throughout the conflict. My married call is exceptionally effortless...that's the area of the place they got here from in Spain. Wow...Dragusha...and that i assumed it grow to be difficult for me and my sisters becoming up being referred to as the Weed ladies.

Answer 9

being of Scandinavian origin I can tell you that most of our names come from our fore fathers and fathers, for instance Johanson ( johans son)
ericson (erics son)

Answer 10

several places.
place names
occupations
physical characteristics
patronymic
matrinomic

are the most common