How do you know where a certain Last name comes from?

Question

How do you know where a certain last name comes from?

Answer 1

Many times the same surname can come from more than one country. Germany and the Slavic countries had a lot of boundary changes. Also the Alsace, Lorraine area of France was a German state (this was before Germany was a nation) and most of the people there are German or have German ancestry even though it is part of France. There were boundary changes between Italy and Austria.

There was an Anglo Norman invasion of Ireland which brought a lot of Anglo Norman names. Even though there were laws forbidden them to take on Irish customs, language and intermarry with the natives, they did and became more Irish than the Irish themselves.

The Norman invasion of England brought French names to England. So a name might be both French and English.

Then a lot of Irish immigrated to England and Scotland for jobs. So if they married their natives, they might have an Irish name and be more English or Scottish than Irish.
I live where we have lots of Cajuns. One priest had a very French name but he said his father was French in name only. He was mostly Irish. His mother was French.

In genealogy the origin of a name isn't all that important. In other words, you trace your grandfather's ancestry with records one generation at a time, not his name.

The link to Ancestry.Com can tell you the origin that was given for immigrants to the U. S. and you will find a lot of the same name comes from more than one country.

When surnames were taken, they were based on someone being the son of someone, their occupation, their habitation, or some characteristic, like short, stout etc.
It was possible for legitimate sons of the same man to have different surnames, but each shared their with others that were not related to them.

Now while you are interested in the origin of names, be very careful about peddlers of surname products. They are on the internet, at shopping malls, at airports and advertise in magaines. They have coats of arms to sell(misnomer family crest). Frequently there were several people with the same name granted a coat of arms, but they aren't going to have all of them. Afterall they just need to sell an unsuspecting person one. They don't belong to surnames. They were granted to individuals who passed them on to their sons. See the links below

http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/Faq.htm

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comconsumerpsst.cfm

Answer 2

You don't; not for certain, unless it was "invented" only recently, as many of them were.
If you are talking about centuries ago, it is mostly impossible.
E.g., in England, many names are "son of" type names. When surnames were first demanded by the King, many people would pick the same surname, such as "Johnson", meaning "son of John". As any one with a father by the name of "John" could select the surname "Johnson", there was a strong likelihood that most of the "Johnsons" were unrelated. The same applies to those who chose surnames based on occupations (e.g., "Smith") or location. Apply this not only to England, but to the Netherlands, France, Spain, etc., and it quickly becomes apparent that with few surnames, it is impossible to determine WHERE the surname originated, as it probably originated at numerous places more or less simultaneously.
Another example: many of my ancestors came from France, going to England during the invasion by William the Conqueror. For centuries they maintained their French surnames; many, however, slowly evolved or were Anglicized. The thing of it is, with only ONE French ancestor, any of their descendants could maintain the French surname; many of the French surnames were very similar to Spanish surnames; many Netherlanders' surnames were almost identical to surnames from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
So, if you have followed all this, you can see that, for the most part, it is not possible to trace a surname.

Answer 3

In Europe it grew to become into many times Napoleon who delivered it into common use. The French Empire (to that end Napoleon) maintained an exceedingly thorough administration in many situations to maintain sparkling and secure grant of fellows for their military/militia. so as that they mandatory a thank you to become attentive to them and sign up them... So a great style of the countries that have been conquered by skill of Napoleon (noticeably much all human beings) accompanied their device. it truly is why a great style of human beings are observed as 'Janszoon' or 'Johansson' (translation: "John's Son" (or Johnson)). My surname is Salomons - it truly is a Jewish surname. i think of they used surnames incredibly early on. i be attentive to King Solomon comes from that tale, with regard to the toddler and a couple of mothers, so i assume they named themselves after that?

Answer 4

You can ask the elders in your family, if they are still alive or willing to discuss such.

Or, you can try these sites:

http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx

http://www.last-names.net/

http://www.searchforancestors.com/surnames/origin/

http://www.surnameguide.com/surnames.html

Answer 5

.look up name origins in your favorite browser!! or type in your last name like Williams family name origin.