wHEN DID PEOPLE START USING LAST NAMES IN HISTORY?

Answer 1

Among Europeans they began in the last melennium. The Normans instituted them in most cases for taxing purposes.

Your surname might indicate that the root person of your surname was the son of some one, like Johnson, Jones, son of John, Willilams, Williamson,Wilson, son of William.

or
their occupation like Smith, Baker, Taylor, Fisher, Clark(clerk), Carpenter, Barbour etc etc.

or someplace they lived close to like the name of a town or castle

or if Sam lived closed to or on a hill he beame Sam Hill.

or some characteristic like Short, Sharp, Black(meaning black hair) Brown (meaning a darker skin), Stout, and the list goes on.

It was quite possible for the legitimate sons of the same man to come up with different surnames and at the same time they each shared their surnames with other with whom they were not related.

See the link below from the most prestigious genealocal organization in the United States, The Naitonal Genealogical Society

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

Answer 2

The aristocracy in most European countries acquired surnames before the working classes in about CE 1100. By the 13th and 14th century, most merchants and working class people in Germany, England, Lowland Scotland, and France had surnames adopted from either patronymics (meaning son of), occupations, or perhaps geographical features. All classes of Italians had similarly adopted surnames by 1500 while Spaniards had adopted surnames a little earlier than most of their European counterparts around CE 1200 perhaps because of the widespread use of patronymics. Of course, the Celtic patronymic system extends back at least a 1000 years.

Other European countries obviously followed similar practices as one can tell by the translation of the name Smith: Kowalski, Schmidt, Kovacs, Kuznetsov. Scandinavians didn't completely abandon patronymics for an inherited surname that didn't change each generation until approximately 200 years ago, however.

In China, surnames began to be used by the lower classes by 221 BCE. As in Europe, Chinese family names are sometimes place names, sometimes patronymics, and sometimes names of occupations. When determining at what point in history families adopted surnames, it is perhaps more important to determine class than national origin.

Answer 3

In Turkey, about 1934; in the Philippines it was 1849; in ancient Rome it began about 500 B.C. for the important people; for royalty in France, Spain, etc. starting in the 800s; most of Europe made it mandatory starting in 1100s and completed by the 1400s.

Check:
http://www.italyworldclub.com/genealogy/surnames/
http://dnaconsultants.com/Detailed/71.html
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads/Pathways/surnames.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_name
http://www.mayrand.org/meaning-e.htm

As you read what different people say, you will find that they have differing opinions. Meaning that no one really knows, because documents decay due to age; records are burned; destroyed by invading armies; insects and rats and mice chew them up; and so forth.

I know that on my Dad's side, I have traced my ancestry back to the early 1400s in Germany; the oldest of that family had no surname. His son adopted a surname; his 2 sons took surnames, each different from his brother and from his Dad.
On my Mom's side, the earliest surnames go back further, due to being descended from Royalty and from Roman Emperors.

Answer 4

Thats unclear there are in fact many potential answers to the question