Surname Meaning

Where do surnames come from?

Humans have used more than one name to make it easier to distinguish one person from another who may have the same name. As communities grew and societies developed, the distinguishing names became fixed. People also started passing a certain name from generation to generation, creating the origins of a family name.

The story behind the surname depends on the society’s priorities at the time people started adopting surnames. Societies that were hunter-oriented based their surnames on events, religious connotations, or characteristics of the individual. Less developed societies commonly used surnames derived from the father's name. Communities that were more technically superior based their surnames on occupations, place of residence, or social status.

However, just because a person carries the last name Tailor doesn't mean that an individual's occupation has anything to do with tailoring. Someone from their family was once a tailor and they passed on their distinguishing name to their children, and so on. Fast forward a hundred years later, when someone carries the last name Taylor or Tailor, you may say with great certainty that one of their ancestors practiced tailoring as a profession.

Surnames occurred in various periods across different regions. They were first adopted in England in the 11th and 16th centuries.

Do surnames have meanings like first names do?

Last name meanings can tell you a lot about the origins of your ancestors. Surname meanings can be categorized into the most common types:

• Occupational surnames derived from an ancestor's profession can be divided into two groups: standard and titular occupations. For example,
  the name origin of someone with the last name Stewart links back to an ancient clan title in Scotland.

• Topographical surnames are usually derived from landscapes (Ford, Hill, Rivers) or town or place names (London, Austin.) At first, families that held land adopted the surnames derived from place-names. However, as people started moving from one place to another, it became more common for them to choose a surname derived from the name of a certain place.

• Descriptive surnames were most often derived from insulting characteristics, which is why they are less common. People got surnames based on characteristics such as baldness, stupidity, greediness, or even straightforward insults such as the surname Blackinthemouth. Many insulting descriptive surnames have disappeared. Luckily, there are still many surnames derived from positive characteristics, such as Good, Young, White, Angel, Goodman, etc.

• Matronymic surnames are those derived from a female ancestor's name and are very uncommon in many parts of the world. They usually arose due to illegitimate births, or among nobility when the mother enjoyed higher social ranking than her spouse.

Why are some surnames so much more common than others?

The culture the progenitor lived in and their social status will greatly influence a surname origin. People of high social status usually took surnames that are fairly uncommon today. Whereas, people of the lower social class took surnames that are very common today. People of lesser social status had much less control over their surnames, especially during feudalism. They were often handed to them by authorities such as lords or big community landowners. This is why you will find many common insulting surnames, such as Purcell – that literally means "little pig" in old English, or Barrett which means "fraud" and describes a deceiving man.

Some of the most widely-found surnames are job-related because our ancestors widely practiced certain occupations.

The surname Smith, for example, was shared by 2,442,977 Americans in the 2010 census. The name origins refer to a smith, a person who works with metal. Smith has been used as an occupational surname since the Anglo-Saxon period. Based on a widely-spread occupation, the surname quickly became one of the most common surnames in many English-speaking countries. Many Smiths have been given the surname precisely because of its popularity, even though they had no connection to the occupation.

Surnames derived from father's names are also common, especially those derived from John, Thomas, or Williams, since those three names were the most common for a long time.

What can your surname tell you about your history?

Your surname meaning can help you discover many interesting things about your ancestry, including your last name origins and nationality. However, you can find so much more behind the name.

In addition to ethnic last name origin, you will discover if your name is habitational, occupational, or descriptive. You may even discover where your surname first appeared.

If you wonder what your last name means, a simple search can help you discover some or all of the following:

• Where in the U.S. your ancestors lived
• The national origin of your family
• When your ancestors came to the United States from their home countries
• Their occupation, distinguishing characteristics, and social status