If you have the same last name as someone does that mean you could be related?

Answer 1

Not necessarily. For one thing, there are various spellings of names and many people changed the spelling of their name or had it changed for them when they emigrated to Another Country.

For another, the last name might be spelled the same but have originated in a different country and have a different meaning.

Another reason is that in some countries, people get their last names based on their father's name. One way was by using their father's first name and then putting 'son/sen' or 'datter' (daughter) at the end: Johnson, Johnsdatter. But their children would use their father's first name so the children of Ole Johnson would have the last name of Oleson or Olesdatter. Or "MacDonald" means "son of Donald".

Some last names come from the place a person lived in. In Norway, a person's last name could indicate the farm they lived on. So if they lived on the farm, for example, Bjeldanes, that was their last name until they moved to a different farm. They might still be related to people living on the Bjeldanes farm unless that farm was sold to a different family. When researching genealogy, you might find a person with several last names because they lived on so many different farms.

There are many other instances, but this gives a good idea of why you aren't necessarily related to someone just because you have the same last name.