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Surnames
Surnames, also known as last names, are passed down from our ancestors, and connect us to our family. In this category, you will find questions about the use of surnames and their meanings.
2,644 Questions
What country does the last name Castro from from?
Genoa, in the Piedmont region of Italy, is the first place that the surname Castro surfaces. There are also early records in Castile, Spain.
Is Espinosa a Mexican surname?
Yers, Espinosa can be a Jewish surname but it is not always a Jewish surname. The name Espinosa can be Sephardic and often belongs to a Jewish family with origins in Spain or Portugal or who resided in Latin America. The family could also have been moranos/conversos, meaning they were Jews who chose to convert to Catholocism rather than be killed or forcebly deported during the Spanish inquisition. By choosing a more Spanish sounding surname (and they did have a choice; Jews at this time often did not have last names) they would escape further persecution from their Christian neighbors who may suspect them of not being proper Catholics.
What is the origin of the name surname Terry?
The proud and noble English surname of Terry originated with the masculine Norman given names of Theodoric or Thierry, arriving on British soil with the Norman Conquest of 1066 A.D. It is first recorded in Kent, where they had held a family seat.
What are the oldest surnames in England?
The oldest and best family name in the world is Humphreys and this family dates back to the very very early stages of human existance.Many people believe that the Humphreys family are actually decendants from God himself. However the pure Humphreys family members have blond hair and blue eyes always.
What does the surname Smith mean?
The name Smith is not so much a meaning as the name of an occupation. Blacksmiths, silver smiths, copper smiths and other workers in metal were often known as "Jack the smith" or "Harry the goldsmith" etc in their communities. As occupational descriptions slowly converted into surnames, the name "Smith" came to be one of the most common, because each city and town needed more than one metal smith, so there were a lot of Smiths.
What are the origins of the surname Utley?
The Anglo-Saxons who ruled all of Britain in ancient times bestowed the proud and noble English surname of Utley upon persons living in or near a parish named Oteley, which can be found in the counties of Suffolk, Shropshire, and the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Explain how nicknames became surnames?
... surnames that are nicknames
When surnames were being adopted, many were the result of nicknames that were given by friends, relatives, or others. Some nicknames were extremely unflattering -- to the point of vulgarity -- but most of those have vanished, having been changed by descendants through spelling changes or simply by changing names after emigrating. Nicknames are perhaps the most fascinating surnames -- but not always very flattering to one's ancestor. Gotobed, for example, stemmed from someone who was very lazy, and Kennedy is Gaelic for "ugly head".
Physical features that were prominent when surnames began to be adopted were also borrowed as an identifier (Long, Short, Beardsly, Stout) as were dispositions of the bearers (Gay, Moody, Sterne, Wise). Sometimes the name told its own story (Lackland, Freeholder, Goodpasture, Upthegrove) and sometimes they might have been selected to elicit envy or sympathy (Rich, Poor, Wise, Armstrong).
Aristotle is Aristotle's first and only name. At that time in that place surnames were not used.
Where did the surname Carr originate?
Dating back to 1180 A.D., the proud and noble Scottish surname of Carr originates in Lancashire.
Family motto: "Late but in earnest!"
What is the origin of the surname Rosas?
The proud and noble Spanish surname Rosas originated with people being given surnames according to where they lived. This is called a "local" or "habitational" surname. The Rosas family lived near a place where the wild roses grew. It is first found in the records of Old Castile, in the mountains of Santander.
Where did the surname Standing originate?
The one-time rulers of all Britain, the Anglo-Saxons of the most ancient of days, would have originally bestowed the proud and noble English surname of Standing upon persons living in the county of Nottinghamshire, in an area with a name meaning "stony ground". As a matter of fact, they had held a family seat as Lords of the Manor- at Staunton.
Where did the surname Nicholson originate?
The proud and noble English surname of Nicholson strides victoriously through the withering sands of time from the era when powerful Anglo-Saxon tribes ruled all of Britain- they used it to denote a person whose father's name was "Nicholas". This masculine given (or personal) name derives from the Greek language-words meaning "conquer" and "people". Widely recognized for holding a family seat in Cumberland from early times, the family motto is "Through the camp to the stars!"
What is the most common welsh surname?
Jones most probably , but also Williams , Evans , Parry etc.
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Jones, Morgan, and Tabb are very common surnames.
Where did the surname Woodruff originate?
The proud and noble English surname of Woodruffe came to rise during those most ancient of days when the mighty Anglo-Saxon tribes ruled all Britain. The surname itself derives from "the woodrofe plant, a white flower whose leaves bear a sweet scent", indicating that the bearer lived in an area in which that plant was common. They held a family seat in Yorkshire, at Bolton on Deane, prior to- and following- the Norman Invasion of 1066 A.D.
What heritage did the surname Hanna come from?
Irish, English, Scottish, or German. http://www.ancestry.com/facts/Hanna-places-origin.ashx
When did surnames stop being invented?
In Europe, surnames began to proliferate during the Medieval era- 1000 A.D. and onward.
Where does the surname McCullough come from?
Comes from the Irish mythical figure Fionn Mac Cumhaill. McCool is the anglicized version.
How do you go about changing your son's surname?
My daughter has my last name, her dad isn't on the birth certificate but he does pay child support. can i change her last name when i get married and how?
My daughter has my last name, her dad isn't on the birth certificate but he does pay child support. can i change her last name when i get married and how?
Why do so many Jewish surnames end with stein?
Stein means 'stone" in German, many Jews are of German extraction like many Scandinavian names end in 'son" eg: anderson, Peterson, Emmerson, etc. -stein isn't a Jewish name, it's a German name (the same is true of -berg and -mann). By the time last names became common ("Thomas Miller" as opposed to "Thomas the Miller"), there were many Jews living in Europe. They took names in the language spoken in the region they lived in. Some of them lived in Germany, so they got German-sounding names. Starting about 80 years back, there was some unpleasantness in Germany (actually, it had been going on at least to some degree for hundreds of years all over Europe, but Germany in the late 1930s was a particularly bad time and place to be Jewish). Many German Jews got out while they could, bringing their Germanic names with them. Since German Jews were under more pressure to emigrate than non-Jewish Germans (at least at first, when they were still being allowed to emigrate), in many countries where German is not the primary language a Germanic name often goes along with being of Jewish descent.
Where does the surname Pizza come from?
The concept of pizza began with Italian foods, specifically those of Naples.
It was first served in its current (tomato) varieties in the 18th century after Spanish explorers brought back tomato plants from Central America.
Where did the surname Garrett originate?
With a family motto of "Always Faithful", it comes with little surprise that the proud and noble Irish surname of Garrett is first found in County Carlow.
