The oldest use of family or surnames is unclear. Surnames have arisen in cultures with large, concentrated populations where single names for individuals became insufficient to identify them clearly. In many cultures, the practice of using additional descriptive terms in identifying individuals has arisen. These identifying terms or descriptors may indicate personal attributes, location of origin, occupation, parentage, patronage, adoption, or clan affiliation. Often these descriptors developed into fixed clan identifications which became family names in the sense that we know them today.
In China, according to legend, family names originated with Emperor Fu Xi in 2852 BC. His administration standardized the naming system in order to facilitate census-taking, and the use of census information. The surnames "Zhu," "Lee," "Chung" and "Chang" are most popular in Taiwan, and/or China. In Japan, family names were uncommon except among the aristocracy until the 19th century.
The Ancient Greek Empire first started using their last names as signs of origination, or where they were born/raised (e.g. Copernicus en Ithica).
The first generation where last names were more commonly used were around the times of Christ, since there were many other children that had the name Jesus, and the public didn't want to confuse him with others, and the officials made it so. How they proclaimed last names were based on what their profession was, hence where the most original name in history, John (black)Smith, came to be.
How Middle names came to be were more complex. There would soon be many other families with the same last name that were not related to the latter group, so the leaders of the time called the term "second name", or middle name, where the mother who gave birth to the child could give them another name to further identify them.
Many in the north were taking the name of the place thay lived, just as much as naming the place they lived after them. The Lindgaard family lived on a farm near a linden forrest.
German (southern and eastern) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for someone who made or laid wooden roof tiles, from an agent derivative of Middle High German schindel, German Schindel âshingleâ.
Apparently my ancestors laid shingles. Cool.
And yes, I am slightly related to Oskar Schindler. And yes, that is why my username is theLISTman.
This is a really good forum. Ironically, before I looked at this, I was thinking about where last names came from. When I was younger, I thought that maybe a long time ago, they just pulled names out of a hat or something, and that would be their families' name. *shrug*
Last names come in many different ways. Sometimes, it is relative to the occupation of the holder. Sometimes its just a different form of someones name. I can tell you that almost all Armenian surnames just have a first name followed by -yan.
The Romans only had few last names, and first names too. There was only 12 possible choices of what your son's first name would be.
So instead of asking "What is your name?", they would say "WHICH is your name", lol.
The daughters had the same name as their father but it ended in -a. So if your Publius, your daughter's name would be Publia. If there comes another daughter, it would be Publia Secunda (second), lolol.
