# Are new family names created often? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083 "2019-07-14T20:17:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/21 "2019-07-16T06:46:55Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > Married couples in Japan are still required to have the same surname, a challenge to that law was rejected a few months ago, I haven’t heard of any change since. But it doesn’t actually have to be the husband’s name. In around 4% of cases per various sources the husband adopts the wife’s surname. The guy I knew who did this was a Pacific War veteran so it’s not a new thing. Generally it’s when the wife’s family line would otherwise die out. In Spain that led to stuck-together lastnames, with or without a dash in the middle, back in the 19th and early-20th century (Iturriagarozarena = Iturriaga + Arozarena; Sáez-Chivite = Sáez + Chivite). Nowadays people can choose to name their kids with the traditional Paternal-lastname Maternal-lastname pattern or put the mother’s first. Getting a completely new lastname still does require a change of name process, which can only be done once in a lifetime and is a pretty long-drawn process. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/22 "2019-07-16T08:54:14Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I wonder what would happen if Metta World Peace moved to Iceland and had some kids. Would they allow “Worldson” or “Mettadóttir”? They’d probably be Mettason or Mettadóttir, Metta is on the list of approved _female_ names but they seem to be coming around on gender issues (as “bur” shows) so would likely go with that. “World-” is likely out as _W_ isn’t a[proper Icelandic letter](https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Icelandic_Names). It’s used for some names, but you want to fit in, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/23 "2019-07-17T06:12:54Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Yes, I knew a fellow who was getting his Canadian citizenship a few years ago and changed his surname. He explained that the village where he came from (northeastern India?) they did not have surnames. When he first came to Canada, he used his village name - but now realizing it would be permanent, decided to use his father’s name as his surname. Likewise, I have a colleague from a matrilineal society in southern India who uses his mother’s (given) name as his official surname. His mother’s name is part of his own name in his community, but doesn’t really function as what we’d consider a family name; but it was the closest thing he had to a surname, so he uses it as such. Other Indians have adopted English words for occupational surnames such as “Engineer”, “Reporter”, or “Builder”, which may not be totally new in the English-speaking world but are probably getting a pretty strong signal boost from this usage. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/24 "2019-07-17T09:17:15Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > On marrying, my step-daughter and her husband decided to take a new last name rather than use his or hyphenate. They chose a Hebrew word that was meaningful to them. > > It was no big deal for her to get a new driver’s license and other ID with her name, but the bureaucracies of Maryland made it much more difficult for him to change his name. I read a column once about a married couple whose names were Flaherty and Silverman. They had changed both of their last names to Flaherman. FWIW, I think Silverty would have sounded nicer. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/25 "2019-07-17T11:38:58Z")
Similar to what some others have alluded to, in Tamil-speaking India, one’s last name is/was one’s fathers first name. When a generation decides to follow Western convention, that particular father’s first name gets “stuck” as the family (last) name forever. Just by chance, that one name eventually might be the last name of dozens of grandchildren, etc. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/26 "2019-07-17T13:23:29Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > But it doesn’t actually have to be the husband’s name. In around 4% of cases per various sources the husband adopts the wife’s surname. The guy I knew who did this was a Pacific War veteran so it’s not a new thing. Generally it’s when the wife’s family line would otherwise die out. You almost have it right. I didn’t mention this case because it’s more complicated. The husband actually is adopted into the wife’s family, a different process than marriage. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/27 "2019-07-24T16:21:49Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Likewise, I have a colleague from a matrilineal society in southern India who uses his mother’s (given) name as his official surname. His mother’s name is part of his own name in his community, but doesn’t really function as what we’d consider a family name; but it was the closest thing he had to a surname, so he uses it as such. > > Other Indians have adopted English words for occupational surnames such as “Engineer”, “Reporter”, or “Builder”, which may not be totally new in the English-speaking world but are probably getting a pretty strong signal boost from this usage. My husband had a colleague whose last name was Contractor. I believe he was of Middle-Eastern descent. I got the impression that his father came to the US, and took a name reflecting his profession (a la Smith, Tailor, Carver etc.). It made for a funny client email address - that client would suffix every non-employee’s email with “.CTR” so you’d see something like “John.Contractor.Ctr”. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/28 "2019-07-24T17:42:15Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > My husband had a colleague whose last name was Contractor. > > I believe he was of Middle-Eastern descent. I got the impression that his father came to the US, and took a name reflecting his profession (a la Smith, Tailor, Carver etc.). It made for a funny client email address - that client would suffix every non-employee’s email with “.CTR” so you’d see something like “John.Contractor.Ctr”. It’s unlikely this name was adopted upon immigration to the United States. “Contractor” is an actual family name in India. The Parsi community of India is descended from Zoroastrians who fled Persia during the Muslim conquest. They largely didn’t have family names until relatively recently in history—many names were adopted during British rule— and now often have names like Engineer, Merchant, Contractor, Shipchandler, Sodabottleopenerwala, etc., as well as occupational names in Indian languages, like Vakil (lawyer). ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/29 "2019-07-25T09:49:25Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > They largely didn’t have family names until relatively recently in history—many names were adopted during British rule— and now often have names like Engineer, Merchant, Contractor, Shipchandler, Sodabottleopenerwala, etc., as well as occupational names in Indian languages, like Vakil (lawyer). Freddie Mercury was born a Parsee and his born name was Farrokh Bulsara. Bulsara stands for the place Valsad in India. As to Engineer, Merchant etc. aren’t English family names like Brewer, Miller etc. of the same category (I.e. profession) ? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/30 "2019-07-25T10:25:39Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > As to Engineer, Merchant etc. aren’t English family names like Brewer, Miller etc. of the same category (I.e. profession) ? Yes, they are of the same category. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/31 "2020-08-05T09:38:39Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > > What brings this up is I had a passing thought of a black guy I worked with around 20 years go with the last name “Airline.” Obviously the name has to come from some time in the 20th century > > I don’t know about the surname, but the word _airline_ or _air-line_ goes back to at least 1813, in the sense of “bee-line” (a direct route from point to point). I know this because here in Maine, “taking the Airline”–much to the confusion of tourists–refers not to flying but to driving on the eastern part of state Route 9. It’s a relatively straight road that connects Bangor and Calais. When it was built, it replaced a much more circuitous route. I was reminded of this thread while researching the origin of a local community name. A key-word search came up with a hit, and I continued to browse the book and on the very next page was [an entry for an Air Line Road](https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/collection/nsctest/id/534) named because of it’s relative straightness. Named in 1870 (and called Airline Road now) it is an entirely plausible location for the guy I knew’s family to be from. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/32 "2020-08-05T15:23:59Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > These first names (or sometimes middle names) then become patronyms with the son/dóttir ending. Quibble: It is the genitive of the first name to which the suffix is added. The son of Jon is Jonsson, while the daughter of Finbog is Finbogadóttir (she was PM some years ago). My father simply changed his name in the 30s when he was looking for a job and thought it might help to have a less Jewish sounding name. As a result the name on my birth certificate is not the one I have used all my life. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/33 "2020-08-05T15:39:58Z")
In this article, it is reported that over 800 couples in the U.K. combined their last names into a portmanteau form when they got married in 2012: > **[Couples fuse surnames in new trend: ‘I now pronounce you Mr and Mrs Puffin’](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/9664227/Couples-fuse-surnames-in-new-trend-I-now-pronounce-you-Mr-and-Mrs-Puffin.html)** > > Hundreds of British married couples every year are now blending their surnames in a new trend that has seen Mr Pugh and Miss Griffin become Mr and Mrs Puffin, the latest Deed Poll figures, shown exclusively to The Telegraph, reveal. It says that it’s more common in the U.S. than it is in the U.K. One of my co-workers and his wife portmanteaued their names when their first child was born and give him that as a last name. Several years later they chose to change their last names to the same name as their son. Incidentally, that portmanteaued name is, as it happens, rare but not unknown ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/34 "2020-08-05T23:19:50Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I wonder what would happen if Metta World Peace moved to Iceland and had some kids. Would they allow “Worldson” or “Mettadóttir”? I thought of him when seeing this thread and checked his wikipage. He’s recently changed his name again, this time to Metta Sandiford-Artest. Sandiford is his wife’s name, and of course, Artest is his original last name. I do remember watching the playoffs where World Peace was playing. Most of the announcers called him World Peace or sometimes Metta, although obviously they sometimes had problems remembering that name. The exception was Charles Barkley, who always called him Ron. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/35 "2020-08-06T04:07:06Z")
A well known example in California is Antonio Villaraigosa, former mayor of Los Angeles, whose name is a compendium of his and his wife’s maiden names: Villar and Raigosa. I once worked with an Asian-looking co-worker named Haw. I asked her once if that was a common name. She said that actually, her husband’s maiden name was Hawthorne, and they shortened that. I worked with a guy named Juve-Hu. Story was, his maiden name was Hu and his wife’s maiden name was Johnson, and they somehow got Juve-Hu out of that. It was pronounced Yu-va-hoo, accent on the YU. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/36 "2020-08-06T08:04:41Z")
The Artist(Artest) formally known as\_\_\_\_??? My in-laws lived on Airline Drive. It was a long straight road. The next road over was Skyline Drive. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/37 "2020-08-07T13:03:02Z")
I know two women who adopted wacky, new-age-y surnames later in life (Avenaire and Yronwode, respectively), like around the age of 40, and kept them. They both had daughters who kept their (and their fathers’) traditional birth names. This is entirely anecdotal and I have no idea what the greater cultural trends are. ---
**Author:** ![thdudescar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thdudescar/32/4638_2.png) [@thdudescar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thdudescar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/38 "2020-08-07T20:06:44Z")
I ran across the last name of Snoddy the other day. If there was ever a name that begged to be changed… ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083/39 "2020-08-10T01:17:39Z")
It’s an Irish name - anglicisation of Ó Snodaigh. Raymond Snoddy is a prominent journalist in the UK; he was born in Ireland. Aegus Ó Snodaigh is a politician and member of the Irish parliament. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-new-family-names-created-often/837083.md?page=1)