At some point we settled on the keep-the-surname-but change-the-first-name method of naming children. But every time I watch movie credits I see yet another surname I’ve never run across before. Shouldn’t this be the other way around? Shouldn’t there be more different FIRST names than sur names?
Your experience doesn’t mean that there are new surnames being creating, only that there are more surnames than you personally have heard of. Not a huge improbability, if you ask me, what with immigration and Shakespeare (*There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.[i/] Hamlet I.v)
Your experience doesn’t mean that there are new surnames being created, only that there are more surnames than you personally have heard of. Not a huge improbability, if you ask me, what with immigration and Shakespeare (There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Hamlet I.v)
Then again, why COULDN’T there be people making up new surnames? I mean, with the way they’re naming babies (and using increasingly creative spelling–I mean, Khaylee? Puh-LEESE!), I think it’s only fair that people be allowed to come up with some stuff that would look good in the phone book.
Me? I’m gonna change my last name to “Heffalump.”
I’ll bet some of the surnames you see are new ones, since it’s not unusual for actors to use stage names.
Not to mention the proliferation of surnames due to translation/transliteration of immigrants’ names. This produces names that are generally similar (Chang/Cheng/Chung/Jung/Chun might have a common origin) but could possibly produce names that have more differences.
For example, it’s conceivable that a name like ‘Fischau’ could have the same origin as ‘Vichov’, if it traveled through one or more countries. In short, new surnames can and have been invented. I sometimes wonder if someday “Nagooyin” will be an accepted name derived from what’s usually written ‘Nguyen’ (pronounced more like Guinn than the way it’s written).
panama jack
The number of surnames may be declining. By a random process analagous to genetic drift, relatively rare surnames are disappearing all the time. Left unchecked, this process might someday reduce us all to just one surname. Korea is well on its way, since Koreans have probably had surnames longer than any other people in the world. People named Park, Lee, and Kim make up a disproportionate part of the population.
As long as there’re actors, there will be new surnames. Many just drop their real last name and make their middle name their last name, e.g., Barry Williams (Blenkhorn), Tom Cruise (Mapother IV).