# Surname nationality search

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-nationality-search/553156>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 9, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-nationality-search/553156 "2010-09-09T06:52:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-nationality-search/553156/1 "2010-09-09T06:52:47Z")

</div>

Tried google first, and then yahoo, then the search function on the dope.  
I want to be able to plug in a surname into a webpage and have it return the country of origin for that name. So far , I get several pages back that say that the pages in question are no longer on the server. This from a few sites on either yahoo or google.

Should I be able to plug in the name that I know and then be able to look at how far its derivated from the original surname.

Anyone have a fav site for this sort of thing.

Declan

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-nationality-search/553156/2 "2010-09-09T07:48:42Z")

</div>

genealogical sites maybe. The mormons have a massively comprehensive site.

And sometimes I can guess based on the name. Shoot me a private message and I will see what I can do.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![songs2001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@songs2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/songs2001)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-nationality-search/553156/3 "2010-09-09T08:38:32Z")

</div>

Punch it in wikipedia. For example if you search Lee. It comes up with

Lee may refer to:  
[edit]Given names or surnames

Lee (given name)  
Lee (surname)  
Lee (English name), in English-speaking countries, a common family name with several diverse origins  
Lee (Korean name), a Korean family name  
Li (surname), sometimes transliterated as Lee, the transliteration to several Chinese family names  
Li (李)  
Lì (利) (surname)  
Ly , in French-speaking countries from the Vietnamese’s spelling

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f6c823/32.png) [@Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lo-Slung_Denim)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surname-nationality-search/553156/4 "2010-09-09T09:26:04Z")

</div>

I’m at work on a donkey-powered rubbish computer, but I think this is the site I usually use:

> **[Worldnames](https://apps.cdrc.ac.uk/worldnames/)**
>
> Worldnames

I can’t tell for certain because it uses flash, which this hunk of junk doesn’t have. IIRC the site gives you the top five locations for popularity of the surname, and some info on the origins. Not so much stuff on how far it has derivated. Good luck!