# when did we choose our lastname??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 31, 2005, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401 "2005-08-31T10:20:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/21 "2005-08-31T18:38:48Z")
My father chose his last name when he was a teenager or young adult. Ed ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/22 "2005-08-31T18:41:36Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > My father chose his last name when he was a teenager or young adult. > > Ed Was that as part of some cultural process? If so, I’d be interested to hear more (such as where he’s from, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/23 "2005-08-31T18:49:39Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > You forgot patronymics, which I believe is the most common – … Adkins … Pls. fight my ignorance – what is this a patronymic for? ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/24 "2005-08-31T19:06:03Z")
For what ever it might be worth, I’m told that my family name is a mediaeval Dutch phrase that means next to the grave yard or next to the cemetery wall. I guess my people in some obscure Lowland village lived on the unfashionable side of the local church. It doesn’t help that there are half a dozen variants on the name, the consequence if 18th century illiteracy in William Penn’s colony. A friend from college claims that the family name was awarded not at Ellis Island but at the immigration station in Galveston, TX, when his people immigrated after on of the Tzar’s pogroms. The old world name apparently was unpronounceable and the name awarded was Shaggy Ass, from (he claimed) shaggy ass Jew. The family shortened it and cleaned it up some but the root was still discernible. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/25 "2005-08-31T19:18:52Z")
For years I thought the name _McClusky_ must be some kind of joke – its got a Scottish beginningh and a Polish ending. But I can find lots of McClusky’s on the Internet. I also find a lot of names of the form _O’-------ski_, which seems to pair an Irish beginning with a Polish ending. What’s the story behind these chimeric surnames? Is there some kind of Gaelic “-ski” ending that’s confusing me by looking Polish? ---
**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:** [August 31, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/26 "2005-08-31T19:28:12Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Pls. fight my ignorance – what is this a patronymic for? Adkins, Atkins, Atkinson, Aiken, Eakins = descendant of Adam. “-kin” was a common way of forming a diminutive and it became a patronymic, often with an added “-s” or or “-son.” The ending also became “-kiss,” “-kes,” or “-ks.” Hopkins, Hopkiss, Hopkinson (descendant of Robert) Dickens, Dickinson (descendant of Richard) Hawkins, Hawkes (descendant of Hawk) Jenkins, Jenks, Hanks, Anke (descendant of John) Watkins (descendant of Walter) Perkes, Purkiss (descendant of Peter) Dawkes, Dawkins (descendant of David) Jukes, Judkins (descendant of Iudicael) ---
**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:** [August 31, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/27 "2005-08-31T19:35:08Z")
Hodgkin, Hodgkins, Hodgkinson, Hodgkiss, Hodkinson, Hotchkin, Hotchkiss = descendant of Roger ---
**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:** [August 31, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/28 "2005-08-31T19:37:22Z")
Perkins = Peter Thompkins = Thomas Wilkins = Wiliam ---
**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:** [August 31, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/29 "2005-08-31T19:41:02Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > For years I thought the name _McClusky_ must be some kind of joke – its got a Scottish beginningh and a Polish ending. But I can find lots of McClusky’s on the Internet. I also find a lot of names of the form _O’-------ski_, which seems to pair an Irish beginning with a Polish ending. > What’s the story behind these chimeric surnames? Is there some kind of Gaelic “-ski” ending that’s confusing me by looking Polish? McCluskey, McClusky, McCloskey, McClosky, McCluskie, McLusky, and McLuskie are from Gaelic _mac Bhloscaidhe_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/30 "2005-08-31T19:57:15Z")
> [@Dorjän](#): > > My ancestors didn’t have any say in what their last names were going to be. You know, being slaves and all. Really makes things difficult when trying to do genealogy research! Considering the impression I get that liasons between slaveowner and female slave were quite common prior to emancipation, and that the last names of former slaves took on those of the slaveowner, you might still be able to explore your possible patrilineal lineage Trying to put myself in your shoes, it would be interesting to find out if the science of genetics could establish a link between you and someone who is white with the same last name. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/31 "2005-08-31T20:13:05Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > I was actually thinking about colors as surnames the other day. In English we have Black, White, Brown, Gray … and Green. (Also Gold and Silver, but those seem likely to refer to the metals). German has Blau, but English doesn’t do Blue. We also don’t do Yellow, Red, Purple, or Orange. > > Anyone know why? Not true at all…I once knew a family named Blue. And I’ve heard of a last name Purple as well…oddly enough, I came across that name while researching my own family history. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/32 "2005-08-31T20:13:44Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Adkins, Atkins, Atkinson, Aiken, Eakins = descendant of Adam. > > “-kin” was a common way of forming a diminutive and it became a patronymic, often with an added “-s” or or “-son.” The ending also became “-kiss,” “-kes,” or “-ks.” Interesting! Thanks for the info. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/33 "2005-08-31T20:22:25Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > For years I thought the name _McClusky_ must be some kind of joke – its got a Scottish beginningh and a Polish ending. An Irish surname reference says, > [@](#): > > Very numerous: Derry-Tyrone, Ulster generally and scattered in the south. In Dublin it is Mac Cluskey or Cluskey. Irish _Mac Bhloscaidh_ from a first name peculiar to the O’Kanes of Derry to which this family were related. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/34 "2005-08-31T21:41:16Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > Not true at all…I once knew a family named Blue. And I’ve heard of a last name Purple as well…oddly enough, I came across that name while researching my own family history. One of the secretaries here at work has the last name “Blue”. I know a girl who is an actress, she changed her last name to “Purple” (it’s a whole motif, she’s got a purple car, wears a lot of purple, etc). So that answers two questions right there - yes somebody has that as their last name and we can identify exactly when it happened. Could the surname “Rudd” be related to “Red” (as in a “ruddy” complexion, etc)? For example AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/35 "2005-08-31T22:25:55Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > Was that as part of some cultural process? If so, I’d be interested to hear more (such as where he’s from, etc.) I don’t want to get into details, but his original last name marked him as being part of a minority that was heavily discriminated against, so he changed it into a name that was of the majority ethnic group. This was not in the United States. Ed ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/36 "2005-08-31T22:29:51Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I don’t want to get into details, but his original last name marked him as being part of a minority that was heavily discriminated against, so he changed it into a name that was of the majority ethnic group. This was not in the United States. > > Ed Oh yes, as a further thought: This was not a common practice in his country of origin. It was an idea he thought of on his own, to reduce the prejudice he was facing because of his name. Ed ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/37 "2005-08-31T23:25:27Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I don’t want to get into details Are you embarassed by your ethnic background? Your vagueness is puzzling. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/38 "2005-08-31T23:28:06Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > Could the surname “Rudd” be related to “Red” Yes, it is. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/39 "2005-08-31T23:42:15Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Are you embarassed by your ethnic background? Your vagueness is puzzling. No, not at all. I just don’t like giving personal details out over the Internet. Ed ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401/40 "2005-09-01T04:17:57Z")
> [@Dorjän](#): > > My ancestors didn’t have any say in what their last names were going to be. You know, being slaves and all. Really makes things difficult when trying to do genealogy research! You…you’re a decendant of Moses? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-choose-our-lastname/319401.md?page=3)