# Where do so many last names come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 17, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722 "2005-06-17T16:49:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/21 "2005-06-19T23:26:55Z")
> [@elfbabe](#): > > For sake of the unfamiliar-with- **Qadgop** , I will point out that our _actual_ last name is neither **Mercotan** nor anything resembling it. And Llurdiax is so obscure a reference that I’ll be astounded if anyone but me gets it… and I only get it because he used the same reference to name one of our computers. :rolleyes: I have never read nor seen The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, but that’s where I’m placing my bet. Some of my great-great ancestors’ last name was spelled Rux. Also, I worked with 2 brothers who had different last names. It seems that when they entered the States, they each stated their name to whomever it was recording it, and these 2 people made their best guess at the spelling. So there you go – 2 new surnames. Although, maybe one day they’ll pick which one they like the best and one will change his last name. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/22 "2005-06-19T23:45:49Z")
We are not quite sure where our surname originated. Several cousins in the Scranton area have distinctive variants, but the branch which emigrated from The Urkaine to Argentina have the identical spelling (although slightly different pronounciation). My cousin Mike the Deacon had had a strong interest in geneaology (he is the one to blame for our having a ‘coat of arms’ available on those rip-off lists) and actually went back to the “Old Country” to see what he could find. He determined that our grandfather’s home town diasppeared without a trace during Stalin’s reign. But he did find some clues that we are not really ethnically Ukrainian but rather are the descendents of Croatian migrant workers. (The Wife has traced her family back to the Thirteen-hundreds in England and cannot believe how rootless I am.) ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/23 "2005-06-20T00:17:04Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > We are not quite sure where our surname originated… I think that it means something like “faithful”, but I could be wrong. Hell, you’re the one with a PhD; you should be able to figure itout. Anyway, I don’t have a clue where my surname originated or what it means. (Not that I’m going to tell you what it is. It will remain shrouded in mystery; unlike QtM and Bricker, whose names, addresses and phone numbers I have already ascertained. Bwaa ha ha!) ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/24 "2005-06-20T00:36:32Z")
One of my uncles has a different last name than anyone else in our family because the army messed up the spelling when he joined, and it is now his legal name. He has no children though, so it’s not going to propagate. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/25 "2005-06-20T00:44:11Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > I have never read nor seen The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, but that’s where I’m placing my bet. Sorry, but by Klonos’ gadolinium guts, I fear you know not where your towel is. ---
**Author:** ![vera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b3f665/32.png) [@vera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vera)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/26 "2005-06-20T00:45:25Z")
Our family’s last name is so long and difficult to say, my grandfather took some letters out to make it easier. Later, my dad put the letters back in again, so I have the original last name. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/27 "2005-06-20T00:59:55Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > I have never read nor seen The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, but that’s where I’m placing my bet. Try something quite a bit older. To throw you totally off, it has nothing to do with a need to kranch or otherwise distinguish yourself from the habermans. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/28 "2005-06-20T03:33:44Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > I have never read nor seen The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, but that’s where I’m placing my bet. Your best bet for finding it would be a wide-open _n_-way. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/29 "2005-06-20T05:35:50Z")
My mother’s parents were both children of immigrants and both had their names changes. One just lost an A. But Korzeniewski got majorly changed. He had gotten teased to much so he shortened it. Right now only my mother and her mother (the widow) are the only two people who carry it. Or course a few others out there happen to have it but it’s extremely rare. In fact there are only 2 in the Social Security Death Index with that name. My grandpa and another lady who used to live in Florida. On the other side I also have some the McClendon line that became the McLendon line. Beauchamp is another one. Most Americans kept the spelling but as I understand bost Brits had it shortened to Beacham. I wonder what the future names. Right now people are into “creative” first names. How long till people start giving them “creative” last names to match. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/30 "2005-06-20T05:39:42Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > I wonder what the future names. Normally I just let these slide but this one annoys me. “I wonder what the future will bring.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/31 "2005-06-20T05:52:49Z")
So what the esteemed **Qadgop** did was to apply the same variations which would have occured had his name actually been Mercotan, despite it being something else entirely, and the actual variations being something quite different. No doubt, the original was actually some Adunaic name with meaning similar to the nonexistant word “Mercotan”, which exists only in a metafictional work in a hypothetical language which won’t be spoken for thousands of years. Which is an indication that the afore-mentioned poster has been way too influenced by a certain other 20th century author. And as an aside, that’s the great thing about Klonos, he has so much distinctive anatomy to swear by ;). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/32 "2005-06-20T05:57:56Z")
> [@bobk2](#): > > How did we end up with so many last names? At least for most Europeans, everyone takes the last name of one of their parents. If that were consistently applied then there would be a fairly constant number of last names, with a lot more people with the same last name as time went on. I don’t understand why you think particular names would grow in popularity over time. In any case, I think you’re massively underestimating the number of surnames used in past centuries. People would take names from the place they live, from physical or personality characteristics (Grey, Long, etc.), from their occupation (of which there were many more than any of us could name), etc. Plus, these could come from various languages - medieval English surnames have influences from French, Anglo-Saxon, the Celtic languages, Dutch, Scandinavian tongues, etc. My full name, all eleven letters of it, contains French, Saxon, Celtic and Latin segments. There’s a lot of potential for variation! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/33 "2005-06-20T07:29:21Z")
It’s not only by immigration that names get warped or just plain anglicised. The Welsh had a patrymonic system, which could go back as far as you liked depending on how impressive you wished to be, the ‘son of’ prefix was ‘ap’. My brother would therefore be Huw ap Ken ap Gwilym ap Sion etc. This was seemingly too complex for the nieghbours and from the 17th century onwards the Welsh were ‘encouraged’ to simplify and take the most recent ap + name as a fixed surname which is why so many Welsh ‘surnames’ are also firtsnames (Evans, Thomas etc.). As a hangover from the ‘ap’ you find names like Pritchard = ap Richard; Bevan = ap Evan. Earlier, from 15th century, Welsh nobles at the English court started to adopt the system of fixed surnames the better to blend in (& pass privileges to their offspring). If I undertand correctly there was a similar phenomenon in Ireland, more recently, where the Gaelic spellings were ‘simplified’ and the ‘Mac’ prefix dropped. In both countires some people are taking advantage of the official bilingualism and changing their last names back to a more ‘authentic’ spelling thus Richard becomes Rhisiart and Nolan, Mac Noolan. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/34 "2005-06-20T07:43:36Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > But Korzeniewski got majorly changed. He had gotten teased to much so he shortened it. Right now only my mother and her mother (the widow) are the only two people who carry it. Or course a few others out there happen to have it but it’s extremely rare. Korzeniewski? For a rare surname, they get around a lot then – that’s my ex’s surname too. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/35 "2005-06-20T15:00:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So what the esteemed **Qadgop** did was to apply the same variations which would have occured had his name actually been Mercotan, despite it being something else entirely, and the actual variations being something quite different. > > Which is an indication that the afore-mentioned poster has been way too influenced by a certain other 20th century author. What can I say, other than I adore performing acts of cunning linguism? ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722/36 "2005-06-20T16:16:51Z")
On my father’s side of the family (3+ generations of shoe-salesmen in one form or another, as it would turn out) our current last name has apparantly existed for only 3 or 4 generations, my ancestor deciding around the time my family washed up in Boston that he didn’t like our name and changed it. One of my uncles managed to dig up the old name, and agreed with our ancestor on the name change, refusing to tell me what it was on request. ;j On my mother’s side of the family, we’re the Sanchezes. Go ahead, TRY to narrow that down, I dare you! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-so-many-last-names-come-from/308722.md?page=1)