Smith … Jones … Johnson … Williams
Why do more people have these last names than others?
Because the origin of them was common. Last names were very often derived from occupations. Every village had a smith (sometimes several – black, tin, copper, silver, etc.)
Last names were also often derived from first names. John and William were common first names, so Jones (derived for John’s), Johnson, and Williams came from them.
Most names that end in “son,” or “sen” if your descendents came from Denmark (like my last name)referred to who you were the son of. If your father’s name was John, your last name became Johnson. This tradition endured in Scandanavia well into the 19th century. Modern society soon caught up with them and then the male descendents kept the same last name.
Okay, the English names are explained, as are the Scandinavian. How about other cultures/languages?
Why Gonzalez, Rodriguez, Hernandez?
What’s with Italian names that end in Ini? Or Greek names that end in Opoulous? Or Russian names that end in Witz? AND THEN…What’s up with Chin, Chang, etc?
The “son” ending was more than just Scandanavian; it occurred in England, too, and names like Johnson usually has no link with Scandanavian ancestors.
The reason why “Johnson” is the most common American name has to do with the large number of Blacks who took the name after being freed from slavery (where they had no last names). It appears that this was an attempt to use a common and innocuous “American” name.
González = hijo de Gonzalo
Pérez = hijo de Pedro
Díez = Hijo de Diego
López = hijo de Lope
… y así sucesivamente hasta ciento veinte
You’ve all missed the forest for the trees. The original Mr. Smith was damned horny. He had A LOT of kids. And his son were horny, and they had A LOT of kids. The reason why there are a lot of Smiths is because the Smiths had a lot of little Smiths.
BTW, I don’t personally know anyone named Smith. Do any of you?
I am a Smith. And Feelgud, you’re not correct but you’re close.
Smiths aren’t necessarily hornier, but we are pretty damn good looking. And mighty virile too.
I know Italian names, if that helps. Italian names are derived from a salient characteristic of an early ancestor, and usually having a ending added on to it. The most common endings were -ino (small) and -one (big) .
Thus, Rossini probably had a small red fact, and Capone a big fat head.
Bri
Why are common surnames so… common?
Because a lot of people have them! :D;)
Another logical factor is that certain families
tend to have more males than females, and since
children usually take their father’s surname,
families with more males would have more descendants
with their last name.
Another reason that common surnames is common is because sometimes people with uncommon surnames changed theirs to make it easier to blend in to the culture that they became a part of.
I know a guy whose last name is Smith. The family name used to be Svensen or something similar. Then an ancestor went to work on a railroad or something and the man in charge said “You are the seventh Svensen to sign up to work here. I can’t take it anymore! I’m calling you Smith”. And so the Swedish man with a Swedish name got a not so Swedish name. (And my friend has a name that causes policemen to be suspicious. He likes to play practical jokes and giving a name like John Smith is a good way to make the police think that you are actually Alfred Bisnesius but want a forgetable name. So, when they ask his name he immediately grabs his wallet to prove that it is true.)
Seems to me that if your friend has to deal with the police on such a regular basis that he has a routine worked out, perhaps they have a reason to be suspicious.
So there were more Svensens than Smiths on that railroad? Where was this railroad? Sweden?
I believe that the railroad was in California, but can’t think of any good reason for that belief other than that my friend was from California. And most of his encounters with the “police” were actually Campus police at a college or university that he was attending, so he wasn’t neccessarily doing anything horribly wrong. And I have no reason to believe that these were ever the same set of police. (But yes, reading a semi-anonymous e-mail story about a would be prank gone nowhere and reading his description of how to behave when picking locks and how to get into buildings you are supposed to be in, it occurred to me that this friend wasn’t always behaving in the ways that one would expect a good little episcopalian preacher’s kid to do. (Especially as he had sufficient scriptural knowledge to be suspected of being a former seminary student from some other branch of protestantism.))