Family name meaning

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A family name is a name shared by people in the same family. Different cultures have different customs for a person's family name and given name. In English, the family name is always at the end, and it is called a last name or surname. Children usually have the same family name as their father. A married woman usually changes her family name to be the same as her husband. They had two children, David Smith and Kate Smith.

Family name meaning

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'family name. Send us feedback about these examples. Accessed 14 Mar. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! See Definitions and Examples ». Log In. Synonyms of family name. Examples of family name in a Sentence. Her family name is Smith. Word History. First Known Use. Time Traveler. See more words from the same year. Dictionary Entries Near family name. Cite this Entry.

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A surname , family name , or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. Depending on culture, the surname may be placed at either the start of a person's name, or at the end. The number of surnames given to an individual also varies: in most cases it is just one, but in many Spanish-speaking countries, two surnames are used for legal purposes. Depending on culture, not all members of a family unit are required to have identical surnames. In some countries, surnames are modified depending on gender and family membership status of a person. Compound surnames can be composed of separate names.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'family name. Send us feedback about these examples. Accessed 15 Mar. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! See Definitions and Examples ».

Family name meaning

Learn your family history with our last names database from A to Z! Discover surname origins, last name meanings, and surname variations. How much do you really know about your family name? Find the meaning and origin of your last name, and even learn a little history behind your last name! We have the meaning and origin of last names from cultures around the world. Once it's time to give your baby a first name, you may become more interested in the origin of your family name.

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Quiz German confusables. Some Slavic cultures originally distinguished the surnames of married and unmarried women by different suffixes, but this distinction is no longer widely observed. English—Japanese Japanese—English. Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans. In the case of Portuguese naming customs, the main surname the one used in alpha sorting, indexing, abbreviations, and greetings , appears last. One family member's relationship to another can often be identified by the various combinations and permutations of surnames. Likewise, the surnames of daughters of males with surnames ending in -as will end in -a, and those of daughters of males with the -is suffix will have the -i suffix. The sentence contains offensive content. History and Anthropology. Traditional Chinese. Hindi to English. Similarly, foreigners with just one surname may be asked to provide a second surname on official documents in Spanish-speaking countries. Note that " Fitz " comes from French fils thus making these surnames a form of patronymic. The most common European name in this category may be the Irish name Ryan , which means 'little king' in Irish. To top.

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This custom, begun in medieval times, is decaying and only has legal validity [ citation needed ] in Dominican Republic , Ecuador , Guatemala , Nicaragua , Honduras , Peru , Panama , and to a certain extent in Mexico where it is optional but becoming obsolete , but is frowned upon by people in Spain, Cuba, and elsewhere. Traditional to English. Noblewomen also bore patronymics and surnames in the same manner and never bore their husband's surnames. Arabic names sometimes contain surnames that denote the city of origin. In some cases, such as Chinese Indonesians and Chinese Thais , certain ethnic groups are subject to political pressure to change their surnames, in which case surnames can lose their family-name meaning. In , this clause was removed from the act. Location toponymic, habitation names derive from the inhabited location associated with the person given that name. Turkey challenged prohibitions on women using their surname as the family name, an option only available to men. Archived from the original on 16 June Using names has been documented in even the oldest historical records. In some countries, surnames are modified depending on gender and family membership status of a person. Some Chinese surnames use more than one character.