surname

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

surname

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• sirname (archaic)
• sur-name (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English surname, a partial calque of Old French surnum, surnoun (“surname; nickname”) (whence Middle English surnoun), from Late Latin supernōmen, suprānōmen (“surname”), from super- (“over, above, beyond”) and nōmen (“name”).

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: sûrʹnām'; IPA^(key): /ˈsɝˌneɪm/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (UK) enPR: sûʹnām'; IPA^(key): /ˈsɜːˌneɪm/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)neɪm

Noun

surname (plural surnames)

1. (obsolete) Synonym of epithet, an additional name, particularly those derived from a birthplace, quality, or achievement.
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt  (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts j:[23]:

     Barsabas (whose syrname was Iustus).

   • 1590, Richard Harvey, Plaine Percevall the peace-maker of England, Sweetly indeuoring with his blunt persuasions to botch vp a reconciliation between Mar-ton and Mar-tother, B3:

     My sirname is Peace-Maker, one that is but poorely regarded in England.

   • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , line 171:

     To his sur-name Coriolanus longs more pride
     Then pitty to our Prayers.

2. (obsolete) Synonym of nickname, an additional name given to a person, place, or thing, a byname.
   • 1638, Abraham Cowley, Davideis, section IV:

     I have before declared that Baal was the Sun, and Baal Peor, a sirname, from a particular place of his worship.

3. The name a person shares with other members of that person's family, distinguished from that person's given name(s); a family name.

   James is my first name, and Smith is my surname.

   • 1605, William Camden, Remaines, I 32:

     In late yeeres Surnames have beene given for Christian names among vs, and no where else in Christendom.

   • 1876, E. A. Freeman, The History of the Norman Conquest, V xxv 563:

     The Norman Conquest...brought with it the novelty of family nomenclature, that is to say, the use of hereditary surnames.

4. (Classical studies) The cognomen of Roman names.
5. (Scotland, obsolete) A clan.
   • 1455 in J. D. Marwick, Charters of Edinburgh (1871), 79:

     The surnam and nerrest of blude to the said Williame.

Usage notes

The term "surname" may be used to translate terms from non-English names which carry additional shades of meaning, most notably in the case of Roman cognomens. In fact, the nomen was the surname as the word is commonly understood today but the terms were first applied when surname was still used in the sense of "additional" or "added" name: the cognomen was added to the nomen to show the branch of the family involved. (The modern translation of a similar distinction in ancient Chinese names customarily uses ancestral name and clan name instead and typically speaks of surnames only once the two merged into a single and commonly-employed family name.)

Both surname and last name are extremely common in all dialects of English, the former being somewhat more preferred in the UK and the latter in the US. However, because of the cultural and gendered associations involved with both terms, the use of family name is increasingly preferred in multicultural contexts.

Icelandic patronymics or matronymics (see Icelandic name) probably should not be regarded as true surnames.

Synonyms

• (family name): See Thesaurus:surname

Hypernyms

• name

Hyponyms

• bride's name, maiden name (surname prior to marriage); patronym, patronymic (a surname specifically referencing one's father's given name); matronym, matronymic (a surname specifically referencing one's mother's given name)

Coordinate terms

• See given name; middle name; epithet, cognomen, nickname

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

surname (third-person singular simple present surnames, present participle surnaming, simple past and past participle surnamed)

1. (transitive) To give a surname to.
2. (transitive) To call by a surname.
   • 1905, Howard Pyle, “The Story of Launcelot”, in The Story of the Champions of the Round Table‎, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 66:

     “Lord,” said Sir Launcelot, “I am hight Launcelot, and am surnamed ‘He of the Lake.’”

Translations

Statistics

The most common surnames in the United States, as of the 2010 census (with number of persons bearing said surname):

1. Smith; 2,442,977

2. Johnson; 1,932,812

3. Williams; 1,625,252

4. Brown; 1,437,026

5. Jones; 1,425,470

6. Garcia; 1,166,120

7. Miller; 1,161,437

8. Davis; 1,116,357

9. Rodriguez; 1,094,924

10. Martinez; 1,060,159

See also

• Name change on Wikipedia
• Wiktionary appendix of surnames

References

Anagrams

• Mansure, manures

Middle English

Alternative forms

• surename, sourname, sorname, syrname, sire name

Etymology

Partial calque of Old French surnoun, from Late Latin supernōmen, suprānōmen; equivalent to sur- +‎ name. Forms beginning with sir-, syr-, etc. represent reanalysis of the first element as sire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsurnaːm(ə)/, /ˈsirnaːm(ə)/

Noun

surname (plural surnames)

1. epithet, nickname
   • c. 1330, Arthour and Merlin, section 5488:

     Þe .xxxix. Osoman, cert, His surname was: hardi of hert.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 1400, "St. John Baptist", 928 in W. M. Metcalfe, Legends of the saints: in the Scottish dialect of the fourteenth century (1896), II 249:

     Þe thred herrod had alsua til his suornome agrippa.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. surname, family name
   • 1393, William Langland, Piers Plowman, C iv 369:

     Þat is noȝt reisonable...to refusy my syres sorname.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. alias, appellation
   • c. 1395, Wycliff's Bible, Ecclus. XLVII 19:

     In the name of the Lord, to whom the surname [toname in the 1382 ed.] is God of Israel.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• English: surname

References

• “surnāme, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.