How were last names created?

Answer 1

In Europe they came into common use in the 1500's and were used for identification purposes when a single name was not sufficient and they were "ad hoc"- just added on to the first name to distinguish people. So you had John, son of John (John Johnson),

John the Baker ( John Baker), John who lived in the Woods ( John Woods), John who is small ( John Little) and sometimes people would humorously would name a really big man, as John Small. Eventually for tax purposes and reasons, people were required to have last names. Jews who traditionally did not have last names were forced to make something up, so the picked something like Rose or Silver.

Answer 2

For many years people went by their personal name (what we now call a first or given name) and maybe some characteristic or event in the person's life. Eventually it became obvious that it would be easier to keep track of who was who by having a family name. Some families took the name of their profession, as Miller or Shepherd. Some took a patronymic, meaning all the children would have a form of the father's name at the time (as Davidson or Davis if the old man was David). Others took a name based on where they lived (Woods, Hill), or some characteristic of the head of the household at the time, as hair color (Brown, Gray) or some trait (Armstrong, Tallman).

Answer 3

most last names were created in the 1600's based on the type of job your family had.

The orgin of many names as stated came from the role of job you or your family did. e.g. Smith is derived from Blacksmith or iron smith. The job of course was working with metal.

Pearce - origination is from the Ancient Greek "Petros", meaning rock, and was the name given by Jesus to Simon, to be steadfastness in faith

Davis - distinguished surname, with no less than twenty Coats of Arms, and several notable entries in the "Dictionary of National Biography", is a patronymic form of the male given name David, itself coming from the Hebrew "Dodaveha" meaning "Beloved of Jehovah". This name was borne by the greatest of the early kings of Israel, which led to its popularity first among the Jews, and later among Christians throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. In Britain, the popularity of the personal name was increased due to the ame of St. David, 6th Century Bishop of Menevia, who became patron saint of Wales

Answer 4

A name gets invented by what they look like or sometimes there looks that have meanings.

-Example-

Cassidy means Curly hair,clever,ingenius.Thats is what my sister looks like and acts like.

Answer 5

Last names were developed to help identify people. As the population grew and it became easier to travel, it was easy to get confused about who you were talking about. So they would add identifiers, such as John, the Fletcher, or John who lives in Blackwood, or John James' son. Eventually the extra words were removed and they were referred to as John Fletcher, John Blackwood and John Jameson.