Where did last names come from? what was the first last name? who created last names?

Last names come from our need to differentiate between people. Originally, "last names" were not tied to an entire family and passed down, but were instead used to describe an individual. A small village in Great Britain in the early Middle Ages, for example, might have several men named John (or Johann).

You can’t just walk around saying, " No, not you the other one. No, the other one. " all day, so people tend to attach descriptive terms.

That John over there who makes shoes, we call him John the cobbler, or John Cobbler. That other John is the son of Roger the town’s blacksmith, so he might be called John the Smith’s son (Smithson). Then there is the John who lives all the way out on the edge of the town by a series of grassy knolls.

He might be known as John of the knolls, or John Knolls. Repeat the process in thousands of different villages and in thousands of different languages around the world and you have the development of last names. Hereditary last names come when those descriptors become permanent enough to attach to a family rather than an individual.

This is, of course, a gross over simplification, but you get the idea. As far as the "oldest" last name. That is very difficult to answer.

The Chinese have been using family names (although they say them before the personal name, instead of after) since around 2,800 BCE. Supposedly this was decreed by Emperor Fushi, last names having previously been something used only by the aristocratic or very rich. So, in all likelihood, the first "last name" ws Chinese.

Surnames in the western world developed independantly of the Chinese practice. During the Roman Empire many families and individuals took surnames ("cognomen" or "nomen"). This could be very confusing, because although they were often passed down, they were not always.

Sometimes people were known by an adjective or named for a deed they had performed, rather than by a family name. The Roman practice of using family names died out as the Empire collapsed and, during much of the early Medieval period, most people (especially peasants) went by only one name. By about 1100, however, through practicality and the influence of the Venetian court, surnames had once again spread throughout much of Europe.

Between that time period and about 1450 names were still evolving and not always fixed. By the 15th century, however, most people of all ranks had some sort of fixed, hereditary surname. There are some exceptions, of course.

Many Scandanavian countries continued patronymic naming well into the the 19th century. "Patronymic" means named after the father, which doesn’t translate to a fixed family surname. Lars, son of Eric would be Lars Ericson, his son might be Peter Larsson, his son Eric Peterson, and so on.(In some regions females used the suffix -datter, so Lars’s daughter lde would be Those obviously don’t survive as long).

The practice of family last names spread slowly into the Baltic countries and firther eastward. Some cultures resisted. In Turkey, for example, last names weren’t common until they were mandated in 1933 by a ruler attempting to "modernize" Turkey’s image!

Sources: http://www.mayrand.org/meaning-e.htm .

Nobody Nobody actually invented last names. They developed as population grew, and the number of people in the tribe (or town, or village) got too big and became confusing. One Samuel in a town was fine, maybe even two.

But any more than that, and society needed some way to differentiate. So Samuel son of John became Samuel Johnson, Robert son of Richard became Robert Richardson, and so on. Sometimes people were identified by the work they did: Michael Smith might have been a blacksmith, Ellen Cohen was the daughter of a Jewish rabbi (a Cohen), and Elwood Diamond might have been a Jeweler.

There's no way to know what the first one was; names developed in every country of the world at different times. Clearly there were a lot of blacksmiths in English speaking countries - the name Smith is the most common name in the English language. In German, that's Schmidt, and so on.In Korea, Park is a very common name.

In China, it's something else. If you dig deep enough in each culture, you will see that names are ways of uniquely identifying people in a crowd..

Your father, relationship, clan, village, occupation, physical features, reputation, titles Last names probably originated in the Middle East at the beginning of the historical period. Remember, history begins with the development of writing and the ME is where civilization & writing began. The Semitic peoples were probably the first group to use last names.It continued through the Romans, was lost in the Middle Ages in Western Europe, and resumed again in the Modern times which began about 14th century.

The use of last names continued in the Byzantine Empire. Ibn or bin meaning son of followed by the father's first name. Clan or tribal loyalty was part of a person's life and the names of either or both were added to a person's last name.

As civilization became more complex & people traveled more, the person's village could be added to a person's name. Titles could be added to the before the first name. Naturally a person would not used all the above possibilities all the time, but they would be used as needed for different roles in his or her lives.

People as we read about them in history books may be identified differently than they were during their lifetime. Here are some cognomens (last name, surname, or distinguishing names) -Brocchus - "buck-toothed" -Brutus - "animal stupidity" -Sesquiculus - "arsehole & a half" -Tubero - "hump' or "morally bad" -Verrucosis - "covered in warts" These were all among the most noble Roman family names, in many cases, the founding fathers of Rome. The early Romans had the ability to laugh at themselves or not take life too seriously or believe they were too important.

There were other names indicating positive traits or actions, but they are not as fun. Some of these names from early Rome survive today in Italy or where Italians have gone. I sidetracked a bit on William, the Earl Marshall, but I have a great deal of admiration for him.

William the Conqueror was originally William the Bastard - which indicated that his parents were not married. After he reached adulthood & he had established his fighting abilities & leadership skills, he is known as William the Conqueror.It probably was never wise to refer to his as William the Bastard in his presence because he was also the William, Duke of Normandy or Duke William of Normandy. He could have been identified William fitz-Robert as fitz is French for son.

Duke of Normandy and sometimes called Robert the Devil, the Devil may or may not have been used in his presence. William Archer, either made arrows or was an excellent shot. William Cooper made barrels.

William Miller ran the flour mill. William Wainwright make wheels. The Harold, the King of England that William defeated was Harold the Fearless, a Scandanavian King that Harold the Fearless defeated was known as Harald the Ruthless.

As with the three kings named above their reputation preceded them in battle. Charles the Fat & Charles the Bald were kings of France. Joanna the Mad, insane daughter of Ferdinand & Isabella.

Richard, the Lionhearted. Richard, King of England. Elizabeth (Tudor) was known as Elizabeth, Queen of England until 1952.

She then became Elizabeth I, Queen of England because the current Queen of England took the throne as Elizabeth II. There have been men known as the Elder or the Younger to separate sons from their fathers, or Senior & Junior. Another person, William was known through life as William the Marshall.

This dedicated he was in charge of transportation. After a battle, his job was to round up the stray horses, whose owners were killed or wounded, so that survivors could replace the horses they lost. Then he was known as William Marshall and finally William the Earl Marshall (of England).

In my opinion the greatest knight in English history, and would have to be considered as one of the greatest of all knights. He was never defeated in the 500 individual combats, 'one-on-one'. As an old man, some young knights were running off at the mouth about him & his age; he through down the gauntlet & none of the young studs dared pick it up.

That ended their diarrhea of the mouth. He once killed Richard the Lionheart's horse in combat, indicating he was not worth killing. He fought for 5 English kings, usually against the kings' successor & each new king placed him in his govt.

He fought for Stephen against HenryII, Henry II against his son, Richard the Lionhearted, Richard against his brother John, and then for John's son Henry III. Since Henry III was born after his father died he was aka Henry the Posthumous. Between John's death & Henrys III birth, he was in charge of the Kingdom of England and then served as Regent for the young Henry III.

Loyalty, & integrity made him a necessary asset to any govt. We need many today of his temperment. William Archer, either made arrows or was an excellent shot.

William Cooper made barrels. William Miller operated the flour mill. William Wainwright made wagon wheels.

Several places Some last names came from the father; as in John’s son (Johnson) or BarJonah (son of Jonah). Some last names came from the town people came from; as in Kent, London, England, Von ndenburg (from ndenburg) or VanHalen (from Halen), wherever that is. Some names came from the ruling family or tribe of the area.

Just as a lot of emancipated slaves took their master’s name after the civil war. Some came from more general locations; like O’dell (of the dell), or Craig (crag: rock), or maybe Fields or Forest. Many names came from a person’s occupation; as in Parsons, Priest, Church, Carpenter, Woods, Farmer, or Smith.

Everyone who worked with a hammer was a smith or smithy or Schmidt. Is not that Smiths are that prolific, its just that every village had a blacksmith, or goldsmith, or tinsmith, etc. Browns were farmers. Williams were soldiers (wil helm: with helmet).

Jones is a variation of John. The Joneses might have been associated with the church and took their name after St.John. Wheelers built carriages and wagons, but the wrights built the wheels.

Guess where Fisher’s came from? And some names we haven’t a clue to their origin. The first last name was Adam O'Eden?

Probably not..

From your trade Thus, Smith (because you are a blacksmith), and from there the combinations are endless. 1000 years later somebody didn't want to be a Smith, so they picked another, or just plain made up a word to be their last name. The first last name was probably just a sound that had no meaning.

There was Grog. Then another Grog moved into the cave next door. They needed to differenciate between them to avoid confusion, so somebody arbitrarily pointed at one of the Grog's and said "Grog Mah", or whatever.

Then that was cool, and everybody wanted a last name.

" "names im looking for some girl names" "I am not mentioning names but...

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.