Family name Frankenstein, an example of compound German family names which were typical for Jews (New Jewish Cemetery, Prague)

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A family name (in Western contexts often referred to as a surname or last name) is typically a part of a person's name which has been passed, according to law or custom, from one or both parents to their children. The use of family names is common in many cultures around the world. Each culture has its own rules as to how these names are applied and used.

Having both a family name and given name ("first name", "forename", or "Christian name") is far from universal. In many countries it is common for ordinary people to have only one name (a mononym).

In many cultures (particularly in European and European influenced cultures in the Americas, Australia, etc., as well as the Middle East, South Asia, and most African cultures), the family name is normally the last part of a person's name. In other cultures, the family name comes first. The latter is often called the Eastern order because Europeans are most familiar with the examples from East Asia, specifically China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. The Eastern order is also used in Hungary, Romania and in parts of Africa. Since family names are normally written last in European societies (except in Hungary and Romania), the term last name is commonly used for family name, while in East Asia (with vertical writing) the family name may be referred to as upper name (as in Japanese ue-no-namae (上の名前^?)).

In an English-speaking context, family names are most often used to refer to a stranger or in a formal setting, and are often used with a title or honorific such as Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss, Dr, and so on. Generally the given name, first name, forename, or personal name is the one used by friends, family, and other intimates to address an individual. It may also be used by someone who is in some way senior to the person being addressed. This practice also differs between cultures; see T-V distinction.

In this article, family name and surname both mean the patrilineal (literally, father-line) surname, handed down from or inherited from the father's line or patriline, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Thus, the term "maternal surname" means the patrilineal surname which one's mother inherited from either or both of her parents. Matrilineal ('mother-line') surnames, passing from mothers to daughters, are discussed elsewhere to avoid complicating this large article.

Research on individual names[link]

Onomastics is the study of proper names including family names. A one-name study is a collection of vital and other biographical data about all persons worldwide sharing a particular surname. The Guild of One-Name Studies is a major UK-based organization in this field.

History[link]

The oldest use of family names or surnames is unclear. Surnames have arisen in cultures with large, concentrated populations where single, personal names for individuals became insufficient to identify them clearly.^{[citation needed]} Many cultures use additional descriptive terms in identifying individuals. These terms may indicate personal attributes, location of origin, occupation, parentage, patronage, adoption, or clan affiliation. These descriptors often developed into fixed clan identifications which in turn became family names as we know them today.

In China, according to legend, family names started with Emperor Fu Xi in 2852 BC^[1][2] His administration standardised the naming system in order to facilitate census-taking, and the use of census information. For scientific documentation that matrilineal surnames existed in China before the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC) and that "by the time of the Shang Dynasty they (Chinese surnames) had become patrilineal", see Matrilineality's China section.

In Japan, family names were uncommon except among the aristocracy until the 19th century.^[3]

In Ancient Greece, during some periods, formal identification commonly included place of origin.^[4] At other times, clan names and patronymics ("son of") were also common. For example, Alexander the Great was known as Heracleides (as a supposed descendant of Heracles) and by the dynastic name Karanos/Caranus, which referred to the founder of the dynasty to which he belonged. In none of these cases, though, were these names considered essential parts of the person's name, nor were they explicitly inherited in the manner which is common in many cultures today.

In the Roman Empire, the bestowal and use of clan and family names waxed and waned with changes in the various subcultures of the realm. (See Roman naming conventions.) At the outset, they were not strictly inherited in the way that family names are inherited in many cultures today. Eventually, though, family names began to be used in a manner similar to most modern European societies. With the gradual influence of Greek/Christian culture throughout the Empire, the use of formal family names declined.^[5] By the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, family names were uncommon in the Eastern Roman Empire. In Western Europe where Germanic culture dominated the aristocracy, family names were almost non-existent. They would not significantly reappear again in Eastern Roman society until the 10th century, apparently influenced by the familial affiliations of the Armenian military aristocracy.^[5] The practice of using family names spread through the Eastern Roman Empire and gradually into Western Europe although it was not until the modern era that family names came to be explicitly inherited as they are today.

In Ireland, the use of surnames has a very old history. Ireland was the first country in Europe to use fixed surnames. As noted in the Annals, the first recorded fixed surname was Ó Cleirigh which recorded the death of Tigherneach Ua Cleirigh, lord of Aidhne in Co. Galway in the year 916.^[6]

In England, the introduction of family names is generally attributed to the Normans and the Domesday Book of 1086. Documents indicate that surnames were first adopted among the feudal nobility and gentry, and only slowly spread to the other parts of society. Some of the early Norman nobility arriving in England during the Norman Conquest differentiated themselves by affixing 'de' (of) in front of the name of their village in France. This is what is known as a territorial surname, a consequence of feudal landownership. In medieval times in France, such a name indicated lordship, or ownership, of the village. But some early Norman nobles in England chose to drop the French derivations and call themselves instead after their new English holdings.

Modern era[link]

During the modern era, many cultures around the world adopted family names, particularly for administrative reasons, especially during the imperialistic age of European expansion and particularly since 1600. Notable examples include the Netherlands (1811), Japan (1870s), Thailand (1920), and Turkey (1934). Nonetheless, their use is not universal: Icelanders, Tibetans, Burmese, Javanese, and many people groups in East Africa do not use family names.

Family names sometimes change or are replaced by non-family-name surnames under political pressure to avoid persecution. Examples are the cases with Chinese Indonesians and Chinese Thais after migration there during the 20th century, or the Jews who fled to different European countries to avoid persecution from the Nazis during World War II.

UN Convention, CEDAW[link]

In its 1979 "Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women", or CEDAW, the UN officially adopted a provision to the effect that women and men, and specifically wife and husband, shall have the same rights to choose a "family name", as well as a "profession" and an "occupation".^[7] For a further description of and treatment of this Convention, see Matriname.

By language[link]

English-speaking countries[link]

In Britain, hereditary surnames were adopted in the 13th and 14th centuries, initially by the aristocracy but eventually by everyone. By 1400, most English and Scottish people had acquired surnames, but many Scottish and Welsh people did not adopt surnames until the 17th century, or even later. Henry VIII (1491–1547) ordered that marital births be recorded under the surname of the father.^[8]

Most surnames of British origin fall into seven types:

• Occupations e.g. Archer, Bailey, Baker, Brewer, Butcher, Carter, Chandler, Clark, Collier, Cooper, Cook, Carpenter, Dyer, Faulkner, Fisher, Fletcher, Fowler, Fuller, Glover, Hayward, Hawkins, Head, Hunt or Hunter, Judge, Knight, Miller, Mason, Page, Palmer, Parker, Porter, Sawyer, Slater, Smith, Stringer, Taylor, Thatcher, Turner, Shoemaker, Walker, Weaver, Wood or Woodman and Wright (or variations such as Cartwright and Wainwright).
• Personal characteristics e.g., Short, Brown, Black, Whitehead, Young, Long, White
• Geographical features e.g., Bridge, Camp, Hill, Bush, Lake, Lee, Wood, Grove, Holmes, Forest, Underwood, Hall, Brooks, Fields, Stone, Morley, Moore, Perry
• Place names e.g., Washington, Everingham, Burton, London, Leighton, Hamilton, Sutton, Flint, Laughton
• Estate For those descended from land-owners, the name of their holdings, castle, manor or estate, e.g. Ernle, Windsor, Staunton
• Patronymics, matronymics or ancestral, often from a person's given name. e.g., from male name: Richardson, Stephenson, Jones (Welsh for John), Williams, Jackson, Wilson, Thompson, Benson, Johnson, Harris, Evans, Simpson, Willis, Fox, Davies, Reynolds, Adams, Dawson, Lewis, Rogers, Murphy, Nicholson, Robinson, Powell, Ferguson, Davis, Edwards, Hudson, Roberts, Harrison, Watson, or female names Molson (from Moll for Mary), Madison (from Maud), Emmott (from Emma), Marriott (from Mary) or from a clan name (for those of Scottish origin, e.g., MacDonald, Forbes, Henderson, Armstrong, Grant, Cameron, Stewart, Douglas, Crawford, Campbell, Hunter) with "Mac" Scottish Gaelic for son.^[9]
• Patronal from patronage (Hickman meaning Hick's man, where Hick is a pet form of the name Richard) or strong ties of religion Kilpatrick (follower of Patrick) or Kilbride (follower of Bridget). (Kil may come from the Gaelic word 'Cill' which means Church. This would certainly support the claim that the surname is tied to the religion.)

The original meaning of the name may no longer be obvious in modern English (e.g., a Cooper is one who makes barrels, and the name Tillotson is a matronymic from a diminutive for Matilda). A much smaller category of names relates to religion, though some of this category are also occupations. The names Bishop, Priest, or Abbot, for example, may indicate that an ancestor was or worked for a bishop, a priest, or an abbot, respectively, or possibly took such a role in a popular religious play (see pageant play). In the Americas, the family names of many African-Americans have their origins in slavery (i.e. slave name). Many of them came to bear the surnames of their former owners. Many freed slaves either created family names themselves or adopted the name of their former master. In England and cultures derived from there, there has long been a tradition for a woman to change her surname upon marriage from her birth name to her husband's last name. From the first known US instance of a woman keeping her birth name, Lucy Stone in 1855, there has been a general increase in the rate of women keeping their original name. This has gone through periods of flux, however, and the 1990s saw a decline in the percentage of name retention among women. As of 2004, roughly 90% of American women assumed their husband's surname upon getting married.^[10]

In the Middle Ages, when a man from a lower-status family married an only daughter from a higher-status family, he would often take the wife's family name. In the 18th and 19th centuries in Britain, bequests were sometimes made contingent upon a man's changing (or hyphenating) his name, so that the name of the testator continued. It is rare but not unknown for an English-speaking man to take the name of his wife, whether for personal reasons or as a matter of tradition (such as among Canadian aboriginal groups, especially the matrilineal Haida and Gitxsan); it is increasingly common in the United States, where a married couple may choose a new last name entirely. As an alternative, both spouses may adopt a double-barreled name. For instance, when John Smith and Mary Jones marry each other, they may become known as John Smith-Jones and Mary Smith-Jones. However, some consider the extra length of the hyphenated names undesirable. A spouse may also opt to use his or her birth name as a middle name. An additional option, although rarely practiced, is the adoption of a last name derived from a portmanteau of the prior names, such as "Simones". Some couples keep their own last names but give their children hyphenated or combined surnames.^{[citation needed]}

In some jurisdictions, a woman's legal name used to change automatically upon marriage. That change is no longer a requirement, but women may still easily change to their husband's surname. Upon marriage, men in the United States can easily change their surname with the federal government, through the Social Security Administration, but may face difficulty on the state level in some states. In some places, civil rights lawsuits or constitutional amendments changed the law so that men could also easily change their married names (e.g., in British Columbia and California).^[11]

Many people choose to change their name when they marry, while others do not. There are many reasons why people maintain their surname. One is that dropped surnames disappear throughout generations, while the adopted surname survives. Another reason is that if a person's surname is well known due to their particular family's history, he or she may choose to keep his or her birth surname. Yet another is the identity crisis people may experience when giving up their surname. People in academia, for example, who have previously published articles in academic journals under their birth name often do not change their surname after marriage, in order to ensure that they continue to receive credit for their past and future work. This practice is also common among physicians, attorneys, and other professionals, as well as celebrities for whom continuity is important. Another reason some give for maintaining their birth names after marriage is a simple dislike for the new spouse's surname or the combination that would be formed with their first name and the spouse's last name. (For example, a hypothetical Paige Smith marrying a John Turner may hesitate to take her new husband's last name to avoid becoming Paige Turner. Other similar examples can easily be imagined.) The practice of women maintaining their surname after marriage is increasing. Practices among same-sex married couples do not at this point follow any discernible pattern, with some choosing to share surnames, while others do not.^{[citation needed]}

Spelling of names in past centuries is often assumed to be a deliberate choice by a family, but due to very low literacy rates, many families could not provide the spelling of their surname, and so the scribe, clerk, minister, or official would write down the name on the basis of how it was spoken, or how they heard it. This results in a great many variations, some of which occurred when families moved to another country (e.g. Wagner becoming Wagoner, or Whaley becoming Wheally). With the increase in bureaucracy, officially-recorded spellings tended to become the standard for a given family.^{[citation needed]}

Spanish-speaking countries[link]

In medieval times, a patronymic system similar to the one still used in Iceland emerged. For example, Álvaro, the son of Rodrigo would be named Álvaro Rodríguez. His son, Juan, would not be named Juan Rodríguez, but Juan Álvarez. Over time, many of these patronymics became family names and are some of the most common names in the Spanish-speaking world. Other sources of surnames are personal appearance or habit, e.g. Delgado ("thin") and Moreno ("dark-haired"); occupations, e.g. Molinero ("miller"), Zapatero ("Shoe-maker") and Guerrero ("warrior"); and geographic location or ethnicity, e.g. Alemán ("German").

In Spain and in Spanish-speaking countries (e.g. Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela), people traditionally have two family names: the first family name is the paternal one, inherited from the father's paternal family name, while the second family name is the maternal one, inherited from the mother's paternal family name. In most situations only the first one is used. In some instances, when an individual's given name and first family name are too common (such as in José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Mario Vargas Llosa), both family names are used (though not necessarily both given names). In Spain, a new law approved in 1999 allows an adult to change the order of his/her family names, and parents can also change the order of their children's family names if they (and the child, if over 12) agree.^[12]

Traditionally in most countries, and currently in Spain, Chile and Argentina, women, upon marrying, keep their own family names. It is considered impolite towards her family for a woman to change her name. The higher class women of Cuba and Spain traditionally never change their names. In certain rare situations, a woman may be addressed not only with her maternal surname, but also with her husband's paternal surname, often linked with de. For example, a woman named Ana García Díaz, upon marrying Juan Guerrero Macías, could be called Ana García Díaz de Guerrero. This custom, begun in medieval times, is decaying and only has legal validity^{[citation needed]} in Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, 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.

Depending on the country, the family names may or may not be linked by the conjunction y ("and"), i ("and" in Catalonia), de ("of"), del ("of the", when the following word is masculine) or de la ("of the", when the following word is feminine). Sometimes a father transmits his combined family names, thus creating a new one e.g., the paternal surname of the son of Javier (given name) Reyes (paternal family name) de la Barrera (maternal surname) may become the new paternal surname Reyes de la Barrera. De is also the nobiliary particle used with Spanish surnames.

In Hispanic American countries, married women usually keep their first family name followed by "de" (denoting property: "'s" or "of") and then the husband's last name. For example María Martínez López when married to Josué Vásquez Hernández would then be María Martínez de Vásquez. However, this usage is falling into disuse. In Peru and the Dominican Republic, women normally conserve all family names after getting married. For example, if Rosa María Pérez Martínez marries Juan Martín De la Cruz Gómez, she will be called Rosa María Pérez Martínez de De la Cruz, and if the husband dies, she will be called Rosa María Pérez Martínez Vda. de De la Cruz (Vda. being the abbreviation for viuda, "widow" in Spanish).

The law in Peru changed some years ago, and all married women can keep their maiden last names or if they want, they can use also their husband's last name after their own maiden name, adding the "de" before their husband's last name.

In Ecuador, a couple can choose the order of their children's surnames. Most choose the traditional order (e.g., Guerrero García in the example above), but some invert the order, putting the mother's paternal surname first and the father's paternal surname last (e.g., García Guerrero from the example above). Such inversion, if chosen, must be consistent for all children of the marriage.

In Argentina only one family name, the father's paternal family name, is commonly used and registered, as in English-speaking countries. Women, however, do not change their family names upon marriage and continue to use their birth family names instead of their husband's family names. However, some women do choose to use the old Spanish custom of adjoining "de" and her husband's paternal surname to her own name. For example: if Cristina Fernández marries Felipe Kirchner, she might keep her birth name or become Cristina Fernández de Kirchner or Cristina Kircher.

In Cuba and in Nicaragua, both men and women carry their two family names (first their father's, and second their mother's). Both are equally important and are mandatory for any official document. Married women never change their original family names for their husband's. Even when they migrate to other countries where this is a common practice, many prefer to adhere to their heritage and keep their maiden name.

In villages in Catalonia, Galicia and Asturias (Spain) and in Cuba, people are often known by the name of their dwelling or collective family nickname rather than by their surnames. For example, Remei Pujol i Serra who lives at Ca l'Elvira would be referred to as "Remei de Ca l'Elvira"; and Adela Barreira López who is part of the "Provisores" family would be known as "Adela dos Provisores".

French-speaking countries[link]

France

Belgium

Canadian

German-speaking countries[link]

There are about 1,000,000^{[citation needed]} different family names in German. German family names most often derive from given names, geographical names, occupational designations, bodily attributes or even traits of character. Hyphenations notwithstanding, they mostly consist of a single word; in those rare cases where the family name is linked to the given names by particles such as von or zu, they usually indicate noble ancestry. Not all noble families used these names (see Riedesel), while some farm families, particularly in Westphalia, used the particle von or zu followed by their farm or former farm's name as a family name (see Meyer zu Erpen).

Family names in German-speaking countries are usually positioned last, after all given names. There are exceptions, however: In parts of Austria and the Alemannic-speaking areas, the family name is regularly put in front of the first given name. Also in many - especially rural - parts of Germany, to emphasize family affiliation there is often an inversion in colloquial use, in which the family name becomes a possessive: Rüters Erich, for example, would be Erich of the Rüter family.

In Germany today, upon marriage, both partners can choose to keep their birth name or choose either partner's name as the common name. In the latter case the partner whose name wasn't chosen can keep his birth name hyphenated to the new name (e.g. Schmidt and Meyer choose to marry under the name Meyer. The former Schmidt can choose to be called Meyer, Schmidt-Meyer or Meyer-Schmidt), but any children will only get the single common name. In the case that both partners keep their birth name they must decide on one of the two family names for all their future children. (German name)

Changing one's family name for reasons other than marriage, divorce or adoption is possible only if the application is approved by the responsible government agency. Permission will usually be granted if:

• the old name is very common and leads to confusion;
• the old name is overly long or very difficult to spell or pronounce (especially with names of former nobility and of citizens with non-German ancestry); or
• the old name has negative connotations or is easily ridiculed.

Otherwise, name changes will normally not be granted.

Portuguese-speaking countries[link]

In the case of Portuguese naming customs, the main surname (the one used in alphasorting, indexing, abbreviations, and greetings), appears last.

Each person usually has two family names: though the law specifies no order, the first one is usually the maternal family name, whereas the last one is commonly the paternal family name. In Portugal, a person's full name has a minimum legal length of two names (one given name and one family name from either parent) and a maximum of six names (two first names and four surnames — he or she may have up to four surnames in any order desired picked up from the total of his/her parents and grandparents' surnames). The use of any surname outside this lot, or of more than six names, is legally possible, but it requires dealing with bureaucracy. Parents or the person him/herself must explain the claims they have to bearing that surname (a family nickname, a rare surname lost in past generations, or any other reason one may find suitable). In Brazil there are no limit of surnames used.

In ancient times a patronymic was commonly used — surnames like Gonçalves ("son of Gonçalo"), Fernandes ("son of Fernando"), Nunes ("son of Nuno"), Soares ("son of Soeiro"), Sanches ("son of Sancho"), Henriques ("son of Henrique"), Rodrigues ("son of Rodrigo") which along with many others are still in regular use as very prevalent family names.

In Medieval times, Portuguese nobility started to use one of their estates' name or the name of the town or villaged they ruled as their surname, just after their patronymic. Soeiro Mendes da Maia bore a name "Soeiro", a patronymic "Mendes" ("son of Hermenegildo - shortened to Mendo") and the name of the town he ruled "Maia". He was often referred to in 12th century documents as "Soeiro Mendes, senhor da Maia", Soeiro Mendes, lord of Maia. Nobelwomen also bore patronymics and surnames in the same manner and never bore their husband's surname. First-born males bore their father's surname, other children bore either both or only one of them at their will.

Only during the Early Modern Age, lower-class males started to use at least one surname; married lower-class women usually took up their spouse's surname, since they rarely ever used one beforehand. After the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake, Portuguese authorities realized the benefits of enforcing the use and registry of surnames. Henceforth, they became mandatory, although the rules for their use were very liberal.

During the mid-20th century, under French influence and among upper classes, women started to take up their husbands' surname(s). From the 1960s onwards, this usage spread to the common people, again under French influence, this time, however, due to the forceful legal adoption of their husbands' surname which was imposed onto Portuguese immigrant women in France.

From the 1974 Carnation Revolution onwards the adoption of their husbands' surname(s) receded again, and today both the adoption and non-adoption occur; also, it is legally possible for the husband to adopt his wife's surname(s), but this practice is rare.

Brazilians usually call people only by their given names, omitting family names, even in many formal situations, as in the press referring to authorities, e.g. "Former President Fernando Henrique", never Former President Cardoso, or even "Former President Lula" ("Lula" was actually his nickname). When formality or a prefix requires a family name, the given name usually precedes the surname, e.g. João Santos, or Sr. João Santos.

Dutch-speaking countries[link]

The Netherlands

Belgium

Arabic-speaking Countries[link]

The given name is always followed by the father's first name, then the father's family surname. Some surnames have a pre-fix of ibn- meaning son of (ould- in Mauritania) The surnames follow similar rules defining a relation to a clan, family, place etc. Some Arab countries have differences due to historic rule by the Ottoman Empire or due to being a different minority.

A large number of Arabic last names start with "Al-" which means "The"

Arab States of the Persian Gulf. Names mainly consist of the person's name followed by the father's first name connected by the word "ibn" or "bin" (meaning "son of"). The last name either refers to the name of the tribe the person belongs to, or to the region, city, or town he/she originates from. In exceptional cases, members of the royal families or ancient tribes mainly, the title (usually H.M./H.E., Prince, or Sheikh) is included in the beginning as a prefix, and the first name can be followed by four names, his father, his grandfather, and great - grandfather, as a representation of the purity of blood and to show the pride one has for his ancestry.

By country[link]

Albania[link]

A full Albanian name consists of a given name (Albanian: emër), patronymic (Albanian: atësi) and family name (Albanian: mbiemër), for example Erblin Bashkim Hysenaj. The patronymic is simply the given name of the individual's father, with no suffix added.

Proper names in Albanian are fully declinable like any noun (e.g. Marinelda, genitive case i/e Marineldës "of Marinelda").

Armenia[link]

Armenian surnames almost always have the ending (Armenian: յան) transliterated into English as -yan or -ian (spelled -ean (եան) in Western Armenian and pre-Soviet Eastern Armenian, of Ancient Armenian or Iranian origin, presumably meaning "son of"), though names with that ending can also be found among Persians and a few other nationalities. Armenian surnames can derive from a geographic location, profession, noble rank, personal characteristic or personal name of an ancestor. Armenians in the diaspora sometimes adapt their surnames to help assimilation. In Russia, many have changed -yan to -ov (or -ova for women). In Turkey, many have changed the ending to -oğlu (also meaning "son of"). In English and French-speaking countries, many have shortened their name by removing the ending (for example Charles Aznavour). In ancient Armenia, many noble names ended with the locative -t'si (example, Khorenatsi) or -uni (Bagratuni). Several modern Armenian names also have a Turkish suffix which appears before -ian/-yan: -lian denotes a placename; -djian denotes a profession. Some Western Armenian names have a particle Der, while their Eastern counterparts have Ter. This particle indicates an ancestor who was a priest (Armenian priests can choose to marry or remain celibate, but married priests cannot become a bishop). Thus someone named Der Bedrosian (Western) or Ter Petrosian (Eastern) is a descendent of an Armenian priest. The convention is still in use today: the children of a priest named Hagop Sarkisian would be called Der Sarkisian. Other examples of Armenian surnames: Adonts, Sakunts, Vardanyants, Rshtuni.

Azerbaijan[link]

Traditional Azeri surnames usually end with "-lı", "-lu", (Turkic for 'with' or 'belonging to'), "-oğlu", "-qızı" (Turkic for 'son of' and 'daughter of'), "-zade" (Persian for 'born of'). Azerbaijanis of Iranian descent traditionally use suffixes such as '-pour' or '-zadeh', meaning 'born of' with their father's name. It is, however, more usual for them to use the name of the city in which their ancestors lived (e.g. Tabrizpour for those from Tabriz) or their occupation (e.g. Damirchizadeh for blacksmiths). Also, due to it being a part of the Russian Empire, many last names carry Slavic endings of "-ov" for men and "-ova" for women.^{[citation needed]}

Bulgaria[link]

Bulgarian names usually consist of three components - given name, father's name, family name.

Given names have many variations, but the most common names have Christian/Greek (e.g. Maria, Ivan, Christo, Peter, Pavel), Slavic (Ognyan, Miroslav, Tihomir) or Protobulgarian (Krum, Asparukh) (pre-Christian) origin. Father's names normally consist of the father's first name and the "-ov" (male) or "-ova" (female) or "-ovi" (plural) suffix. Family names usually also end with the "-ov", "-ev" (male) or "-ova", "-eva" (female) or "-ovi", "-evi" (plural) suffix.

In many cases (depending on the name root) the suffixes can be also "-ski" (male and plural) or "-ska" (female); "-ovski", "-evski" (male and plural) or "-ovska", "-evska" (female); "-in" (male) or "-ina" (female) or "-ini" (plural); etc.

The meaning of the suffixes is similar to the English word "of", expressing membership in/belonging to a family. For example the family name Ivanova means a person belonging to the Ivanovi family. A father's name Petr*ov* means son of Peter.

Regarding the different meaning of the suffixes, "-ov", "-ev"/"-ova", "-eva" are used for expressing relationship to the father and "-in"/"-ina" for relationship to the mother (often for orphans whose father is dead).

Finland[link]

Finland has two predominant surname traditions: the West Finnish and the East Finnish. Until the mid 20th Century, Finland was a predominantly agrarian society, and the names of West Finns were based on their association with a particular area, farm, or homestead, e.g. Jaakko Jussila ("Jaakko from the farm of Jussi"). On the other hand, the East Finnish surname tradition dates back to the 13th century. There, the Savonians pursued slash-and-burn agriculture which necessitated moving several times during a person's lifetime. This in turn required the families to have surnames, which were in wide use among the common folk as early as the 13th century. By the mid-16th century, the East Finnish surnames had become hereditary. Typically, the oldest East Finnish surnames were formed from the first names of the patriarchs of the families, e.g. Ikävalko, Termonen, Pentikäinen. In the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, new names were most often formed by adding the name of the former or current place of living (e.g. Puumalainen < Puumala). In the East Finnish tradition, the females carried the family name of their fathers in female form (e.g. Puumalatar < Puumalainen). By the 19th century, this practice fell into disuse due to the influence of the West-European surname tradition.

In Western Finland, agrarian names dominated, and the last name of the person was usually given according to the farm or holding they lived on. In 1921, surnames became compulsory for all Finns. At this point, the agrarian names were usually adopted as surnames. A typical feature of such names is the addition of prefixes Ala- (Sub-) or Ylä- (Up-), giving the location of the holding along a waterway in relation of the main holding. (e.g. Yli-Ojanperä, Ala-Verronen)

A third, foreign tradition of surnames was introduced in Finland by the Swedish-speaking upper and middle classes, which used typical German and Swedish surnames. By custom, all Finnish-speaking persons who were able to get a position of some status in urban or learned society, discarded their Finnish name, adopting a Swedish, German or (in the case of clergy) Latin surname. In the case of enlisted soldiers, the new name was given regardless of the wishes of the individual.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, the overall modernization process, and especially the political movement of fennicization, caused a movement for adoption of Finnish surnames. At that time, many persons with a Swedish or otherwise foreign surname changed their family name to a Finnish one. The features of nature with endings -o/ö, -nen (Meriö < Meri "sea", Nieminen < Niemi "point") are typical of the names of this era, as well as more or less direct translations of Swedish names (Paasivirta < Hällström).^[13]

In 21st-century Finland, the use of surnames follows the German model. Every person is legally obligated to have a first and last name. At most, three first names are allowed. The Finnish married couple may adopt the name of either spouse, or either spouse (or both spouses) may decide to use a double name. The parents may choose either surname or the double surname for their children, but all siblings must share the same surname.^[14] All persons have the right to change their surname once without any specific reason. A surname that is un-Finnish, contrary to the usages of the Swedish or Finnish languages, or is in use by any person residing in Finland cannot be accepted as the new name, unless valid family reasons or religious or national customs give a reason for waiving this requirement. However, persons may change their surname to any surname that has ever been used by their ancestors if they can prove such claim.^[15] Some immigrants have had difficulty naming their children, as they must choose from an approved list based on the family's household language.

In the Finnish language, both the root of the surname and the first name can be modified by consonant gradation regularly when inflected to a case.

Georgia[link]

Most eastern Georgian surnames end with the suffix of "-shvili", (e.g. Kartveli'shvili) Georgian for "child" or "offspring". Western Georgian surnames most commonly have the suffix "-dze", (e.g. Laba'dze) Georgian for "son". Megrelian surnames usually end in "-ia","ua" or "ava". Other location-specific endings exist: In Svaneti "-iani", meaning "belonging to", or "hailing from", is common. In the eastern Georgian highlands common endings are "uri" and "uli". Some noble family names end in "eli", meaning "of (someplace)". In Georgian, the surname is not normally used as the polite form of address; instead, the given name is used together with a title. For instance, Nikoloz Kartvelishvili is politely addressed as bat'ono Nikoloz "My Lord. Nikoloz".

Greece and Cyprus[link]

Greek surnames are most commonly patronymics. Occupation, characteristic, or ethnic background and location/origin-based surnames names also occur; they are sometimes supplemented by nicknames.

Commonly, Greek male surnames end in -s, which is the common ending for Greek masculine proper nouns in the nominative case. Exceptionally, some end in -ou, indicating the genitive case of this proper noun for patronymic reasons.

Although surnames are static today, dynamic and changing patronym usage survives in middle names in Greece where the genitive of the father's first name is commonly the middle name.

Because of their codification in the Modern Greek state, surnames have Katharevousa forms even though Katharevousa is no longer the official standard. Thus, the Ancient Greek name Eleutherios forms the Modern Greek proper name Lefteris, and former vernacular practice (prefixing the surname to the proper name) was to call John Eleutherios Leftero-giannis.

Modern practice is to call the same person Giannis Eleftheriou: the proper name is vernacular (and not Ioannis), but the surname is an archaic genitive. However, children are almost always baptised with the archaic form of the name so in official matters the child will be referred to as Ioannis Eleftheriou and not Giannis Eleftheriou.

Female surnames are most often in the Katharevousa genitive case of a male name. This is an innovation of the Modern Greek state; Byzantine practice was to form a feminine counterpart of the male surname (e.g. masculine Palaiologos, Byzantine feminine Palaiologina, Modern feminine Palaiologou).

In the past, women would change their surname when married to that of their husband (again in genitive case) signifying the transfer of "dependence" from the father to the husband. In earlier Modern Greek society, women were named with -aina as a feminine suffix on the husband's first name: "Giorgaina", "Mrs George", "Wife of George". Nowadays, a woman's legal surname does not change upon marriage, though she can use the husband's surname socially. Children usually receive the paternal surname, though in rare cases, if the bride and groom have agreed before the marriage, the children can receive the maternal surname.

Some surnames are prefixed with Papa-, indicating ancestry from a priest, e.g. Papageorgiou, the "son of a priest named George". Others, like Archi- and Mastro- signify "boss" and "tradesman" respectively.

Prefixes such as Konto-, Makro-, and Chondro- describe body characteristics, such as "short", "tall/long" and "fat". Gero- and Palaio- signify "old" or "wise".

Other prefixes include Hadji- (Χαντζή- or Χαντζι-) which was an honorific deriving from the Arabic Hadj or pilgrimage, and indicate that the person had made a pilgrimage (in the case of Christians, to Jerusalem) and Kara- which is attributed to the Turkish word for "black" deriving from the Ottoman Empire era. The Turkish suffix -oglou (derived from a patronym, -oğlu in Turkish) can also be found. Although they are of course more common among Greece's Muslim minority, they still can be found among the Christian majority, often Greeks who were pressured to leave Turkey after the Turkish Republic was founded (since Turkish surnames only date to the founding of the Republic, when Atatürk made them compulsory).

Arvanitic surnames also exist; an example is Tzanavaras or Tzavaras, from the Arvanitic word çanavar or çavar meaning "brave" (pallikari in Greek).^[16]

Most Greek patronymic suffixes are diminutives, which vary by region. The most common Hellenic patronymic suffixes are:

• -poulos/-poulou, which has a Latin origin (pullus) and means "the little", representing "the son of ...", so if a man's family name is "Christopoulos", it means that his father was named "Christos". This suffix is very widespread throughout Greece and is originally from the Peloponessus in particular.
• -idis/iadis/antis used in the Pontus and Asia Minor regions, e.g. Michailidis, the "clan of Michael"
• -akis/-aki is associated primarily with Crete and the Aegean Islands. It is a patronymic signifying "little" and/or "son"; therefore Theodorakis is "little Theodore".

Others, less common, are:

• -atos/-atou (from Cephallonia and other Ionian Islands)
• -as/-a/-ekas/kas (from Epirus)
• -ellis/-elli (from Lesvos Island)
• -eas/akos/oggonas (from Mani)
• -oglou (from the Turkish suffix for "son of" used by both genders)
• -ou (genitive, from Cyprus)
• -ou/ides/kos (from Macedonia)
• -ekas/las (from Epirus)

The suffix -idis (often transliterated -ides in English and French) is the oldest in use. Zeus, for example, was also referred to as Cronides ("son of Cronus").

Either the surname or the given name may come first in different contexts; in newspapers and in informal uses, the order is given name + surname, while in official documents and forums (tax forms, registrations, military service, school forms), the surname is often listed or said first.

Hungary[link]

In Hungarian, like Asian languages but unlike most other European ones (see French and German above for exceptions), the family name is placed before the given names. This usage does not apply to non-Hungarian names, for example "Tony Blair" will remain "Tony Blair" when written in Hungarian texts.

Names of Hungarian individuals, however, appear in Western order in English writing.

Iceland[link]

In Iceland, most people have no family name; a person's last name is most commonly a patronymic, i.e. derived from the father's first name. For example, when a man called Karl has a daughter called Anna and a son called Magnús, their full names will typically be Anna Karlsdóttir ("Karl's daughter") and Magnús Karlsson ("Karl's son"). The name is not changed upon marriage.

India[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2012)

India is a country with numerous distinct cultural and linguistic groups. Thus, Indian surnames, where formalized, fall into seven general types. Many people from the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala do not use any formal surnames, though most have one.^{[citation needed]} Tamil people do not use their family or caste names. They use initials in front of their names (example S Karthik) instead, the S standing for the father's name Sivakumar. Though they usually have a caste name such as Muthaliyar or Kounder that could be interpreted as a last name, it is not commonly used in present day Tamil Nadu.

Surnames are based on:

• Patronymics and ancestry, whereby the father's name or an ancestor's given name is used in its original form or in a derived form (e.g. Aggarwal or Agrawal or Agrawala derived from the ancestor Agrasen).
• Occupations (Chamar, Patel or Patil, meaning Village Headman, Gandhi, Kamath, Kulkarni, who used to maintain the accounts and records and collect taxes, Kapadia, Nadkarni, Patwardhan, Patwari, Shenoy, etc.) and priestly distinctions (Bhat, Bhattar, Sastry, Trivedi, Shukla, Chaturvedi, Twivedi, Purohit, Mukhopadhyay); Business people: Shetty, Rai, Hegde is commonly used in kshatriya castes of the karnataka costal belt. In addition many Parsi, Bohra and Gujarati families have used English trade names as last names since the 18th and 19th centuries (Contractor, Engineer, Builder).
• Caste or clan names (Pillai, Gounder, Goud, Gowda, Boyar, Parmar, Sindhi, Vaish, Reddy, Meena and Naidu) are not surnames but suffixes to first names to indicate their clan or caste.
• Place names or names derived from places of ancestral origin (Aluru, Marwari, Gawaskar, Gaonkar, Mangeshkar, Kapoor, Wamankar, Kokradi, Karnad, Medukonduru, Rachapalli).
• A few last names originate from names (Juthani)
• The father's first name is used as a surname in certain Southern states, such as Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. However, after the marriage the bride may use her husband's first name instead.
• Muslim surnames generally follow the same rules used in Pakistan. Khan is among the most popular surnames, often signifying Afghan/Central Asian descent.
• Bestowed titles or other honorifics: titles bestowed by kings, rajas, nawabs and other nobles before the British Raj (Wali, Rai, Rao, Tharakan, Panicker, Vallikappen, Moocken, etc.) and those bestowed by the British (Rai, Bahadur).
• Names indicating nobility or feudal associations or honorifics (Chowdary, Naidu, Varma, Singh, Burman, Raja, Reddy, Tagore, Thakur, Rana, Kunwar)
• Colonial Surnames based on tax or after religious conversion, particularly in Goa, which was under Portuguese control (D'Cruz, Pinto). Often, surnames of Portuguese noble families who were accepted as godparents were used as the surnames of the converted. Some families still keep their ancestral Hindu surnames along with their given Catholic Surnames e.g. Miranda-Prabhu and Pereira-Shenoy.
• In Kerala the practice of using the house name before or after the given name is on the rise. For example Asin Thottumkal - Asin is the given name while Thottumkal is the house name.

The convention is to write the first name followed by middle names and surname. It is common to use the father's first name as the middle name or last name even though it is not universal. In some Indian states like Maharashtra, official documents list the family name first, followed by a comma and the given names.

It is customary for wives to take the surname of their husband after marriage. In modern times, in urban areas at least, this practice is not universal. In some rural areas, particularly in North India, wives may also take a new first name after their nuptials. Children inherit their surnames from their father.

Jains generally use Jain, Shah, Firodia, Singhal or Gupta as their last names. Sikhs generally use the words Singh ("lion") and Kaur ("princess") as surnames added to the otherwise unisex first names of men and women, respectively. It is also common to use a different surname after Singh in which case Singh or Kaur are used as middle names (Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Surinder Kaur Badal). The tenth Guru of Sikhism ordered (Hukamnama) that any man who considered himself a Sikh must use Singh in his name and any woman who considered herself a Sikh must use Kaur in her name. Other middle names or honorifics that are sometimes used as surnames include Kumar, Dev, Lal, and Chand.

The modern-day spellings of names originated when families translated their surnames to English, with no standardization across the country. Variations are regional, based on how the name was translated from the local language to English in the 18th, 19th or 20th centuries during British rule. Therefore, it is understood in the local traditions that Agrawal and Aggarwal represent the same name derived from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab respectively. Similarly, Tagore derives from Bengal while Thakur is from Hindi-speaking areas. The officially recorded spellings tended to become the standard for that family. In the modern times, some states have attempted standardization, particularly where the surnames were corrupted because of the early British insistence of shortening them for convenience. Thus Bandopadhyay became Banerji, Mukhopadhay became Mukherji, Chattopadhyay became Chatterji, etc. This coupled with various other spelling variations created several surnames based on the original surnames. The West Bengal Government now insists on re-converting all the variations to their original form when the child is enrolled in school.

Some parts of Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal, Burma, and Indonesia have similar patronymic customs to those of India.

Indonesia[link]

Indonesians comprise more than 300 ethnic groups. Not all of these groups traditionally have surnames. Nonetheless, Indonesians are well aware of the custom of family names, which is known as marga or fam, and such names have become a specific kind of identifier. People can tell what a person's heritage is by his or her surname or clan name.

• The various ethnicities of Batak people from North Sumatra are known for their strict tradition of preserving their family names, which are actually clan names. See Marga (Batak) for details.
• The matrilineal clan names of the Minangkabau people are passed down from mothers to their children. Minangkabau is the largest matrilineal society in the world.
• The Minahasan people of the North Sulawesi have an extensive list of surnames, such as Muntuan, Nayoan, Wenas and Luntungan.
• Ambonese people of the Maluku Islands have family names such as Lawalata, Matulessy and Latumahina.
• The various ethnicities of the Dayak people from the provinces in Kalimantan have names such as Dau and Narang.
• The Bugis people from South Sulawesi have surnames such as Mappanyukki, Mallarangeng and Matalatta.
• Among the Toraja people of South Sulawesi, common surname elements include Rante–, Pong–, Allo–, –bua, –linggi. Examples: Rantedatu, Ranteallo, Pongrambu, Pongtiku, Pongrangga, Allodatu, Randebua, Tanabua, Tarukbua, Datubua, Allobua, Senolinggi.

Javanese people are the majority in Indonesia, and most do not have any surname. There are many individuals who have only one name, such as "Suharto" and "Sukarno". These are not only common with the Javanese but also with other Indonesian ethnic groups who do not have the tradition of surnames. If, however, they are Muslims, they might opt to follow Arabic naming customs.

Most Chinese Indonesians substituted their Chinese surnames with Indonesian-sounding surnames due to political pressure from 1965 to 1998 under Suharto's regime.

Ireland, Isle of Man, and Scotland[link]

Many surnames in Ireland of Gaelic origin derive from ancestors' names, nicknames, or descriptive names. In the first group can be placed surnames such as McMurrough and McCarthy, derived from patronymics, or O'Brien and O'Grady, derived from ancestral names.

Gaelic surnames derived from nicknames include Ó Dubhda (from Aedh ua Dubhda—Aedh, the dark one), O'Doherty (from dochartaigh, "destroyer" or "obtrusive"), Garvery (garbh, "rough" or "nasty"), Manton (mantach, "toothless"), Bane (bán, "white", as in "white hair"), Finn (fionn, "fair", as in "fair hair") and Kennedy ("cennedie", as in "ugly head")

Very few Gaelic surnames are derived from placenames or venerated people/objects. Among those that are included in this small group, several can be shown to be derivations of Gaelic personal names or surnames. One notable exception is Ó Cuilleáin or O'Collins (from cuileann, "Holly") as in the Holly Tree, considered one of the most sacred objects of pre-Christian Celtic culture. Another is Walsh (Irish: Breatnach), meaning Welsh.

In areas where certain family names are extremely common, extra names are added that sometimes follow this archaic pattern. In Ireland, for example, where Murphy is an exceedingly common name, particular Murphy families or extended families are nicknamed, so that Denis Murphy's family were called The Weavers and Denis himself was called Denis "The Weaver" Murphy. (See also O'Hay.)

For much the same reason, nicknames (e.g. the Fada Burkes, "the long/tall Burkes"), father's names (e.g. John Morrissey Ned) or mother's maiden name (Kennedy becoming Kennedy-Lydon) can become colloquial or legal surnames. The Irish family of de Courcy descends from Anglo-Normans who came to Ireland following the Norman Conquest. (The name is of French derivation, and indicates that the family once held a manor of that name in Normandy.) The de Courcy family was prominent in County Cork from the earliest days of the Norman occupation and subsequently became prominent in Ireland.^[17]

In addition to all this, Irish-speaking areas still follow the old tradition of naming themselves after their father, grandfather, great-grandfather and so on. Examples include Mike Bartly Pat Reilly ("Mike, son of Bartholomew, son of Pat Reilly"), John Michel John Oge Pat Breanach ("John, son of Michael, son of young John, son of Pat Breanach"), Tom Paddy-Joe Seoige ("Tom, son of Paddy-Joe Seoige"), and Mary Bartly Mike Walsh ("Mary, daughter of Bartly, son of Mike Walsh"). Sometimes, the female line of the family is used, depending on how well the parent is known in the area the person resides in, e.g. Paddy Mary John ("Paddy, son of Mary, daughter of John"). A similar tradition continues even in English-speaking areas, especially in rural districts.

Surname prefixes[link]

• Bean: "Wife", pronounced [bæn̺].
• De: "of the": a Norman-French habitational prefix used by some of the most common Irish surnames among which are De Búrca, De Brún, De Barra, De Cíosóg, Devane and de Faoite. 'De' historically has signaled ownership of lands and was traditionally therefore a mark of prestige.
• Mac: for most purposes, taken to mean "son of", as in Mac Néill (son of Neil). However, literally, the "of" part does not come from the "Mac" prefix but from the patronymic that follows it. E.g., in the case of MacNéill, Mac merely means "son"; "Néill" (meaning "of Neil") is the genitive form of Niall ("Neil"). In some cases if the second word begins with a vowel, Mac then becomes Mag, as in Mag Eocháin. Also "M'c and Mic" (Watery Descendent)
• Mhic: [vɪkʲ]. Compressed form of bean mhic ("wife of the son of") e.g. Máire Mhic Néill (Máire, the wife of Mac Néill). This is the grammatically correct form of the prefix Mac always taken by a woman after marriage (i.e. a woman marrying someone of the surname Mac Néill would become Mhic Néill). Mhig (also pronounced [vɪkʲ]) is used similarly to Mag in some cases (e.g. Mag Shamhráin/Mhig Shamhráin).
• Maol: In Pagan times this was expressed as Mug, as in the case of Mug Nuadat. The literal expression of this is "slave of Nuada", i.e. "devotee of Nuada". In the Christian era the word Mael was used in its place for given names such as Mael Bridget, Mael Padraig, Mael Lagan, Mael Sechlainn, and Mael Martain. In later times, some of these given names evolved into surnames, e.g. Ó Máel Sechlainn and Mac Mael Martain or Mael Lagan, which became after the 15th Century the name Milligan.
• Fitz: a Norman-French word derived from the Latin word filius ("son"). It was used in patronymics by thousands of men in the early Norman period in Ireland (e.g. fitz Stephen, fitz Richard, fitz Robert, fitz William) and only on some occasions did it become used as an actual surname, the most famous example being the FitzGerald Earls of Kildare. Yet well into the 17th and 18th century it was used in certain areas dominated by the Hiberno-Norman of Ireland in its original form, as a patronymic. The Tribes of Galway were especially good at conserving this form, with examples such as John fitz John Bodkin and Michael Lynch fitz Arthur, used even as late as the early 19th century. A number of illegitimate descendents of the British royal family were given surnames with this element: some of the illegitimate children of King Charles II were named FitzCharles or FitzRoy ("son of the King"); those of King James II were named FitzJames; those of Prince William, Duke of Clarence and St Andrews (later King William IV) were named FitzClarence. Note that "Fitzpatrick" is not Norman: it is actually a Normanisation of the Gaelic surname Mac Ghiolla Phádraig.
• Ó: In Old Irish as ua ("grandson", "descendant"). E.g., the ancestor of the O'Brien clan, Brian Boru (937-1014) was known in his lifetime as Brian mac Cennéide mac Lorcán ("Brian, the son of Cennéide, the son of Lorcán "). Not until the time of his grandsons and great-grandsons was the name O'Brien used as a surname, used to denote descent from an illustrious ancestor. It has for some three hundred years been written as O', but in recent years the apostrophe is often dropped, bringing it into line with early medieval forms. The apostrophe came into existence as an error by the English, when in the process of anglicizing the surnames in Ireland, mistakenly recognized the accent above the O as an apostrophe.
• Uí: This is the plural of Ó and is used in reference to a kin-group or clan, e.g. Uí Néill, in reference to the O'Neill clan. It is pronounced [i].
• Ní: This is used for women instead of Ó before a surname and comes a shortened form of the Irish word for a daughter, e.g. Máire Ní Bhriain ("Mary O'Brien").
• Nic: This is used for women instead of Mac, but only if this is their maiden name, never their married name. Compressed form of iníon mhic ("daughter of the son of/Mac…"), e.g. Máire Nic Charthaigh ("Mary, daughter of McCarthy"). Nig [nɪkʲ] is used in cases where the surname uses Mag e.g. Nig Shamhráin.

Iranian/Persian[link]

Most Persian (Iranian) last names have the following affixes:

-i (of), -zad and -zadeh (born of), -pur (son of), -nejad (from the race of), -nia (descendant of), -mand, -vand, -far (holder of), -doost (friend), -khah (seeking of), -mannesh, -ian/-yan and -chi (usually referring to a vocation, e.g. Kaghazchi, as a dealer in paper and paper products).

Sometimes names of geographical locations are attached as the last word in the family name such as: Irani, Tehrani, Gilani, Shirazi, Esfahani, Tabrizi, Bakhtiar, Sistani, Farsi, Khorasani, Kordestani, Kermani.

Last names could also be indicative of belonging to particular religious minorities such as Zoroastrian (Goshtaspi, Zartoshti, Namiranian, Shahzadi, Azargoshasp, Khorshidi), Jewish (Yaghybian [Jacobean], Hayyem [Life], Shaul [Saul]); or belonging to particular non-Persian ethnicities such as Armenians, Assyrians, Arabs, etc.

Many last names that end in "-ian" (or sometimes "-yan") are traditionally Persian last names (though this is also common in Armenian last names). Some common Iranian last names—some purely Persian, others a compound of non-Persian words with a Persian suffix: Afshar, Aghassi, Alaghebandian (meaning "dealer in beads", plus the -ian suffix), Alizadeh, Amanpour, Ansari, Arianpur, Amouzgar; Bahar, Bahrami, Bolurfrushan, Bozorgi; Dadgar, Dashti, Davoodi; Ebadi, Emami, Esfahani; Farahani, Farshchi, Farshchian (example of the combination of both -chi and -ian suffixes), Farooqui, Farzamfar, Ferdowsi; Ghassemi, Golzar, Golshani; Heidari, Homayuni, Hosseini; Irani, Irandust, Imanpour; Jamalzadeh, Javaheri, Jenab; Kaghazchi, Ketabchi, Khayyam, Kashani, Loqmani, Langarani, Lohrasebi; Mahdipur, Mehrandish, Milani, Molavi, Mousavi; Nadooshan, Najafi, Nezami; Omid, Oveisi, Ostovar; Paydar, Peyman, Piroozi; Qahremani, Qoreishi, Qorbani; Rahimi, Rostami, Rezazadeh; Sadi, Sattari, Safavi, Shalchi; Tabatabaei, Tahmasbi, Teymourian; Vahabzadeh, Varzandeh, Varamini; Yadegar, Yaghoubi, Yazdani; Zahedi, Zand and Zarafshan.

Also the ending "-stan", which is a Persian noun-maker suffix, from the Persian word Ostan meaning "land" or "province". Today the name of a number of countries contain this suffix, since they were once part of the Persian Empire, such as Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan.

According to Iranian tradition, the wife never takes her husband's surname, unlike many countries in the world.

Italy[link]

Italy has around 350,000 surnames. Most of them derive from the following sources: patronym or ilk (e.g. Francesco Di Marco, "Francis, son of Mark" or Eduardo De Filippo, "Edward belonging to the family of Philip"), occupation (e.g. Enzo Ferrari, "Enzo the Smiths"), personal characteristic (e.g. nicknames or pet names like Dario Forte, "Darius the Strong"), geographic origin (e.g. Elisabetta Romano, "Elisabeth from Rome") and objects (e.g. Carlo Sacchi, "Charles Bags"). The two most common Italian family names, Russo and Rossi, mean the same thing, "Red", possibly referring to a hair color that would have been very distinctive in Italy.

Both Western and Eastern orders are used for full names: the given name usually comes first, but the family name may come first in formal or administrative settings; lists are usually indexed according to the last name.

Since 1975, women have kept their own surname when married, but since recently (2000) they could have added the surname of the husband according to the civil code, although it was a very seldom-used practice. In recent years, the husband's surname cannot be used in any official situation.^[18] In some unofficial situations, sometimes both surnames are written (the proper first), sometimes separated by in (e.g. Giuseppina Mauri in Crivelli) or, in case of widows, ved. (vedova).

Latvia[link]

Latvian male surnames usually end in -s, -š or -is whereas the female versions of the same names end in -a or -e in both unmarried and married women. Before the emancipation from serfdom (1817 in Courland, 1819 in Vidzeme, 1861 in Latgale) only noblemen, free craftsmen or people living in towns had surnames. Therefore the oldest Latvian surnames originate from German or Low German, reflecting the dominance of German as an official language in Latvia till the 19th century. Examples: Meijers/Meijere (German: Meier, farm administrator; akin to Mayor), Millers/Millere (German: Müller, miller), Šmits/Šmite (German: Schmidt, smith), Šulcs/Šulca (German: Schulze, constable), Ulmanis (German: Ullmann, a person from Ulm), Godmanis (a God-man), Pētersons (son of Peter). Some Latvian surnames, mainly from Latgale are of Polish or Belorussian origin by changing the final -ski/-cki to -skis/-ckis, -czyk to -čiks or -vich/-wicz to -vičs, such as Sokolovkis/Sokolovska, Baldunčiks/Baldunčika or Ratkevičs/Ratkeviča. Most Latvian peasants received their surnames in 1826 (in Vidzeme), in 1835 (in Courland), and in 1866 (in Latgale). Diminutives were the most common form of family names. Examples: Kalniņš/Kalniņa (small hill), Bērziņš/Bērziņa (small birch). Nowadays many Latvians have surnames of Russian or Ukrainian origin, for example Volkovs/Volkova or Antoņenko.

Libya[link]

Libya's names and surnames have a strong Islamic/Arab nature with some influence from Ottoman Empire rule of nearly 400 years. Amazigh, Touareg and other minorities also have their own name/surname traditions. Due to its location as a trade route and the different cultures that had their impact on Libya throughout history, one can find names that could have originated in neighboring countries.

Examples: Arabic surnames similar to those found in the Arab peninsula that usually refer to a clan; names derived from the Ottoman Empire Army who come from different countries ruled by the Empire. Examples: names that sound Turkish, usually carrying a symbol of military rank or status, such as Basha and Agha >>> more input required

Lithuania[link]

Lithuanian names follow the Baltic distinction between male and female suffixes of names, although the details are different. Male surnames usually end in -a, -as, -aitis, -ys, -ius, or -us, whereas the female versions change these suffixes to -aitė, -ytė, -iūtė, and -utė respectively (if unmarried) or -ienė (if married). Some Lithuanians have names of Polish or another Slavic origin, which are made to conform to Lithuanian by changing the final -ski to -skas, such as Sadauskas, with the female version being -skienė.

Malta[link]

Different cultures have their impact on the demographics of the Maltese islands, and this is evident in the various surnames Maltese citizens bear nowadays. There are very few Maltese surnames per se: the few that originate from Maltese places of origin include Chircop (Kirkop), Lia (Lija), Balzan (Balzan), Valletta (Valletta), and Sciberras (Xebb ir-Ras Hill, on which Valletta was built). The village of Munxar, Gozo is characterised by the majority of its population having one of two surnames, either Curmi or de Brincat. In Gozo, the surnames Bajada and Farrugia are also common.

• Sicilian and Italian surnames

Sicilian and Italian surnames are common due to the close vicinity to Malta. Sicilian Italians were the first to colonise the Maltese islands. Common examples include Bonello, Cauchi, Farrugia, Gauci, Rizzo, Schembri, Tabone, Vassallo.

• French surnames

Common examples include Depuis, Montfort, Monsenuier.

• English surnames

English surnames exist for a number of reasons, but mainly due to migration as well as Malta forming a part of the British Empire in the 19th century and most of the 20th. Common examples include Bone, Harding, Atkins, Mattocks, Smith, Jones, Woods, Turner.

• Sicilian Arabic surnames

Arabic surnames occur in part due to the early presence of the Arabs in Malta. Common examples include Sammut, Camilleri, Zammit, and Xuereb.^[19]

• Spanish surnames

Common surnames of Spanish origin include Galdes, Herrera, and Guzman. Another surname that appears to owe its heritage to Spain is Calleja, although Giovanni Francesco Abela, the father of Maltese history, has hypothesised that the surname is either of Greek origin or of Italian/Sicilian origin.

• German surnames

Surnames from foreign countries from the Middle Ages include German,
such as von Brockdorff, Hyzler, and Schranz.

• Greek surnames

Much less common, but examples include Dacoutros, and Trakosopoulos

• Jewish surnames

The Jews have also left a relic of their presence on the island with the surnames of Abela, Ellul, Azzopardi and Cohen.

• Customs

In line with the practice in other Christian, European states, women generally assume their husband's surname after legal marriage, and this is passed on to any children the couple may bear. Some women opt to retain their old name, for professional/personal reasons, or combine their surname with that of their husband.

Mongolia[link]

Mongolians do not use surnames in the way that most Westerners, Chinese or Japanese do. Since the socialist period, patronymics - then called ovog, now called etsgiin ner - are used instead of a surname. If the father's name is unknown, a matronymic is used. The patro- or matronymic is written before the given name. Therefore, if a man with given name Tsakhia has a son, and gives the son the name Elbegdorj, the son's full name is Tsakhia Elbegdorj. Very frequently, the patronymic is given in genitive case, i.e. Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj. However, the patronymic is rather insignificant in everyday use and usually just given as an initial - Ts. Elbegdorj. People are normally just referred to and addressed by their given name (Elbegdorj guai - Mr. Elbegdorj), and if two people share a common given name, they are usually just kept apart by their initials, not by the full patronymic.

Since 2000, Mongolians have been officially using clan names - ovog, the same word that had been used for the patronymics before - on their IDs. Many people chose the names of the ancient clans and tribes such Borjigin, Besud, Jalair, etc. Also many extended families chose the names of the native places of their ancestors. Some chose the names of their most ancient known ancestor. Some just decided to pass their own given names (or modifications of their given names) to their descendants as clan names. Some chose other attributes of their lives as surnames. Gürragchaa chose Sansar (Cosmos). Clan names precede the patronymics and given names, e.g. Besud Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj.^[20] These clan names have a significance and are included in Mongolian passports.

Myanmar (Burma)[link]

People from Myanmar or Burmese, have no family names. This, to some, is the only known Asian people having no family names at all. Some of those from Myanmar or Burma, who are familiar with European or American cultures, began to put to their younger generations with a family name - adopted from the notable ancestors. For example, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of the late Father of Independence General Aung San; Ms. Hemar Ne Win, is the daughter of the famous actor Colleague gin Ne Win etc.

Netherlands[link]

Pakistan[link]

Pakistani surnames are basically divided in three categories: Arab naming convention, tribal names and ancestral names.

Family names indicating Arab ancestry, e.g. Shaikh, Siddiqui, Abbasi, Syed, Bukhari, Zaidi, Naqvi, Farooqi, Osmani, Alavi, Hassani, Husseini, and Suhrawardi.

People claiming Afghan ancestry include those with family names Durrani, Siddiqui, Suri.

Family names indicating Turkish heritage include Mughal, Chughtai (this name is also an Arab Family name in Middle East), Mirza, Baig or Beg, Pasha, and Barlas.

People claiming Indian ancestry include those with family names Barelwi, Lakhnavi, Delhvi, Bilgrami and Rajput.

People claiming Iranian ancestry include those with family names Agha, Firdausi, Ghazali, Gilani, Hamadani, Isfahani, Kashani, Kermani, Khorasani, Farooqui, Mir, Montazeri, Nishapuri, Noorani, Kayani, Qizilbash, Saadi, Sabzvari, Shirazi, Sistani, Yazdani, Zahedi, and Zand.

Excerpt from family names: People linked to Kurd/Turkish ancestry: Dogar. Most probably linked to Dogrul, Dogan and Doger clans mostly located in Kurdish majority regions: Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey. People with the surname Dogar are also found in Lower Caucasus region: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. An area in Iran is known as Dogar, Ardabil, which falls in area where Kurds are in majority. Urdu itself has a vocabulary that has a close relationship with Kurdish language. It is generally believed by Historians that Dogar, meaning 'Army' in Turkish language actually came to India during Mamluk power i.e.Delhi Sultanate. The Mamluks were of Turkish origin who yielded power through famous concept of chalisya i.e. "The forty". Qutb-ud-Din Aybak was the first Turkish slave to become the Mamluk ruler of Delhi Sultanate. Izz al-Din Aybak (d. 1257, Cairo) was the first of the Mamluk sultans of Egypt in the Turkic Bahri dynasty line. As-Salih Ayyub (Ayyubids]recruited the Mamluks during the Fifth Crusades, who belonged to Kipchak Turkish origin. These Mamluks further recruited Turkish, Syrians, Egyptians, Persians, Indians, Berbers and Arabs to strengthen their hold over the Muslim heartlands, politically. A historian, Ghulam Mustafa Dogar, in his work on Dogar history, states that according to evidences, scores of Muslim armies composed of Mamluks penetrated into Indian heartland during 12–13th century, including Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu escape from Golden Mongol Horde. Dogars settled in Uch and Multan area, which was ruled by a Governor appointed by Sultan Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghauri (1150 – 15 March 1206) in 1203, Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha who belonged to Kipchak Turkish origin.

Tribal names include Abro Afaqi, Afridi, Khogyani(Khakwani), Amini, Ashrafkhel, Awan, Bajwa, Baloch, Barakzai, Baranzai, Bhatti, Bhutto, Ranjha, Bijarani, Bizenjo, Brohi, Bugti, Butt, Detho, Farooqui, Gabol, Ghaznavi, Ghilzai, Gichki, Gujjar, Jakhrani, Jamali, Jamote, Janjua, Jatoi, Jutt Joyo, Junejo, Karmazkhel, Kayani, Khar, Khattak, Khuhro, Lakhani, Leghari, Lodhi, Magsi, Malik, Mandokhel, Mayo, Marwat, Mengal, Mughal, Palijo, Paracha, Panhwar, Popalzai, Qureshi, Rabbani, Raisani, Rakhshani, Sahi, Swati, Soomro, Sulaimankhel, Talpur, Talwar, Thebo, Yousafzai, and Zamani.

In Pakistan, the official paperwork format regarding personal identity is as follows:

So and so, son of so and so, of such and such tribe or clan and religion and resident of such and such place. For example, Amir Khan s/o Fakeer Khan, tribe Mughal Kayani or Chauhan Rajput, Follower of religion Islam, resident of Village Anywhere, Tehsil Anywhere, District.

A large number of Muslim Rajputs have retained their surnames such as Chauhan, Rathore, Parmar, Janjua, Bargujar, etc.

The Philippines[link]

Until the middle of the 19th century, there was no standardization of surnames in the Philippines. There were native Filipinos without surnames, others whose surnames deliberately did not match that of their families, as well as those who took certain surnames simply because they had a certain prestige, usually ones dealing with the Roman Catholic religion, such as de los Santos and de la Cruz.

In 1849, Governor-general Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa decreed an end to these arbitrary practices, the result of which was the Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos ("Alphabetical Inventory of Surnames"). The book contained many words coming from Spanish and the Philippine languages such as Tagalog and many Basque surnames, such as Zuloaga or Aguirre.

In practice, the application of this decree varied from municipality to municipality. Some municipalities received only surnames starting with a particular letter. For example, the majority of residents of the island of Banton in the province of Romblon have surnames starting with F such as Fabicon, Fallarme, Fadrilan, and Ferran. Thus, although perhaps a majority of Filipinos have Spanish surnames, such a surname does not indicate Spanish ancestry.

The vast majority of Filipinos follow a naming system which is the reverse of the Spanish one. Children take the mother's surname as their middle name, followed by their father's as their surname; for example, a son of Juan de la Cruz and his wife Maria Agbayani may be David Agbayani de la Cruz. Women take the surnames of their husband upon marriage; so upon her marriage to David de la Cruz, the full name of Laura Yuchengco Macaraeg would become Laura Yuchengco Macaraeg de la Cruz.

There are other sources for surnames. Many Filipinos also have Chinese-derived surnames, which in some cases could indicate Chinese ancestry. Many Hispanicised Chinese numerals and other Hispanicised Chinese words, however, were also among the surnames in the Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos. For those whose surname may indicate Chinese ancestry, analysis of the surname may help to pinpoint when those ancestors arrived in the Philippines. A hispanicised Chinese surname such as Cojuangco suggests an 18th-century arrival while a Chinese surname such as Lim suggests a relatively recent immigration. Some Chinese surnames such as Tiu-Laurel are composed of the immigrant Chinese ancestor's surname as well as the name of that ancestor's godparent on receiving Christian baptism.

In the predominantly Muslim areas of the southern Philippines, adoption of surnames was influenced by connexions to that religion, its holy places, and prophets. As a result, surnames among Filipino Muslims are largely Arabic-based, and include such surnames as Hassan and Haradji.

There are also Filipinos who, to this day, have no surnames at all, particularly if they come from indigenous cultural communities.

Naming customs in the Philippines[link]

Prior to the establishment of the Philippines as a US territory during the earlier part of the 20th century, Filipinos usually followed Iberian naming customs. However, upon the promulgation of the Family Code of 1987, Filipinos began to adopt the American system of using their surnames.

A common Filipino name will consist of the given name (mostly 2 given names are given), the initial letter of the mother's maiden name and finally the father's surname (i.e. Lucy Anne C. de Guzman). Also, women are allowed to retain their maiden name or use both her and her husband's surname, separated by a dash. This is common in feminist circles or when the woman holds a prominent office (e.g. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Miriam Defensor-Santiago). In more traditional circles, especially those who belong to the prominent families in the provinces, the custom of the woman being addressed as Mrs. Husband's Full Name is still common.

For widows, who chose to marry again, two norms are in existence. For those who were widowed before the Family Code, the full name of the woman remains while the surname of the deceased husband is attached. That is, Maria Andres, who was widowed by Ignacio Dimaculangan will have the name Maria Andres viuda de Dimaculangan. If she chooses to marry again, this name will still continue to exist while the surname of the new husband is attached. Thus, if Maria marries Rene de los Santos, her new name will be Maria Andres viuda de Dimaculangan de los Santos.

However, a new norm is also in existence. The woman may choose to use her husband's surname to be one of her middle names. Thus, Maria Andres viuda de Dimaculangan de los Santos may also be called Maria A.D. de los Santos.

Children will however automatically inherit their father's surname if they are considered legitimate. If the child is born out of wedlock, the mother will automatically pass her surname to the child, unless the father gives a written acknowledgment of paternity. The father may also choose to give the child both his parents' surnames if he wishes (that is Gustavo Paredes, whose parents are Eulogio Paredes and Juliana Angeles, while having Maria Solis as a wife, may name his child Kevin S. Angeles-Paredes.

In some Tagalog regions, the norm of giving patronyms, or in some cases matronyms, is also accepted. These names are of course not official, since family names in the Philippines are inherited. It is not uncommon to refer to someone as Juan anak ni Pablo (John, the son of Paul) or Juan apo ni Teofilo (John, the grandson of Theophilus).

Romania[link]

In Romania, like in most of Europe, a child inherits his father's family name, and a wife takes her husband's last name. There are, however, exceptions.

Until the 19th century, the names were primarily of the form "[given name] [father's name] [grandfather's name]".^{[citation needed]} The few exceptions are usually famous people or the nobility (boyars). The name reform introduced around 1850 had the names changed to a western style, most likely imported from France, consisting of a given name followed by a family name.

As such, the name is called prenume (French prénom), while the family name is called nume or, when otherwise ambiguous, nume de familie ("family name"). Although not mandatory, middle names are common.

Historically, when the family name reform was introduced in the mid-19th century, the default was to use a patronym, or a matronym when the father was dead or unknown. The typical^{[citation needed]} derivation was to append the suffix -escu to the father's name, e.g. Anghelescu ("Anghel's child") and Petrescu ("Petre's child"). (The -escu seems to come from Latin -iscum, thus being cognate with Italian -esco and French -esque.) The other common derivation was to append the suffix -eanu to the name of the place of origin,^{[citation needed]} especially when one came from a different region, e.g. Munteanu ("from the mountains") and Moldoveanu ("from Moldova"). These uniquely Romanian suffixes strongly identify ancestral nationality.

There are also descriptive family names derived from occupations, nicknames, and events, e.g. Botezatu ("baptised"), Barbu ("bushy bearded"), Prodan ("foster"), Bălan ("blond"), Fieraru ("smith"), Croitoru ("tailor"), "Păcuraru" ("shepherd").

Romanian family names remain the same regardless of the sex of the person.

Although given names appear before family names in most Romanian contexts, official documents invert the order, ostensibly for filing purposes. Correspondingly, Romanians occasionally introduce themselves with their family names first, e.g. a student signing a test paper in school.

Romanians bearing names of non-Romanian origin often adopt Romanianised versions of their ancestral surnames, such as Jurovschi for Polish Żurowski, which preserves the original pronunciation of the surname through transliteration. In some cases, these changes were mandated by the state.

Turkey[link]

In Turkey, following the Surname Law imposed in 1934 in the context of Atatürk's Reforms, every family living in Turkey was given a family name. The surname was generally selected by the elderly people of the family and could be any Turkish word (or a permitted word for families belonging to official minority groups).

Some of the most common family names in Turkey are Yılmaz ('undaunted'), Doğan ('falcon'), Şahin ('hawk'), Yıldırım ('thunderbolt'), Şimşek ('lightning'), Öztürk ('purely Turkish').

Patronymic surnames do not necessarily refer to ancestry, or in most cases can not be traced back historically. The most usual Turkish patronymic suffix is –oğlu; –ov(a), –yev(a) and –zade also occur in the surnames of Azeri or other Turkic descendants.

Official minorities like Armenians, Greeks, and Jews have surnames in their own mother languages. The Armenian families living in Turkey usually have Armenian surnames and generally have the patronymic –yan (–ian). Greek descendants usually have Greek surnames which might have Greek suffixes like –ou, –aki(s), –poulos/poulou, –idis/idou, –iadis/iadou or prefixes like papa–. The Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain and settled in Turkey in 1492 have both Jewish/Hebrew surnames, and Spanish surnames, usually indicating their native regions, cities or villages back in Spain, like De Leon or Toledano.

However these minorities increasingly tend to "Turkicize" their surnames or replace their original surnames with Turkish surnames altogether to avoid being recognized and discriminated against.

Sweden[link]

In Scandinavia family names often, but certainly not always, originate from a patronymic. Later on, people from the Scandinavian middle classes, particularly artisans and town dwellers, adopted surnames in a similar fashion to that of the gentry. Family names joining two elements from nature such as the Swedish Bergman ("mountain man"), Holmberg ("island mountain"), Lindgren ("linden branch"), Sandström ("sand stream") and Åkerlund ("field grove") were quite frequent and remain common today.

By region[link]

Regions of the Sinosphere[link]

In Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese cultures, the family name is placed before the given names. So the terms "first name" and "last name" are generally not used, as they do not in this case denote the given and family names.

Chinese family names have many types of origins, dating back as early as pre-Qin era (i.e., before 221 BCE):

• from the land or state that one lived in or awarded: Chen 陳 after the state of Chen, Cai 蔡 after the state of Cai;
• from the given name or Posthumous name of one's ancestor: Zhuang 莊 after King Zhuang of Chu;
• from the nobility status or officer status of one's ancestor: Wang 王 (a king) or Shi 史 (a history-recording officer);
• and some other origins.

In history, some changed their surnames due to a naming taboo (from Zhuang 莊 to Yan 嚴 during the era of Liu Zhuang 劉莊) or as an award by the Emperor (Li was often to senior officers during Tang Dynasty).

In modern days, some Chinese adopt a Western given name in addition to their original given names, e.g. Lee Chu-ming (李柱銘) adopted the Western name Martin, which can often be used as a nickname of Chu-ming. The adopted Western name can be put in front of their Chinese name, e.g. Martin LEE Chu-ming. In addition, many people with Chinese names have non-Chinese first names which are commonly used. Sometimes, the Chinese name becomes used as a "middle name", e.g. Martin Chu-ming Lee, or even used a "last name", e.g. Lee Chu-ming Martin. Chinese names used in Western countries may be rearranged when written to avoid misunderstanding, e.g. cellist Yo-Yo Ma. However, some well-known Chinese names remain in the traditional order even in English literature, e.g. Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong, Yao Ming (Note that the name on the back of Yao Ming's NBA jersey is "Yao," rather than "Ming," as the former is his family name). Most people from mainland China stick with their own national standard to present their names. For example, in all Olympic events all the PRC athletes' names are presented in the Chinese ordering even when they are spelled out phonetically in Latin alphabets. Chinese athletes from other countries, especially those on the US team, use the Western ordering. The non-compliance to the Western ordering is a matter of cultural convention and also a national standard adopted by PRC.

Vietnamese names are generally stated in East Asian order (family name first) even when writing in English.

In English writings originating from non-English cultures (e.g. English newspapers in China), the family name is often written with all capital letters to avoid being mistaken as a middle name, e.g. Laurence Yee-ming KWONG or using small capitals, as Laurence KWONG Yee-ming or with a comma, as AKUTAGAWA, Ryūnosuke to make clear which name is the family name. Such practice is particularly common in mass-media reporting international events like the Olympic Games. The CIA World Factbook stated that "The Factbook capitalizes the surname or family name of individuals for the convenience of [their] users who are faced with a world of different cultures and naming conventions". For example, Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing who is actually Mr.Cheung might be mistaken as Mr. Wing by readers unaware of Chinese naming conventions.

Vietnamese family names present an added complication. Like Chinese family names, they are placed at the beginning of a name, but unlike Chinese names, they are not usually the primary form of address. Rather, people will be referred to by their given name, usually accompanied by an honorific. For example, Phan Van Khai is properly addressed as Mr. Khai, even though Phan is his family name. This pattern contrasts with that of most other East Asian naming conventions.

In Japan, the civil law forces a common surname for every married couple, unless in a case of international marriage. In most cases, women surrender their surnames upon marriage, and use the surnames of their husbands. However, a convention that a man uses his wife's family name if the wife is an only child is sometimes observed. A similar tradition called ru zhui (入贅) is common among Chinese when the bride's family is wealthy and has no son but wants the heir to pass on their assets under the same family name. The Chinese character zhui (贅) carries a money radical (貝), which implies that this tradition was originally based on financial reasons. All their offspring carry the mother's family name. If the groom is the first born with an obligation to carry his own ancestor's name, a compromise may be reached in that the first male child carries the mother's family name while subsequent offspring carry the father's family name. The tradition is still in use in many Chinese communities outside of mainland China, but largely disused in China because of social changes from communism. Due to the economic reform in the past decade, accumulation and inheritance of personal wealth made a come back to the Chinese society. It is unknown if this financially motivated tradition would also come back to mainland China.

In Chinese, Korean, and Singaporean cultures, women keep their own surnames, while the family as a whole is referred to by the surnames of the husbands.

In Hong Kong, some women would be known to the public with the surnames of their husbands preceding their own surnames, such as Anson Chan Fang On Sang. Anson is an English given name, On Sang is the given name in Chinese, Chan is the surname of Anson's husband, and Fang is her own surname. A name change on legal documents is not necessary. In Hong Kong's English publications, her family names would have been presented in small cap letters to resolve ambiguity, e.g. Anson CHAN FANG On Sang in full or simply Anson Chan in short form.

In Macau, some people have their names in Portuguese spelt with some Portuguese style, such as Carlos do Rosario Tchiang.^[21]