Why do y̲o̲u̲ have a Last Name?

Why Do you have a Last Name ? Okay, what does my last name mean? If you have ever in your life asked this kind of question and also wondered about the origin of your last name, you will definitely find your surname may answer one of the questions of where exactly your ancestors lived, or what they actually did for a living, or maybe what was their personality looks like, or how they looked many, many, years ago. Don't close your eyes and try to imagine it right now. Subscribe to our channel: http://goo.gl/djmfuX For copyright matters please contact us at: top5bestbusiness@gmail.com Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reflowable Twitter: https://twitter.com/Reflowable Instagram: http://instagram.com/Reflowable For More Videos Visit: https://youtube.com/xlist Music: Kevin MacLeod Description: Today, a surname, which is also known as a family name and last name, is a hereditary fixed name that you share with your family members. The use of a surname was originally adopted in order to distinguish 2 individuals with the same first name. At first, these surnames were not passed down to the next generations. In Europe, the first surnames were first used about eight hundred years ago, and over 300 years in US. People developed individual surnames which, over time, became names that were passed down from generation to generation. Surnames are usually originated from one of the six following sources: (although, in some cases the same surname may have multiple meanings from different sources in some different places) NUMBER 6: Patronymic surnames From the 1st name of father used with either a „suffix“ or „prefix“ (which can be different from country to country) to identify the person as "son of". It's better known as patronymic surname. Different cultures have different ways of producing patronymic surnames. Examples: Prefixes: McDonald - Prefix „Mc“ - son of Donald O'Brian - Prefix „O“ - son of Brian Fitzgerald - Prefix „Fitz“ - son of Gerald. Sometimes it can be incorrectly associated with being illegitimate. Suffixes Jones - Suffix 's' - son of John Olsen - Suffix 'sen' - son of Olaf Perez - Suffix 'ez' - son of Pedro Anderson - Suffix 'son' - son of Andrew Gillette - Suffix „ette“ - son of Giles NUMBER 5: Topographical Surnames From living near a place or landmark. Examples: Hill - a person who lived near a hill Muir - a person who lived near the moor Stone - a person who lived near a large stone Kirk - a person who lived near the church NUMBER 4: Occupational Surnames From the person's occupation. Occupational names identified people based on their job or position in society. Examples: Fischer - a fisherman Smith - a person who hammers metalr Wagner - a person who made wagons There are surnames who also give a clue about whom a someone worked for. Person named Vickers might have been a servant to Mr. Vicker, and someone named Williams might either have served a William or been adopted by him. NUMBER 3: Descriptive Surnames From a distinguishing and sometimes unflattering nickname describing the person's looks or personality. These characteristics could be physical addressing a person’s hair color, height, complexion, weight, etc Examples: Barret - a deceitful person Peele - a bald-headed person Power - a person who is poor Reid - a red-haired person They may have described a person’s size such as Short, Long, Little. Surnames can be found that mean fast, slow, dumb, smart, etc. Last names that are animal names also fall into this category . They were usually assigned to people who shared some characteristics with the animal they were named after. So, for example, someone called Fish might have been an excellent swimmer. NUMBER 2: Ornamental surnames Ornamental names used as last names are much more common in communities which adopted or were forced to adopt last names in the 18th and 19th centuries. They occur commonly among Jewish families, Germany, and in Scandinavia From an ornamental or decorative word - a name that simply looks and sounds nicely that may describe a natural feature. These type of last names were simply acquired when a person without a surname needed one. Examples: Stern - Star Engle - Angel (German) Morgenstern - Morning star ("German), NUMBER 1: UNIQUE SURNAMES There are last names origins that are uniquely created. Scandinavian people, at first, used non-inheritable patronymic type of surnames. Each succeeding generation would have a different surname based on father's first name. How much do you really know about your family name? There is a lot of online tools where you can discover the meaning and origin of your surname. If you do that, please share comments with us. Get started searching - and prepare to be surprised! Thanks for watching! I hope you enjoyed Why do y̲o̲u̲ have a Last Name? Let us know if you want more videos like this one! Like the video and comment below if you like Why do y̲o̲u̲ have a Last Name?