Posted on 01/26/2025 1:24:38 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Have you traced your family tree? The origin of some of the most popular last names can reveal a lot about a family’s history.
Some surnames say a lot about a family’s history without any further explanation — consider Schwarzenegger, Obama, or even Boyardee. But even common last names can hold a lot of significance and provide a glimpse into someone’s heritage. Smith — the most common last name in the United States — is shared by more than 2 million Americans, yet it holds an etymological clue to understanding how those people might connect to their ancestors. Let’s look at what some common last names have to say about history.
Any surname that ends in “-son” or “-sen” has a potential connection to Vikings, according to a researcher from the Centre of Nordic Studies.
. Vikings didn’t have family names, but they did have a patronymic system in which children were named after their father. So, for example, a father named John may have named his son Johnson (John’s son). According to the same research, any English surname with personal characteristics (Goodman, Longfellow, etc.) also likely possesses a Viking connection. The same goes for the common last names Roger and Rogers, which come from the Old English name Hrothgar, meaning “famous spear.” That name stems from the Old Norse name Hroarr, which was a popular moniker throughout Scandinavia.
The most popular surname in English-speaking regions is Smith, with about 2.3 million Smiths in the U.S. (just shy of 1% of the population). This last name was originally used to designate someone with a specific smithing (metalworking) occupation. The name originated in England, where there were Smiths in every village working on a variety of trades. In addition to the fairly well-known occupations of blacksmith and locksmith, there might have been a gold or silversmith, a whitesmith (working with tin), a coppersmith, a locksmith, a gunsmith, a blade or swordsmith, an armor or shieldsmith, and a coopersmith (making barrels and casks). With so many smithing professions, you can see how Smith has lasted in popularity.
Many other English surnames also have to do with professions. The name Wright, for example, comes from those who were skilled manufacturers of wooden objects; the surname Fletcher originated among those who made arrows; and the last name Ward comes from anyone who served as a watchman.
There are also English last names that stem from other countries, such as Fleming (from the Flemish region of modern Belgium) or Moore (from Morocco). Literal landscape features provide inspiration as well, such as in the case of Hill or Woods. These may have been defining features of your ancestors’ hometown.
The most popular surname in the world is Chinese in origin: Wang, a name that boasts a historic connection to ancient royalty. Wang — which means “king” in Mandarin — became popular after many Chinese kingdoms were destroyed by the first Qin dynasty emperor in the third century BCE. Royal families all changed their name to Wang en masse to protect their individual identities, so there were too many Wangs for the new regime to target any specific royal family.
This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to the history behind popular last names. There are an estimated 11 million unique surnames in the world today, making it an impossibility to trace the etymology of each here. But for anyone who’s curious about their family history, follow some of the etymological examples above and you may learn a thing or two about your ancestors.
When my son, Jack, was two or three he objected to “ Jackie”. He said “Why you call me girls name?
Contrary to demonrat belief boys know they’re boys.
If you go back 7 generations you end up with 64 different last names, baring incestuous relations... That’s a lot of different last names.
One would think having to do with the making of wheels.
It is from the German "Weiler" from someone invading England around 900.
Supposedly means "the happy warrier.
As for Patel, people with that surname as commonly motel owners in the U.S. has been widely noted (e.g., “America’s Patel motels,” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3177054.stm.
There are mysterious ties to our ancestors, I believe. I am a rare person who loves bagpipe music and I have Scottish ancestry. Some of my ancestors originated from France. They were Huguenots driven from France and a group of them settled in Ireland and adopted a new surname from the area they settled. So that is right now a big brick wall to piercing the French lines. I find genealogy endlessly fascinating.
Bkmk
I visited Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn in the late 1990s. The cemetery headstones have my family surname going back to the mid 1400s. The village is still doing well in the present time. My great grandfather's childhood home still stands down the hill from the lead mine at Ysbty Ystwyth.
That’s my name too.
BTW, last night was Robert Burns night. No haggis or IRN BRU was available locally.
My Scottish ancestors came to the US via North Carolina. It turns out that my wife also has Scottish connections to survivors of Culloden. If I have any kind of bucket list, it includes a visit to Scotland and a return to Wales. An aspirational goal is to speak only Welsh while in Wales.
Unless you are Icelandic. I knew a married couple with children years ago. I don’t recall exactly, but the husband was Lars and the wife was Frea. Their last name was Thorson.
Their young boy was named Thor (after Grandpa) but his last name was Larson (son of Lars). The daughter’s last name was Freadotter (daughter of Frea).
My last name is a place name from Norway. It is an odd one, and anyone with it is from the four brothers that lived on that farm.
As opposed to the Norwegian last name of “Nes”, which means point of land on a Fjord. Lots of those around.
Pretty sure that everybody in Iceland is likely related to everybody else in Iceland where the population is currently 393,600. If you are marrying somebody from Iceland and you're from Iceland... Say hello to your cousin before you kiss them.
Singh means lion. All Sikh men (and some non-Sikhs) are Singh. All Sikh women are Kaur, which means Princess.
My last name can be found in the King James Bible, in the begats.
Any name with von means of. Ludwig von Mises means Ludwig of Mises.
Welsh?
I’ll just leave this here: ‘Anastasia Beaverhausen’
Your argument is invalid. ;)
I still use my married name because it was my name longer than my maiden name and my MIL (ex’s mother!) asked me to keep it after the divorce.
When that Grandpa came to America from Sweden, his Swedish last name was as common as mud. He changed it to an American translation for ‘New Mountain’ as he was now climbing a new mountain by coming to America.
I always thought that was cool. It’s also fun being a German Jew, posing as a Lutheran with a Swedish last name, LOL! Still gets me into all the good Lutheran Church Suppers, which is the most important reason. ;)
I come from a long line of German Jews. My Great-Great Grandpa came to American in the mid-1800’s from Germany. He was tired of being persecuted as a Jew, so he became a Lutheran instead, though he kept his German name.
I’m a descendant of Rev. Brewster, the spiritual leader of Plymouth Colony. I also have Lee blood. I have one President in my ancestry and share a birthday with one.
There was an insurance agent in a town about 20 miles from where I live named Richard M. Nixon. I always laughed when I saw his sign at his office.
I hope you know that I had to google “tuna seiners.” Had no idea what you meant. Now I’m somewhat smarter than I was when I began! I looked at your FR profile and am sending you a FReepmail....
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