The word "last name" comes from the Latin word familia and means a generic name, which is inherited and indicates to which genus this or that person belongs. The surname, as a rule, indicates that an individual belongs to one family and a common ancestor.
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An interesting fact is that in ancient Rome the word "surname" denoted a whole community, which consisted of a family of masters and their own, sometimes numerous, slaves. By the way, a similar situation was in Russia. So, for example, at the beginning of the 19th century, the serfs of the serfs received the name of their master when they signed the “free”. To date, the surname is the name that is added to the personal, proper name of each person.
Where do the surnames come from?
Most surnames consist of a root (base), which in the distant past had a certain lexical meaning. The already formed “middle name” may have prefixes, suffixes, endings. The very essence of each surname determines the nickname or personal name of the ancestor from which it began its existence. Tracking some unusual surnames can be quite difficult. However, with a strong desire to sort out the essence of this integral addition to your name, you can. The various services currently available that work in studying pedigrees of customers will help you understand the origin of your surname. Such painstaking work is quite accessible for independent investigation, but it will require you to study many historical subtleties, turn over archival documents, translations and comparisons, as well as patience and free time.
In the original language, family prefixes and endings often mean the word “daughter” or “son”. Some modern languages to this day have retained a similar structuring of surnames (for example, the Azerbaijani language). However, most cultures have already defined various adjective forms as surnames. Often a surname is a peculiar, stereotypical identifier of a particular ethnic, national or racial background.
How does the morphological rule work when forming surnames?
Due to the morphological rules of some languages (for example, Slavic), female and male surnames differ from each other in form. And in some languages, such as in Lithuanian, various forms of surnames determine not only men and women, but also distinguish a married woman from a single woman.
The urgent need for a surname (in its modern sense) appeared due to the need to regulate the institution of the population and in connection with the constantly expanding economic ties of countries.
Several of the most common surnames can be distinguished, among which: Lee (more than 100 million people bear this surname), Wang (more than 93 million people became happy owners of this surname), Garcia (10 million people), Smith (4 million people) and Smirnov (about 3 million people).
Fixed last names
The very first fixed surnames appeared in the X-XI centuries in the north of Italy, then in France, England, Germany, Denmark. In Russia, there were nicknames, for example, Goby, Goat, Nenasha. It was they who gradually grew into permanent surnames. Such unusual surnames-nicknames were used to identify a person as a certain person, but became common only at the end of the XIV century. Already in the 16th century, a law was introduced in Russia, according to which the princes and boyars were obliged to have a surname first, and then nobles and eminent merchant families. For the poorest segments of the population - peasants - surnames began to be used by the XVIII century. But the final assignment of surnames to peasants occurred only after serfdom was abolished.
Russian surnames
Basically, in Russian, surnames are formed from church or non-church names or, as mentioned above, from nicknames. For example, on behalf of Peter, the last name is Petrov (Petrov son), and from the nickname Hare, the last name is Zaitsev (Zaitsev son). Very rarely, the names can be considered as the root of a surname, for example, Belozersky (from White Lake), etc. There is a scheme by which a surname owes its education to a certain occupation or a sign of the person from whom it originates. So, for example, one can explain the emergence of such surnames as Melnikova or Portnov. It is possible that such a scheme leads to the fact that very often in our country you can meet unusual surnames.
In accordance with the traditions adopted in Russia, a woman, entering into marriage, accepts the name of her husband. However, this state of affairs is not mandatory, it is quite possible to leave your maiden name or take a double surname. Children born in marriage, as a rule, take the name of the father. However, this is not obligatory, since at the request of the parents the child may have the surname of the mother.
Unusual Russian names
Unusual Russian surnames can be listed for a very long time. It should be noted such unusual for the language, which consist of a single letter: O, E, Y. It is also very unusual for our country a new direction in the formation of surnames from one syllable: That, Do, An. Surnames and toponyms about which it can be said that they are rightfully the most unusual surnames are such as Kamchatka, Saransk, Moscow. Today, there are very few carriers of legendary surnames, such as Gagarin, Crusoe, Chatsky, Onegin, Karenin. Perhaps it should be said about those with two roots: Hvataymuha, Golokhvostov, Shchiborsch. You can also note such unusual names as: Sometimes, Nehai, Pokusai, Razdobudko, Chizh, Pechka, Water. And many, many similar interesting names. There is no doubt that unusual surnames can make an endless list. But even in such lists, surprises await us. Probably the most unusual last name for a girl that exists in Russian is the last name Muzhik.
American last names
The United States of America is a country inhabited by expats. For this reason, the names of the Americans owe their origin to different cultural traditions, characteristics and nations. The main source of such for US citizens is a derivation from English, French, German, Irish, Scottish surnames. Mingling with Indian, Spanish, Polish, Norwegian, Jewish, Indian, African and others, American surnames are still on the way to their specific formation.
