A family name or last name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world. Each culture has its own rules as to how these names are applied and used. A family name, or surname, is that part of a persons name that indicates to what family he or she belongs. ... A family name, or surname, is that part of a persons name that indicates to what family he or she belongs. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Anthroponym. ...

In many cultures (notably most European, North American, and South American countries) the family name is typically the last part of a person's name. In some other cultures, the family name comes first. The latter is often called the Eastern order because Europeans are most familiar with the examples of China, Vietnam, Japan and Korea. Because the family name is normally given last in English-speaking societies, the term last name is commonly used for family name. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Anthroponym. ... A Korean personal name consists of a family name followed by a given name. ...

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, Christian 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. A title is a prefix or suffix added to a persons name to signify either veneration, an official position or a professional or academic qualification. ... An honorific is a word or expression that conveys esteem or respect and is used in addressing or referring to a person. ... In ordinary English, Mr is a written abbreviation for Mister. MR can also stand for: Magnetic resonance imaging, properly abbreviated MRI Magyar Rádió, a Hungarian radio station Master of the Rolls, the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal in the UK legal system Mathematical... Mrs. ... Look up MS, Ms, ms, .ms in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Señorita redirects here. ... Doctor means teacher in Latin. ... Look up Appendix:Most popular given names by country in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Traditional Arab naming practices indicate familial relationships, but names indicating these relationships are not inherited in the manner that the term family name implies. The tughra (stylized signature) of Sultan Mahmud II of the Ottoman Empire. ...

Research on individual names

Onomastics is the study of proper names of all kinds, 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. Onomastics (Onomatology) is the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. ... A one-name study is a collection of vital and other biographical data about all persons worldwide sharing a particular surname. ...

History

The oldest use of family or surnames is unclear. Surnames have arisen in cultures with large, concentrated populations where single names for individuals became insufficient to identify them clearly. In many cultures, the practice of using additional descriptive terms in identifying individuals has arisen. These identifying terms or descriptors may indicate personal attributes, location of origin, occupation, parentage, patronage, adoption, or clan affiliation. Often these descriptors developed into fixed clan identifications which became family names in the sense that we know them today.

In China, according to legend, family names originated with Emperor Fu Xi in 2852 BC.^[1] His administration standardised the naming system in order to facilitate census-taking, and the use of census information. The surnames "Zhu" "Lee" "Chung," and "Chang" are most popular in Taiwan, and/or China. In Japan family names were uncommon except among the aristocracy until the 19th century. Image:1870 census Lindauer Weber 01. ...

In Ancient Greece, during some periods, it became common to use one's place of origin as a part of a person's official identification.^[2] At other times, clan names and patronymics ("son of") were also common. For example, Alexander the Great was known by the clan name Heracles and was, therefore, 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 formal parts of the person's name, nor were they explicitly inherited in the manner which is common in many cultures today. They did, however, survive with a vengeance as clan names as 'Greeks' or 'Hellenes' or 'Minoans', as opposed to the toponimic 'The Sea Peoples' used by the Egyptians, or 'Ionians', which is one of the names still used for the Greeks today by Arab-speaking people as 'Younanis'. The term ancient Greece refers to the periods of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. ... For the film of the same name, see Alexander the Great (1956 film). ... Alcides redirects here. ...

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. 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.^[3] By the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, family names were uncommon in the Eastern Roman (i.e. Byzantine) 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.^[3] 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 in the way that they are today. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is... This article is about the historiography of the decline of the Roman Empire. ... Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus The Western Roman Empire in 395. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Byzantine Empire. ... A current understanding of Western Europe. ...

In the case of England, the most accepted theory of the origin of family names is to attribute their introduction to the Normans and the Domesday Book of 1086. As such, 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, those distinguishing themselves by this manner indicated lordship, or ownership, of their village. But some early Norman nobles in England chose to drop the French derivations and simply call themselves after the name of their new English holdings. Norman conquests in red. ... A line drawing entitled Domesday Book from Andrew Williamss Historic Byways and Highways of Old England. ... Nobility is a traditional hereditary status (see hereditary titles) that exists today in many countries (mainly present or former monarchies). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

During the modern era, many cultures around the world adopted the practice of using family names, particularly for administrative reasons, especially during the imperialistic age of European expansion and particularly from the 17th to 19th centuries onwards. Notably examples include the Netherlands (1811), Japan (1870s), Thailand (1920), and Turkey (1934). Nonetheless, their use is not universal: Icelanders, Tibetans, Burmese, and Javanese do not use family names. (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

By language

English-speaking countries

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 Highland Scots and Welsh people did not adopt surnames until the 17th century, or even later. This article is about the English as an ethnic group and nation. ... This article is about the Scottish as an ethnic group. ... Lowland-Highland divide Highland Sign with welcome in English and Gaelic The Scottish Highlands (A Ghàidhealtachd in Gaelic) include the rugged and mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault. ... The Welsh are, according to Hastings (1997), an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language, which is a Celtic language. ...

Most surnames of British origin fall into seven types:

• Occupations (e.g., Smith, Sawyer, Clark, Cooper, Cook, Carpenter, Forrester, Archer, Baker, Dyer, Walker, Woodman, Taylor, Turner, Knight, Weaver)
• Personal characteristics (e.g., Short, Brown, Black, Whitehead, Long)
• Geographical features (e.g., Hill, Bridge, Lee, Wood, Forest, Fields, Stone, Morley—Old English for mōr lēah = marsh in the woodland clearing)
• Place names (e.g., Washington, London, Leighton, Hamilton, Sutton, Flint, Laughton)
• For those descended from land-owners, the name of their holdings, manor or estate (the name Washington can also fall into this category, Old English components Hwæssa-inga-tūn "estate of the descendants of Wassa)
• Patronymics, matronymics or ancestral, often from a person's given name (e.g., from male name: Richardson, Williams, Thompson, Johnson 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) with "Mac" Scottish Gaelic for son.
• 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).

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 worked for a bishop, a priest, or an abbot, respectively, or possibly took such a role in a popular religious play (see pageant play). For other uses, see Smith (disambiguation). ... Look up sawyer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... // Clark was the original English spelling version of Scottish Gaelic Clèireach, which was in turn derived from Latin clericus meaning cleric/clergyman. Clark was originally spelled Clerk when it first entered English from Scottish Gaelic. ... Look up Cooper in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Old English redirects here. ... Washington Old Hall Washington is a town in North East England, within the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough. ... Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon[1], Old English: ) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... Look up patronymic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A matronymic is a personal name based on the name of ones mother. ... Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. ... Patrick is a male name derived from either the Latin name Patricius or from an earlier Celtic (British) name. ... Bridget can mean: Another spelling of Brigid from Irish mythology. ...

In the Americas, the family names of many African-Americans have their origins in slavery. 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. Others, such as Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, changed their name rather than live with one they believed had been given to their ancestors by a slave owner. Slave redirects here. ... For other persons named Muhammad Ali, see Muhammad Ali (disambiguation). ... Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, also known as Detroit Red and Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Omaha, Nebraska, May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965 in New York City) was a Muslim Minister and National Spokesman for the Nation of Islam. ...

In England and cultures derived from there (though not in Scotland and France, for example), there has long been the patriarchal tradition for a woman to change her surname upon marriage from her birth name to her husband's last name. From the first known instance of a woman keeping her birth name, Lucy Stone in the 19th century, 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 60% of American women automatically assumed their husband's surname upon getting married.^{[citation needed]} Even in families where the wife has kept her birth name, parents often choose to give their children their father's family name. In English-speaking countries, married women are traditionally known as Mrs [Husband's full name]. Definitions of the Anglosphere vary: Countries in which English is the first language of a large fraction of the population are shown in blue. ... A maiden name is the family name carried by a woman before any of her marriages. ... Lucy Stone (August 13, 1818 – October 19, 1893) was a prominent American suffragist. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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 changing (or hyphenating) his name, so that the name of the testator continued. It is rare but not unknown for English-speaking men to take the name of their wives, whether for personal reasons or as a matter of tradition (such as among Canadian aboriginal groups, especially the matrilineal Haida and Kwakiutl); it is increasingly common in the United States, a married couple may choose a new last name entirely.^{[citation needed]} This has become more widely popular in Southern California since the election of Antonio Villaraigosa as Los Angeles mayor.^{[citation needed]} The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... A testator is a person who has made a legally binding will or testament, which specifies what is to be done with that persons penis family and/or property after death. ... First Nations is a term of ethnicity that refers to the indigenous peoples in what is now Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis people. ... Matrilineality is a system in which one belongs to ones mothers lineage; it may also involve the inheritance of property or titles through the female line. ... This article is about the people. ... bye Until the 1980s the term Kwakiutl was usually applied to all of the various First Nations peoples of northern Vancouver Island, Queen Charlotte Strait and the Johnstone Strait whose traditional Wakashan language was Kwakwala and also a group of peoples erroneously called for many years the Northern Kwakiutl... Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. ...

As an alternative, both spouses may adopt a double-barrelled 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 is the adoption of a last name derived from an aesthetically pleasing combination of the prior names, such as "Simones". In English-speaking and some other Western countries, a double-barrelled name is a family name with two parts, which may or may not be joined with a hyphen, for example Bowes-Lyon or Fraser Darling. ...

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. Men can easily change their surname upon marriage 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).[4] (Note: many Anglophone countries are also common-law countries.) Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... Motto: Splendor sine occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Official languages English (de facto) Government Lieutenant-Governor Steven Point Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament House seats 36 Senate seats 6 Confederation July 20, 1871 (6th province) Area  Ranked 5th Total 944... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Look up Anglophone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In common law legal systems, the law is created and/or refined by judges: a decision in the case currently pending depends on decisions in previous cases and affects the law to be applied in future cases. ...

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 his or her particular family's heritage or prominence, 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. Though the practice of women maintaining their surname after marriage is increasing, it has not caught on in the general population and there is great peer pressure for women to change their names. Practices among same-sex married couples do not at this point follow any discernable pattern, with some choosing to share surnames, while others do not. Academia is a collective term for the scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole. ...

In Southern Gospel and folk music, families often perform together as groups. When female artists in these genres marry, they usually adopt double-barrelled surnames if the husband comes from a noted musical family as well (e.g. Allison Durham Speer, Kelly Crabb Bowling), or simply continue to go by their birth names if the husband is not from such a family (e.g. Karen Peck, Libbi Perry, Janet Paschal). This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Folk song redirects here. ... The Crabb Family is a Grammy-nominated, Dove Award-winning Southern Gospel family group from Beaver Dam, Kentucky. ... Karen Peck and New River is a professional Southern Gospel band based in Gainesville, GA. The group is comprised of Karen Peck-Gooch, soprano; her sister, Susan Peck-Jackson, alto; and Devin McGlamery. ... The Perrys are a professional Southern Gospel quartet based in Morristown, TN. The group formed on December 25, 1970 with Randy Perry and his sisters Debbie and Libbi in Georgia. ... Janet Paschal (born October 18, 1956 in Reidsville, North Carolina) is a Contemporary Christian and southern gospel vocalist and performer, often associated with Bill Gaithers Homecoming Events. ...

Spelling of names in past centuries is often assumed to be a deliberate choice by a family, but due to very low literacy rates, the reality is that 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 Whealy). With the increase in bureaucracy, officially-recorded spellings tended to become the standard for a given family.

Spanish-speaking countries

For more details on this topic, see Spanish naming customs.

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 ("tan"); occupations, e.g. Molinero ("miller") and Guerrero ("warrior"); and geographic location or ethnicity, e.g. Alemán ("German"). In Spanish-speaking countries (exception made of Argentina), people normally have at least two surnames. ...

However, nowadays in Spain and in many Spanish-speaking countries (former Spanish colonies, e.g. Philippines, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Venezuela), most people have two family names, although in some situations only the first is used. The first family name is the paternal one, inherited from the father's paternal family name. The second family name is the maternal one, inherited from the mother's paternal family name. (As an example, Mexican boxer Marco Antonio Barrera's full name is Marco Antonio Barrera Tapia, though Barrera is the only one used in general conversation. 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 agree (if one of their children is at least 12 years old they need his/her agreement too). [5] (Link in Spanish) Marco Antonio Barrera Tapia (born January 17, 1974 in Mexico City) is a Mexican professional boxer. ...

Depending on the country, the family names may or may not be linked by the conjunction y ("and"), i ("and", in Catalonia), de ("of") and de la ("of the", when the following word is feminine). However, in many South American countries, people have now adopted the English-speaking custom of having a single family name (e.g., in Argentina). Sometimes a new father transmits his complete family name by creating a new one, combining his two family names, 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. This article is about the Spanish Autonomous Community. ...

At present in Spain, women upon marrying keep their own two family names. In certain rare situations, especially the nobility, she may be addressed as if her maternal surname had been replaced 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 de Guerrero. This custom, begun in medieval times, is decaying and only has legal validity in Mexico, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru and Panama. In Mexico, when women get married they keep their first family name followed by "de" and then the housband's last name. For example Maria Martinez Lopez when married to Josue Vasquez Hernandez would then be Maria Martinez de Vasquez. In Peru and Dominican Republic, women normally conserve all family names after getting married. For example, if Rosa María Pérez Mártinez marries Juan Martín De La Cruz Gómez, she will be called Rosa María Pérez Mártinez de De La Cruz, and if the husband dies, she will be called Rosa María Pérez Mártinez Vda. de De La Cruz (Vda. is the abbreviation for Viuda, "widow" in Spanish). 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 maintained for all the children.

In Argentina only one family name, the father's paternal family name, is commonly used and registered, as in English-speaking countries (the real reason why many Argentinians [but by no means all, a large proportion of them use two as per Spanish usage] use one last name is because a large proportion of the dominant class come from Italian ascent, and therefore follow the conventions of this country). 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. Née redirects here. ...

French-speaking countries

For more details on this topic, see French name etymology.

France

For more details on this topic, see French name.

Belgium This article describes the conventions for using peoples names in France, including the norms of custom and practice, as well as the legal aspects. ...

For more details on this topic, see Wallonian name.

Canadian

For more details on this topic, see Canadian name.

German-speaking countries

For more details on this topic, see German family name etymology.

There are about 1,000,000^{[citation needed]} different family names in German. German family names most often derive from given names, occupational designations, bodily attributes or geographical names. 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). In etymology, German family names were introduced during the late Middle Ages in the German language area. ... Nobility is a traditional hereditary status (see hereditary titles) that exists today in many countries (mainly present or former monarchies). ... Kinship and descent is one of the major concepts of cultural anthropology. ... Riedesel is a German family name that began to appear in legal documents and tournament (jousting) lists in the late 1100s and early 1200s. ...

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. Alemannic German (Alemannisch) is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family. ... Sign in a rural area in Dalarna, Sweden Qichun, a rural town in Hubei province, China Rural areas (also referred to as the country, countryside) are settled places outside towns and cities. ... Possessive can refer to: Possessive case Possessive pronoun This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

In Germany today, upon marriage, both partners can choose to keep their birth name or one of them can adopt a hyphenated name of their birth names (the latter case is forbidden for both partners and for the last names of children), or one of them can switch to their partner's name (if the partner keeps it). After that, they must decide on one family name for all their future children, by pretty much the same rules. (German name)
Changing one's family name for reasons other than marriage, divorce or adoption is only possible in Germany if the applicant can prove that they suffer extraordinarily due to their name. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Portuguese-speaking countries

For more details on this topic, see Portuguese name etymology.

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

Each person usually has two family names: the first is the maternal family name; the last is the paternal family name. A person can have up to six names (two first names and four surnames — he or she may have two names from the mother and two from the father).

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") which along with many others are still in regular use as very prevalent family names. Look up patronymic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

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). 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

For more details on this topic, see Netherlands name etymology.

The Netherlands

For more details on this topic, see Dutch name.

Belgium Dutch names consist of one or several given name(s) and a surname. ...

For more details on this topic, see Flanders name.

South Africa

For more details on this topic, see Afrikaner name.

By country

Armenia

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 Parthian 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 assimiliation. In Russia, many have changed -yan to -ov (or -ova for women). In Turkey, many have changed the ending to -oglu (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 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. // Typical Armenian last names (family names) end with the originally Persian suffix -ian, -yan, or sometimes -jan. ... The Iranian languages are a part of the Indo-European language family with estimated 150-200 million native speakers. ... Charles Aznavour (Armenian: Õ‡Õ¡Õ¼Õ¬ Ô±Õ¦Õ¶Õ¡Õ¾Õ¸Ö‚Ö€; born May 22, 1924) is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor and public activist. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... ...

Finland

Main article: Finnish name

Finland has two predominant surname traditions: the West Finnish and the East Finnish. Until the early 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 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 in 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 17th centuries, new names were most often formed by adding the place 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 19th century, this practice fell into disuse due to the influence of West-European surname tradition. East Finnish culture and language are chiefly vested in the Savonians and the Karelians. ... Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants, animals and other life forms. ... Language(s) Finnish, Swedish Languages related to Finnish include Estonian, Karelian, Vepsian, Võro and to a lesser extent, all Finno-Ugric Languages. ... For other uses, see Farm (disambiguation). ... Look up Smallholding on Wiktionary, the free dictionary A smallholding is a piece of land smaller than 50 acres, which is rented for the purposes of cultivation. ... Savonia, Savolax or Savo, is a historical province in the south of Finland. ... This article is about the agricultural practice of slash and burn. ... Puumala is a municipality of Finland. ...

In Western Finland, the 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) Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ...

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 case of clergy) Latin surnames. In the case of enlisted soldiers, the new name was given regardless of the wishes of the individual. Drawing of Swedish soldiers belonging to the new allotment system and wearing uniforms of the 1830s. ...

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).^[4] Fennicization or Finnicization is the changing of ones personal names from other languages (usually Swedish) into Finnish. ...

In the 21st century Finland, the use of surnames follows the German model. Every person is legally obliged 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 barrelled name. The parents may choose either surname or the double barrelled surname for their children, but all siblings must share the same surname ^[5]. 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 resident 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.^[6] Some immigrants have had difficulty naming their children, as they must choose from an approved list based on the family's household language. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... In English-speaking and some other Western countries, a double-barrelled name is a family name with two parts, which may or may not be joined with a hyphen, for example Bowes-Lyon or Fraser Darling. ...

In the Finnish language, the root of the surname can be modified by consonant gradation regularly when inflected to a case. In contrast, first names do not undergo qualitative gradation (e.g. Hilta - Hiltan), only quantitative gradation (Mikko - Mikon). Consonant gradation is a type of consonant mutation, in which consonants alternate between various grades. It is found in some Finno-Lappic languages such as Finnish, Estonian and Sámi; moreover, the Votic language is known for its extensive set of gradation patterns. ...

Georgia

Most eastern Georgian surnames end with the suffix of "-shvili", Georgian for "child" or "offspring". Western Georgian surnames most commonly have the suffix "-dze", Georgian for "son". Megrelian surnames usually end in "-ia" or "ua". 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)". The Megrelian language (Megruli ena in Georgian, Margaluri nina in Megrelian), sometimes called Mingrelian, is a language spoken in northwest Georgia. ... Svaneti (სვანეთი. Also known as Svanetia or Svania in Russian and Western languages) is a historic province in Georgia, in the northwestern part of the country. ... Nobility is a traditional hereditary status (see hereditary titles) that exists today in many countries (mainly present or former monarchies). ...

Greece

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 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 him Giannis Eleftheriou: the proper name is vernacular (and not Ioannis), but the surname is an archaic genitive. ... The nominative case is a grammatical case for a noun, which generally marks the subject of a verb, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Katharevousa (Greek Καθαρεύουσα, IPA: ) is a form of the Greek language, created during the early 19th century by Adamantios Korais (1748-1833). ...

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. Nowadays, women are forced to keep their paternal surname by law (or in very rare cases where this is agreed by the parents before marriage, the maternal); however quite paradoxically, the genitive case is still kept, signifying (mostly unintentionally due to tradition) that dependence (or the dependence to their mother's father in the other case). The husband's surname can only be used unofficially, mainly for social reasons. 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". Katharevousa (Greek Καθαρεύουσα, IPA: ) is a form of the Greek language, created during the early 19th century by Adamantios Korais (1748-1833). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Look up paradox in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Some surnames are prefixed with Papa-, indicating ancestry from a priest. 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- 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. A tradesman is a skilled manual worker in a particular trade or craft. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Hajj or Haj is the Pilgrimage to Mecca (or, Makkah) and is the fifth of the Five Pillars of Islam. Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so is obliged to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime. ... Motto دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1683, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299–1326) Bursa (1326–1365) Edirne (1365–1453) Constantinople (1453–1922) Government Monarchy Sultans  - 1281–1326 (first) Osman I  - 1918–22 (last) Mehmed VI Grand Viziers  - 1320...

Arvanitic surnames are also common. For example, the Arvanitic word for soldier or man-at-arms being "canavar"^{[citation needed]} or its shortened form "cavar" was pronounced "tzanavar" or "tzavar" giving birth to traditional Arvanitic family names like "Tzanavaras" and "Tzavaras".^{[citation needed]} Arvanitika or Arvanitic (native name: arbërisht, Greek: αρβανίτικα arvanitika) is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece. ...

Most Greek patronymic suffixes are diminutives, which vary by region. The most common Hellenic patronymic suffixes are -poulos/-poulou (From Peloponessus, a suffix which means "the little", representing "the son of ..." i.e. "Michalopoulos", the "son of Michael" or "Papadopoulos", the "son of the priest"); -idis-ides/-idou and -iadis/-iadou (Very ancient last names and clan forms used in the Pontus and Asia Minor regions,). The suffix -akis/-aki is associated primarily with Crete but also Mani, where it is rendered -akos/-akou and the Aegean islands, is a patronymic signifying "little" and "son of". ^[7] It became almost universal by the mid 20th century in Crete, but was only adopted there in the 19th century. Others, less common are -atos/-atou (From Cephallonia under strong Italian influence); -as/-a and -is/-i (From Macedonia and Epirus); -ellis/-elli (From Lesvos Island); -akos/-akou (From Mani in the Laconia region); -eas/-ea (From Mani in the Messinia region); -oglou (both genders, a Turkish root ending seen in immigrants from Asia Minor meaning "son of", i.e. Sarafoglou, "the son of Sarafis"), and -ou (Genitive, from Cyprus). Peloponnesos (Greek: Πελοπόννησος, sometime Latinized as Peloponnesus or Anglicized as The Peloponnese) is a large peninsula in Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Isthmus of Corinth. ... Traditional rural Pontic house A man in traditional clothes from Trabzon, illustration Pontus is the name which was applied, in ancient times, to extensive tracts of country in the northeast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) bordering on the Euxine (Black Sea), which was often called simply Pontos (the main), by... Anatolia (Greek: ανατολη anatole, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to the Asian portion of Turkey. ... For other uses, see Crete (disambiguation). ... Mani may refer to: Mani Peninsula in Greece Maní, Yucatán, a small city in Yucatán, Mexico Mani, Evros, a town in the northeastern part of the Evros Prefecture in Greece Mani (prophet), a third-century Persian prophet, the founder of the dualistic Manichaean religion, which borrowed eclectically from... Kefalonia also known as Cephalonia, Kefallinia, or Cefalonia (Ancient Greek: Κεφαλλήνια Modern Greek: Κεφαλλονιά), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece. ... The name Epirus, from the Greek Ήπειρος meaning continent may refer to: // Epirus (region) - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania Epirus (periphery) - one of the thirteen peripheries (administrative divisions) of Greece. ... Lesbos (Modern Greek: Lesvos (Λέσβος), Turkish: Midilli), is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. ... Map of Greece highlighting the Mani peninsula. ... Laconia (; see also List of traditional Greek place names), also known as Lacedaemonia, is a prefecture in Greece. ... Map of Greece highlighting the Mani peninsula. ... Messinia (Greek: Μεσσηνία, also spelled Messenia; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a prefecture in the Peloponnese, a region of Greece. ... Anatolia (Greek: ανατολη anatole, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to the Asian portion of Turkey. ...

The suffix -idis is the oldest in use and is used sometimes for Greeks originating in Asia Minor (often transliterated -ides). Zeus, for example was also referred to as Cronides ("son of Cronus"). For other uses, see Zeus (disambiguation). ... Statue of Zeus Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BC. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th-century engraving. ... Cronus is not to be confused with Chronos, the personification of time. ...

Hungary

Further information: Hungarian name, Hungarian name order

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. // Orthography Modern Hungarian orthography is slightly different (simpler) than that of 18th or 19th century, but many Hungarian surnames retain their historical spelling. ... Hungarian (magyar nyelv  ) is a Finno-Ugric language (more specifically an Ugric language) unrelated to most other languages in Europe. ...

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

Iceland

For more details on Naming conventions of Iceland, see Icelandic name.

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. Icelandic names differ from most Western family name systems by being patronymic (and sometimes matronymic) in that they reflect the immediate father (or mother) of the child and not the historic family lineage. ... Look up patronymic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

India

Main article: Indian family name

India is a country with numerous distinct cultures and language groups within it. Thus, Indian surnames, where formalized, fall into seven general types. And many people from the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala do not use any formal surnames, though most have one. It has been suggested that Indian name be merged into this article or section. ...

In Northern India, most of the people have their Family name after the Given names, where as in Southern India, the Given names come after the Family Name.

• Patronymics and Ancestry, where 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, Kapadia, Nadkarni, Patwardhan, Patwari, Shenoy, etc.) and priestly distinctions (Bhat, Bhattar, Trivedi, Chaturvedi, Twivedi, Purohit, Mukhopadhyay) Businesspeople: Amin, Shah. 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, Boyar, Parmar, Sindhi, Vaish). Reddy 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).
• The father's first name is used as a surname in certain Southern states, such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. However after the marriage the bride uses her husband's father's name instead.
• Muslim surnames, generally following the same rules used in Pakistan. Khan among the most popular, 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). In Bengal, it is also common custom to create hybrid surnames based on the previous last names and new titles (Raichoudhury)
• Names indicating nobility or feudal associations or honorifics (Chowdary, Naidu, Varma, Singh, Burman, Raja, Reddy, Tagore, Thakur)
• 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 eg. Miranda-Prabhu and Pereira-Shenoy.

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. This article can be confusing for some readers, and needs to be edited for clarity. ... Patel (Gujarati પટેલ, paá¹­el, /pəʈel/) is an Indian title, in tune with the all familiar Hindu caste system, that represent the castes that are predominant in the Indian province of Gujarat that are either agriculturalists or landlords.[1] The surname is the second most common surname in India, following... Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948) (Devanagari: मोहनदास करमचन्द गांधी, Gujarati મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી), called Mahatma Gandhi, was the charismatic leader who brought the cause of Indias independence from British colonial rule to world attention. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Kamat. ... Kapadia is a surname of Indian origin. ... // Plaque outside commercial establishment, Goa, India. ... Amin may refer to different people. ... Shah or Shahzad is a Persian term for a monarch (ruler) that has been adopted in many other languages. ... This article is about the Parsi community. ... Dawoodi Bohras are the main branch of the Bohras (a Mustali subsect of Ismaili Shia Muslims) based primarily in India and Pakistan. ... Language(s) Gujarati Religion(s) Hinduism, Islam, Zoroastrianism (see Parsis), Jainism, Christianity Gujarati people (Gujarati: ગુજરાતી લોકો GujÇŽrātÄ« loko), or Gujaratis, is an umbrella term used to describe traditionally Gujarati-speaking peoples who can trace their ancestry to the Gujarat region in India. ... Caste systems are traditional, hereditary systems of social classification, that evolved due to the enormous diversity in India (where all three primary races met, not by forced slavery but by immigration). ... Kokradi is a village in the Belthangadi Taluk of Dakshina Kannada (South Canara district of Karnataka State in India. ... This article is about the Indian region. ... Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... This article is about the title. ... Ethnic groups of Afghanistan (1980 map)  42% Pashtun  27% Tajik  9% Hazara  9% Uzbek         3% Turkmen  2% Baloch        Languages of Afghanistan (1980 map)  50% Dari dialect of Persian  35% Pashto  8% Uzbek  3% Turkmen  2% Baloch        The Demographics of Afghanistan are ethnically and linguistically mixed. ... Central Asia is a region of Asia. ... For other uses, see Bengal (disambiguation). ... Reddy (Telugu:రెడ్డి, also transliterated as Raddi, Reddi, etc. ... , Maharashtra (Marathi: महाराष्ट्र , IPA  , translation: Great Nation) is Indias third largest state in area and second largest in population after Uttar Pradesh. ...

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.

In some parts of Southern India, no formal Surname is used, because the family has decided to forgo its existing clan name. There has been a minor reversal of this trend in the recent times. This practice is prevalent in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. For example, people from the kongu vellala gounder community of Tamilnadu have in general two titles: the caste title Gounder and the clan name, example Perungudi. Nowadays it is common for people not to use any of these titles. So a Konguvel, son of Shanmuganathan, of say Erode, would call himself Konguvel Shanmughanathan, instead of the traditional Erode Perungudi Konguvel Gounder. This practise is of very recent origin though. Wife or child takes the given name of the husband or father (Usha married Satish, and may therefore be called Usha Satish or simply S. Usha). In many communities, especially Christian, names are formed by the given name as the first name, the family name and house name as the middle name(s) and the father's/husband's given name as the last name. Thus, the last name changes with each generation. The house name would also change as generations move out of their consanguineal family homes with the changing ownership of property upon the death of the patriarch. Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ... , Kerala ( ; Malayalam: കേരളം; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India. ...

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. JAIN is an activity within the Java Community Process, developing APIs for the creation of telephony (voice and data) services. ... Shah or Shahzad is a Persian term for a monarch (ruler) that has been adopted in many other languages. ... Emperor Agrasen and Queen Madhavi ruled Agroha around 3200 B.C. Agrasen established 18 Gotras (or clans) for each of his 18 sons based on the names of their Guru and divided his empire among them. ... Gupta (Hindi: गुप्ता) is a surname of Indian origin. ... Montek Singh Ahluwalia (born November 24, 1943) has been a key figure in Indias economic reforms from the early 1980s onwards. ... A Hukamnama refers to a hymn from the Guru Granth Sahib which is given as an order to Sikhs. ...

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 at 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. , West Bengal (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ Poshchimbôŋgo) is a state in eastern India. ...

Some parts of Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, and Indonesia have similar patronymic customs as that of India. Anthem Kaba Ma Kyei Capital Naypyidaw Largest city Yangon Official languages Burmese Demonym Burmese Government Military junta  -  Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Than Shwe  -  Prime Minister Soe Win  -  Acting Prime Minister Thein Sein Establishment  -  Bagan 849–1287   -  Taungoo Dynasty 1486–1752   -  Konbaung Dynasty 1752–1885   -  Colonial rule...

Indonesia

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.

• 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 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.

Javanese people are the majority in Indonesia, and most do not have any surname. There are many individuals who have only name, such as "Suharto" and "Sukarno". These are not only common with the Javanese but also with ethnic groups who do not have the tradition of surnames. If, however, they are Muslims, they might opt to use the pattern of Muslim names which includes the name of the parent (father). Not to be confused with Batak of the Philippines. ... Batak societies are patriarchal with family names or Marga in Bataknese from the male line. ... Languages Minangkabau, Indonesian and Malay. ... The Minahasa (alternative spelling: Minahassa) are an ethnic group located in the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia. ... The Ambonese, also known as South Moluccans, are an Indonesian of mixed Malay-Papuan origin. ... The Dayak IPA: (or Dyak) are the peoples indigenous to Borneo. ... Kalimantan is the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. ... This article is about ethnic groups of South Sulawesi. ... Java (Indonesian, Javanese, and Sundanese: Jawa) is an island of Indonesia, and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. ... Suharto GCB (born June 8, 1921) is a former Indonesian military and political leader. ... Sukarno (June 6, 1901 – June 21, 1970) was the first President of Indonesia. ...

Ireland

For more details on this topic, see Irish name.

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. A formal Irish-language name consists of a given name and a surname, as in English. ... This article is about the modern Goidelic language. ... A nickname is a short, clever, cute, derogatory, or otherwise substitute name for a person or things real name (for example, Nick is short for Nicholas). ...

Gaelic surnames derived from nicknames include