Why surname

A stand at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard offering information on surname history. Why did surnames or last names develop? What might a surname tell us about the person who bears the name?

Why might someone be given a new surname? Analyze the reasons for why a surname might change at a moment in time or over time. Lesson Plan Details Content Standards. Activity 1. Descriptive Surnames Brainstorm with the students about how surnames might have originated. Have them envision a situation in which there are two boys named John, or two girls named Mary. If they have no last names, how might their friends refer to them to distinguish one from the other?

Possibilities would include physical descriptions John with the freckles ; place of residence Mary, who lives in the woods ; hobby John, the hockey player ; and names of parents Mary, the daughter of Archibald. Explain that these are the very criteria used by people in medieval times to create second names called bynames. In later years, as the population grew, certain bynames became permanent family names, or surnames.

Make a list on the board of some common modern surnames that might describe a person's appearance or character. Perhaps there are some good examples in your own classroom. To find a particular name, click the letter at the top of the page.

This will access a section of an alphabetical list of surnames containing the name being sought. And while one could argue that the influence of the caste system will never wane till we attach family names to our own, it is worth noting that even in the West, the surname continues to be used in spite of its seeming redundancy.

With the change in gender equations, we are seeing more complex surname architectures at work, with the rise in hyphenated surnames as more women retain their maiden names. Revealingly, we choose to live with this unwieldiness rather than question the institution of the surname in the first place. The surname today gets used more as a device to erase the unique nature of an individual. We often summon people by the surname in places like a school, the military or an office.

It somehow seems more appropriate to avoid the first name , for that signifies that one knows the individual personally.

In these institutions, the individual is primarily a student, colleague or soldier rather than a unique human being. The surname becomes in this instance a counterpoint to the first name, and is used more as a mark of identification rather than uniqueness.

Perhaps for all the drive towards individualism, nothing terrifies us more than the idea that we are truly individual. To be alone in the world, to have come from nowhere and to leave behind nothing that we can put a name to is a thought of unbearable isolation.

We need surnames because we need our past, not as a memory but something we live inside of. Our surname creates a little world into which we can snuggle up, however unconsciously. We need surnames because otherwise we would be nothing but individuals and that can be very lonely indeed.

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Nehru, Iqbal, cricket and the question of Muslim identity. Mac is a prefix to surnames of Gaelic origin meaning son. For example, Macdhomhnuill translates to Macdonald, meaning son of Donald. There are many examples in the old parish registers, particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries, for example Ncfarlane, Ncdonald, Ncdearmit, Ncfee, but there are only isolated examples by the early 19th century. Some Mac surnames originated in occupations, for example Macnab son of the abbott , Maccosh son of the footman , Macmaster son of the master or cleric , Macnucator son of the wauker or fuller of cloth , later anglicised Walker.

Others derive from distinguishing features, for example Macilbowie son of the yellow haired lad , Macilchrum son of the bent one. Yet others contain vestiges of Norse influence, for example Maciver son of Ivar, a Norse personal name , since the Mac prefix was not the exclusive preserve of the Gaels, being adopted in some cases by the Norsemen and by some Lowland Scots, particularly on the Highland periphery, for example Macgibbon, Macritchie.

Many Mac surnames no longer in use such as Macolchallum were abandoned because they were too difficult to pronounce, corrupted over the years by phonetic spelling, or anglicised.

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It is a common misconception that those who bear a clan surname are automatically descended from a clan chief. The ability of a clan to defend its territory from other clans depended greatly on attracting as many followers as possible.

Being a member of a large and powerful clan became a distinct advantage in the lawless Highlands and followers might adopt the clan name to curry favour with the Laird, to show solidarity, for basic protection, or because their lands were taken by a more powerful neighbour and they had little option! Yet others joined a clan on the promise of much-needed sustenance. Conversely, not all members of a clan used the clan surname. When Clan Gregor was proscribed in , many Macgregors were forced to adopt other surnames for example Grant, Stewart, Ramsay.

Once the ban was lifted in , some reverted to the Macgregor name, but others did not. Many emigrants from Scotland changed their names on arrival in their new country, as did many people from the Highlands and Islands who migrated to the Scottish lowlands in search of work.

Gilchrist, a gaelic name meaning servant of Christ, might be anglicised to Christopher. Illiteracy might, however, engender a change of surname by default, giving rise to weird and wonderful variants, for example Maclachlan recorded as Mcglauflin.

To-names or T-names meaning 'other names' or nicknames, were prevalent particularly in the fishing communities of North East Scotland, but were also seen in the Borders and to a lesser extent in the West Highlands.

In those areas where a relatively small number of surnames were in use, T-names were tacked on to the name to distinguish individuals with the same surname and forename.

The nickname may have referred to a distinguishing feature or be the name of the fishing boat on which the person was employed. These T-names have made their way into the records. Was this perhaps a reference to the colour of his hair? The T-name appears on a statutory results page in brackets in order to distinguish it from a middle name for example James Rosie Cowie, James Bullen Cowie, Jessie Gyke Murray, and may be designated in inverted commas on the image of the actual entry.

You may find in older records that Quh and Wh are interchangeable, for example White might be recorded as Quhit , Quhytt , Quhyitt , Quhetit , Quheyt , Quhyte , and so on. Macwatt may be written as Macquhat. Ch or ck may be dropped from the end of a surname for example Tulloch is rendered as Tullo in many earlier records, Tunnock as Tunno.

It is very common to find an e added to the end of surnames in earlier records for example, Robertsone for Robertson, Pearsone for Pearson , or that w and u are interchangeable for example, Gowrlay for Gourlay or Crauford for Crawford , or u being inserted to surnames ending in on or one for example Cameroun for Cameron, Robertsoun or Robertsoune for Robertson. Names like Morrison may be rendered as Morison , likewise Ker for Kerr. A surname ending in y might be replaced with e as in Murray and Murrie.

The letter i might be replaced with y as in Kidd and Kydd. Black, George F, 'The Surnames of Scotland: their origin, meaning and history' Edinburgh: Birlinn, , Reprinted , first published by the New York Public Library, - viewed as the principal work on surname origins.

Dorward, David, 'Scottish Surnames' Glasgow: HarperCollins, — a pocket-sized book, which concentrates on surnames currently in use in Scotland.