Family names appear to have developed first in China, originally among the nobility, and then spread to commoners. Clan names that seem to indicate matrilineal heritage, called xìng (姓), emerged in China around 4000–3000 BC.
Kushim – The Earliest Recorded Name
The earliest recorded surname on record belongs to an ancient Babylonian accountant named Kushim. Historians estimate that Kushim lived sometime between 3400-3000 BCE and worked as an accountant for the city of Uruk during this time period.
Surnames weren't widely used until after the Norman Conquest in 1066. As the country's population grew, it became necessary to distinguish between people and so names began to include descriptions of the person, such as Thomas son of John, Peter the Baker, Richard the Whitehead, Mary Webster, etc.
China was one of the earliest civilizations to use surnames. People there reportedly took on family names over three thousand years ago to help improve their census. For many years, surnames were passed down by mothers.
Jesus is sometimes referred to as Jesus Christ, and some people assume that Christ is Jesus' last name. But Christ is actually a title, not a last name. So if Christ isn't a last name, what was Jesus' last name? The answer is Jesus didn't have a formal last name or surname like we do today.
In the early years of the Middle Ages, most people in Europe lived in small farming villages. Since everyone knew his or her neighbors, and there was little need for last names. This changed however when the population expanded and the towns grew.
Believe it or not, the oldest recorded English name is Hatt. An Anglo-Saxon family with the surname Hatt are mentioned in a Norman transcript, and is identified as a pretty regular name in the county. It related simply to a hat maker and so was an occupational name.
While the use of surnames is common practice in modern society, this was not always the case with European Names. The practice became a common phenomenon in the Middle Ages. In antiquity, it was common practice for families of note to use their familial names to denote their high birth.
In the U.S., Smith is followed by Johnson, Williams, Brown and Jones, all names that can be traced to the English, Scottish and Welsh — the country's early European colonizers. Smith is also tops in England and refers to someone who is a skilled craftsman (like a blacksmith).
The largest number of surnames introduced by the Normans were from their castles or villages in Normandy. Arundel, Bruce, Clifford, Devereux, Glanville, Mortimer, Mowbray, Percy and Warren come to mind as well as the forms that retained the preposition such as de Courcy and D'Abernon.
Many enslaved people adopted their own last names before emancipation in order to evade capture or to establish their own family connections independent of their enslavers. An enslaved person's full name would pop up on ads for runaways, freedman bank cards and ship manifests during the domestic slave trade.
The longest family tree in the world is that of the Chinese philosopher and educator Confucius (551–479 BC), who is descended from King Tang (1675–1646 BC). The tree spans more than 80 generations from him and includes more than 2 million members.
While the Confucius family tree carries the title of the biggest one, the Lurie family is known as the oldest one in the world. Its history traces back to 1037 BC. According to the records, the family lineage starts from the 3rd king of the United Monarchy of Israel and Judah called King David.
The family history website compared surnames from the 1901 censuses with those from modern records and found that many had disappeared, including Chips, Hatman, Rummage, Nithercott, Raynott, Temples, Southwark and Woodbead.
There is a list of names that are extinct. It includes Bread, Spinster, Chips, Rummage, Pussett, Temples, Wellbelove, Hatman and Bytheseashore. Know anyone with those names – hardly. Other names with just a few individuals include Fernsby, Rushlands, Berrycloth, Dankworth, Birdwhistle, Relish and Tumbler.
What's the shortest name? "E" or "E" (鄂) is a common Chinese surname, and one found in the classic book The Hundred Family Surnames from the early Song Dynasty. In Burmese U (or Ü) is a honorific usually given to a man of some standing like U Thant, who served as Secretary General of the United Nations from 1961-1971.
The longest personal name is 747 characters long, and belongs to Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr. (b.
Another option is to create an entirely new last name. Maybe you don't like your last names and want to start fresh. To do so you'll need to follow your state's legal name change guidelines as well as get the new name approved in court. As you can see, you have a lot of options to consider!
Not Everyone with the Same Surname is Related
When you delve deep enough into your ancestry, there is a good chance that two people who are related do not share a lot of genetic material. This can mean these two people are not legally considered related.