surname

See also: sur-name

English

Alternative forms

• sirname (archaic, eggcorn)
• sur-name (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English surname, a partial calque of Old French surnum, surnoun (“surname; nickname”) (whence Middle English surnoun), from Late Latin supernōmen, suprānōmen (“surname”), from super- (“over, above, beyond”) and nōmen (“name”), equivalent to sur- +‎ name.

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: sûrʹnām'; IPA^(key): /ˈsɝˌneɪm/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (UK) enPR: sûʹnām'; IPA^(key): /ˈsɜːˌneɪm/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)neɪm

Noun

surname (plural surnames)

1. The portion of a person's name that is generally hereditary or treated as an indicator of a person's family, which may be shared with other members of the family, or otherwise derived from their names in some fashion; distinguished from that person's given name(s).

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:surname

   James is my first name, and Smith is my surname.

   • 1605, William Camden, Remaines, I 32:

     In late yeeres Surnames have beene given for Christian names among vs, and no where else in Christendom.

   • 1876, E. A. Freeman, The History of the Norman Conquest, V xxv 563:

     The Norman Conquest...brought with it the novelty of family nomenclature, that is to say, the use of hereditary surnames.

2. (obsolete) Synonym of epithet, an additional name, particularly those derived from a birthplace, quality, or achievement.
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts j:[23]:

     Barsabas (whose syrname was Iustus).

   • 1590, Richard Harvey, Plaine Percevall the peace-maker of England, Sweetly indeuoring with his blunt persuasions to botch vp a reconciliation between Mar-ton and Mar-tother, B3:

     My sirname is Peace-Maker, one that is but poorely regarded in England.

   • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], line 171:

     To his sur-name Coriolanus longs more pride
     Then pitty to our Prayers.

3. (obsolete) Synonym of nickname, an additional name given to a person, place, or thing, a byname.
   • 1638, Abraham Cowley, Davideis, section IV:

     I have before declared that Baal was the Sun, and Baal Peor, a sirname, from a particular place of his worship.

4. (Classical studies) The cognomen of Roman names.
5. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (Scotland, obsolete) A clan.

Usage notes

• The term surname may be used to translate terms from non-English names which carry additional shades of meaning; most notably in the case of Roman cognomens.
• Both surname and last name are extremely common in all dialects of English, the former being somewhat more preferred in the UK and the latter in the US. However, because of the cultural and gendered associations involved with both terms, the use of family name is increasingly preferred in multicultural contexts.

Hypernyms

• name

Hyponyms

• bride's name, maiden name (surname prior to marriage); patronym, patronymic (a surname specifically referencing one's father's given name); matronym, matronymic (a surname specifically referencing one's mother's given name)

Coordinate terms

• See given name; middle name; epithet, cognomen, nickname; aneponymous

Derived terms

• occupational surname
• surnameless
• surnominal

 

Translations

name that indicates family

• Afrikaans: van (af)
• Albanian: mbiemër (sq) m
• Arabic: لَقَب (ar) m (laqab), كُنْيَة f (kunya), اِسْم الْعَائِلَة m (ism al-ʕāʔila)

  Moroccan Arabic: كنوة f (kenwa), كْنيّة f (kniyya)

• Armenian: ազգանուն (hy) (azganun)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܟܘܼܢܵܝܵܐ m (kunnāyā)
• Asturian: apellíu (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: soyad
• Bashkir: фамилия (familiya)
• Basque: abizen (eu), deitura (eu)
• Belarusian: про́звішча n (prózvišča), про́зьвішча n (prózʹvišča)
• Bengali: উপাধি (bn) (upadhi)
• Bikol Central: apelyido (bcl)
• Breton: anv (br) m, anv-familh m, anv-tiegezh (br) m
• Bulgarian: фами́лно и́ме n (famílno íme)
• Burmese: ရိုးရာအမည် (my) (rui:raa.many)
• Carpathian Rusyn: пру́звище n (prúzvyšče)
• Catalan: cognom (ca) m, llinatge (ca) m
• Chechen: фамили (famili)
• Chichewa: dzina la bambo
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 姓 (yue), 姓氏 (sing³ si⁶)

  Dungan: щин (xin)

  Eastern Min: 姓氏 (séng-sê)

  Hokkien: 字姓 (zh-min-nan) (lī-sìⁿ, jī-sèⁿ, lī-sèⁿ, jī-sìⁿ)

  Mandarin: 姓 (zh) (xìng), 姓氏 (zh) (xìngshì)

  Wu: 姓 (⁵shin), 姓氏 (⁵shin-zy)

• Cornish: hanow m
• Czech: příjmení (cs) n
• Danish: efternavn (da) n, familienavn n, slægtsnavn n
• Dutch: achternaam (nl) m, familienaam (nl) m
• Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl: tzonquīzcā
• Esperanto: familia nomo (eo), familinomo (eo)
• Estonian: perekonnanimi (et)
• Faroese: eftirnavn n, ættarnavn n
• Finnish: sukunimi (fi)
• French: nom (fr) m, patronyme (fr) m, nom de famille (fr) m
• Galician: apelido (gl) m, alcuño m
• Georgian: გვარი (ka) (gvari)
• German: Nachname (de) m, Familienname (de) m
• Greek: επώνυμο (el) n (epónymo)

  Ancient: ἐπωνύμιον n (epōnúmion)

• Gujarati: અટક f (aṭak), ઉપનામ (upanām)
• Hebrew: שֵׁם מִשׁפָּחָה (he) m (shem mishpakhá)
• Hindi: कुलनाम m (kulnām), कुल नाम m (kul nām), उपनाम (hi) m (upnām)
• Hungarian: vezetéknév (hu), családnév (hu)
• Icelandic: eftirnafn (is), kenninafn, ættarnafn (is) n
• Ido: surnomo (io)
• Indonesian: marga (id), nama keluarga
• Ingrian: sukunimi, familia
• Interlingua: supernomine, nomine de familia, ultime nomine
• Irish: sloinne (ga) m
• Italian: cognome (it) m
• Japanese: 姓 (ja) (せい, sei), 名字 (ja) (みょうじ, myōji), 苗字 (ja) (みょうじ, myōji)
• Javanese: jeneng pancer
• Kannada: ಉಪನಾಮ (kn) (upanāma)
• Kashmiri: کرٛام (krām)
• Kashubian: nôzwëskò n
• Kazakh: тегі (tegı), ата-тек (ata-tek)
• Khmer: នាមត្រកូល (niəm trɑkoul)
• Korean: 성(姓) (ko) (seong), 성씨(姓氏) (ko) (seongssi)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: paşnav (ku), leqeb (ku)

• Kyrgyz: фамилия (ky) (familiya), атанаама (atanaama), теги (ky) (tegi), уругат (urugat)
• Ladino: alkunya f
• Lao: ຊື່ສະກຸນ (sư̄ sa kun), ນາມສະກຸນ (nām sa kun), ວົງວານ (wong wān), ວົງສະກຸນ (wong sa kun)
• Latin: cōgnōmen n
• Latvian: uzvārds m
• Lithuanian: pavardė (lt) f
• Macedonian: презиме n (prezime)
• Malay: nama keluarga (ms)
• Malayalam: കുലനാമം (kulanāmaṁ)
• Maltese: kunjom m
• Manchu: ᡥᠠᠯᠠ (hala)
• Manx: sliennoo m
• Maori: ingoa whānau
• Marathi: आडनाव (āḍnāv)
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: фамилий (famiĺij), ешлӱм (ješlüm)

• Middle English: surname, surnoun, toname
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: овог нэр (ovog ner), овог (mn) (ovog)

  Mongolian: ᠣᠪᠤᠭ
  ᠨᠡᠷ᠎ᠡ (obug ner-e), ᠣᠪᠤᠭ (obug)

• Nepali: थर (thar)
• Northern Sami: sohkanamma, namma, goargu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: navn (no) n, etternavn (no) n, familienavn n, slektsnavn n

  Nynorsk: namn n, etternamn (no) n, familienamn n, slektsnamn n

• Occitan: nom d'ostal (oc) m, nom de familha m
• Odia: ଉପନାମ (upanāma)
• Old English: tōnama m
• Ossetian: мыггаг (myggag)
• Ottoman Turkish: لقب (lakab)
• Pannonian Rusyn: презвиско n (prezvisko)
• Pashto: لقب m (laqab), کورنی نوم m (koranay num), تخلص (ps) m (taxalos)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: نامِ خانِوَادِگی (fa) (nâm-e xânevâdegi), اِسْمِ فامیل (esm-e fâmil), لَقَب (fa) (lağab)

• Polish: nazwisko (pl) n
• Portuguese: apelido (pt) m (Portugal, means "nickname" in Brazil), sobrenome (pt) m, nome de família m, último nome m (when appearing last)
• Punjabi: ਉਪਨਾਮ (pa) (upanām)
• Romanian: nume de familie (ro) n, patronim (ro) n, nume patronimic (ro) n, nume (ro) n
• Russian: фами́лия (ru) f (famílija), про́звище (ru) n (prózvišče) (dated, now means "nickname")
• Scottish Gaelic: sloinneadh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: прѐзиме n

  Roman: prèzime (sh) n

• Sicilian: cugnomu (scn) m
• Sinhalese: වාසගම (si) (wāsagama)
• Skolt Sami: famiʹljnõmm
• Slovak: priezvisko (sk) n
• Slovene: priimek (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian: swójbne mjeno n

• Sotho: fane sg, difane pl
• Spanish: apellido (es) m, cognombre (es) f, apelativo (es) m
• Swabian: Familiename
• Swahili: jina la ukoo
• Swedish: efternamn (sv) n, familjenamn (sv) n
• Tagalog: apelyido (tl)
• Tajik: фамилия (tg) (familiya), номи хонаводагӣ (nom-i xonavodagi)
• Tamil: குடும்பப்பெயர் (kuṭumpappeyar)
• Tatar: фамилия (familiyä)
• Telugu: ఇంటిపేరు (te) (iṇṭipēru)
• Thai: นามสกุล (th) (naam-sà-gun), แซ่ (th) (sɛ̂ɛ) (Chinese surname)
• Turkish: soyadı (tr), soyad (tr), soyisim
• Turkmen: familiýa
• Ukrainian: прі́звище (uk) n (prízvyšče)
• Urdu: خانْدانی نام m (xāndānī nām), کُل نام m (kul nām), اُپ نام m (up nām), لَقَب m (laqab)
• Uyghur: فامىلە (famile)
• Uzbek: familiya (uz), laqab (uz)
• Vietnamese: họ (vi), tên họ
• Volapük: famülanem
• Walloon: no d' famile (wa) m
• Welsh: cyfenw m
• White Hmong: xeem
• Xhosa: ifani
• Yiddish: משפּחה־נאָמען m (mishpokhe-nomen)
• Zulu: isibongo

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Swahili: ^{(please verify)} kwa jina lingine, ^{(please verify)} jina la familia, ^{(please verify)} majina ya familia, ^{(please verify)} jina la ukoo

Verb

surname (third-person singular simple present surnames, present participle surnaming, simple past and past participle surnamed)

1. (transitive) To give a surname to.
2. (transitive) To call by a surname.
   • 1905, Howard Pyle, “The Story of Launcelot”, in The Story of the Champions of the Round Table‎^[2], New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 66:

     “Lord,” said Sir Launcelot, “I am hight Launcelot, and am surnamed ‘He of the Lake.’”

Translations

to give a surname

• Esperanto: doni familinomon
• Finnish: antaa sukunimi
• French: surnommer (fr), donner un surnom
• Spanish: apodar (es)

to call by a surname

• Finnish: kutsua sukunimellä
• Spanish: apodo (es)

Statistics

The most common surnames in the United States, as of the 2010 census (with number of persons bearing said surname):

1. Smith; 2,442,977

2. Johnson; 1,932,812

3. Williams; 1,625,252

4. Brown; 1,437,026

5. Jones; 1,425,470

6. Garcia; 1,166,120

7. Miller; 1,161,437

8. Davis; 1,116,357

9. Rodriguez; 1,094,924

10. Martinez; 1,060,159

See also

• Name change on Wikipedia
• Wiktionary appendix of surnames

Anagrams

• Mansure, manures

Middle English

FWOTD – 20 June 2024

Alternative forms

• surename, sourname, sorname, syrname, sire name

Etymology

Partial calque of Old French surnoun, from Late Latin supernōmen, suprānōmen; equivalent to sur- +‎ name. Forms beginning with sir-, syr-, etc. represent reanalysis of the first element as sire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsurnaːm(ə)/, /ˈsirnaːm(ə)/

Noun

surname (plural surnames)

1. epithet, nickname
   • c. 1330, Arthour and Merlin, section 5488:

     Þe .xxxix. Osoman, cert, His surname was: hardi of hert.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 1400, "St. John Baptist", 928 in W. M. Metcalfe, Legends of the saints: in the Scottish dialect of the fourteenth century (1896), II 249:

     Þe thred herrod had alsua til his suornome agrippa.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. surname, family name
   • 1393, William Langland, Piers Plowman, C iv 369:

     Þat is noȝt reisonable...to refusy my syres sorname.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. alias, appellation
   • c. 1395, Wycliff's Bible, Ecclus. XLVII 19:

     In the name of the Lord, to whom the surname [toname in the 1382 ed.] is God of Israel.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• English: surname

References

• “surnāme, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.