49,352 surnames · origins & meanings

Where does your name come from?

Every surname began as a place, a trade, a father’s name or a nickname. Find out which one is yours.

How surnames began

Four ways a family got its name

Most surnames were fixed between the 12th and 14th centuries, when clerks needed to tell one John from another.

Locational
From the place you lived: a village, a hill, a wood or a brook.
Brook Hill Atwood
Occupational
From the work you did: the smith, the tailor, the baker.
Smith Taylor Baker
Patronymic
From your father’s name: John’s son, the son of David.
Johnson Davies Fitzgerald
Nickname
From how you looked or behaved: strong, red-haired, small.
Armstrong Read Little