SurnameDB – The Internet Surname Database

Kinds of surname

Metonymic name

Also written or known as Metonym

An occupational name that refers to a worker's tools or goods rather than the job itself.

A seller of salt might simply be called Salt, and a maker of mallets Mallet. Metonymic names can be hard to tell apart from nicknames, since the same word may have described a person as well as their trade.

Surname histories that mention it

Related terms