Frequently asked questions

Photograph the scroll and its packaging within 48 hours of it arriving, then email admin@surnamedb.com with your order number and the photos.

We’ll send a replacement at no extra cost. You don’t need to return the damaged one.

Allow up to 14 business days for UK orders and 20 business days for international orders. If it still hasn’t arrived, email admin@surnamedb.com with your order number and we’ll send a replacement or give you a full refund, shipping included.

Each scroll shows the current surname and its variant spellings, the historical country of origin, the original meaning and classification, recordings from medieval sources, and the earliest proven recording with the monarch of the time.

The research was started by Michael Brook, founder of Name Origin Research, and grew to a team of five researchers in the Republic of Ireland. Nearly all of it was done before the web, and it has been online at SurnameDB since 2006.

It ranks surnames by how often each surname page is looked up each year. It isn’t a measure of how common a surname is, because the names of well-known people are looked up more.

Yes, for one or two surnames. Please keep the copyright notice and a link back to the original surname page. If you’d like to use more than two, contact us first.

No. Our DNA and family tree pages link to MyHeritage, which runs the tests and family tree tools. SurnameDB is a MyHeritage partner and may earn a commission.