surname

---

Pronunciation

• (America) enPR: sûr'nām, IPA: /ˈsɝneɪm/
• (British) enPR: sû'nām, IPA: /ˈsɜːneɪm/

Noun

surname (plural surnames)

1. (obsolete) An additional name, particularly those derived from a birthplace, quality, or achievement; an epithet.
   • circa 1330 Arthour and Merlin, 5488:

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

   • 1526, Tyndale's Bible, Acts I 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.

   • circa 1607 William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, V iii 171:

     To his sur-name Coriolanus long#Etymology_3|longs more pride
     Then pitty to our Prayers.

2. (obsolete) An additional name given to a person, place, or thing; a byname or nickname.
   • circa 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.

   • 1638, Abraham Cowley, Davideis, IV:

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

3. The name a person shares with other members of that person's family, distinguished from that person's given name or names; a family name.
   • 1393, William Langland, Piers Plowman, C iv 369:

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

   • 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.

4. (Classical studies) The cognomen of Roman names.
   • circa 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.

5. (Scottish, obsolete) A clan.
   • 1455 in J. D. Marwick, Charters of Edinburgh (1871), 79:

     The surnam and nerrest of blude to the said Williame.

Synonyms

• epithet (additional descriptive name)
• nickname, sobriquet, byname (additional name)
• family name, last name, to-name (hereditary name denoting one's family)
• See also Thesaurus:surname

Translations

• French: nom, patronyme, nom de famille
• German: Nachname, Familienname
• Italian: cognome
• Portuguese: sobrenome, nome de família, último nome (when appearing last)
• Russian: фами́лия
• Spanish: apellido

Verb

surname (surnames, present participle surnaming; past and past participle surnamed)

1. (transitive) To give a surname to.
2. (transitive) To call by a surname.

---

This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.005