Denise Beeson
Throughout history humans have been known by more than one name to distinguish them from other people with the same name. As societies became more complex or were colonized by more complex societies, these distinguishing names became fixed and were passed on to the next generation. In addition, it is important to consider that those in political or economic power may have dictated surnames for those they governed or enslaved.
The nature of surnames depends on what was important to the society at the time surnames were adopted. Hunter-gatherer societies often distinguished individuals by an event, a characteristic, or a religious connotation. More technically advanced cultures with a settled society typically derived surnames from occupations, social status or place of residence. Some common origins of surnames include: occupations (such as “Smith,” for a blacksmith), physical characteristics (such as “Short”), places or landmarks (such as “Hill”).
Surnames derived from a father’s name are common, particularly in societies that were less developed when they adopted surnames. “Patronymics” or father’s name (such as “Johnson,” son of John). Of these four naming conventions, patronymics probably can be most difficult since its forms change with the language and culture.
When searching for the origin or etymology of your surname, it is also important to consider that your last name may not have always been spelled the way that it is today. It is not unusual to see the same individual’s last name spelled in many ways from record to record. Audio representation or artificial intelligence as in the 1950 census just released may have changed the spelling.
For example, you might see the seemingly easy-to-spell surname “Kennedy” spelled as Kenedy, Canady, Kanada, Kenneday, and even Kendy, due to clerks, ministers, and other officials spelling the name as they heard it pronounced. Many variations are caused by indexers’ interpretations of old-fashioned handwriting. Sometimes alternate variants stuck and were passed down to future generations. It is not uncommon to see siblings passing down different variants of the same original surname. Many times, your ancestors may not have liked their surname due to ethnic overtones, political times, or their wish to sound more “American.” They changed their names! So, it is important to be open to surname variations.
Learning your surname’s meaning is fascinating and might even point you to an ancestral homeland. Last names came about gradually as populations grew to the point a single name was no longer a sufficient identifier. Specific ethnic groups often had their own naming conventions. In Russia, -vich is a common suffix, as in Ivan Nikolayevich (Ivan, son of Nikolay).
In Nordic countries, -son or -sen indicates “son of.” The suffix -dotter, -dottir, or -datter means “daughter of.”
Gaelic patronymic surnames start with Mc, Mac, O, or Fitz. (There’s no factual basis to the belief Mac is Scottish and Mc is Irish—Mc is just an abbreviation of Mac.)
In a census microfilm, recognizing your own name can be a challenge. In some 17th- and 18th-century documents, the capital letters I and J look almost identical, as can U and V. Lowercase letters also might throw you—for example, the so-called “long s” (frequently used as the first letter in a double-s configuration) whose drooping tail makes it look like an f or a p.
Always look at original records whenever possible, and identify words with letters you can read or can guess based on context. Once you see how this scribe formed certain letters, you’ll have a much easier time interpreting them.
Interested in genealogy in PebbleCreek? Visit a Genealogy Club meeting on the second Monday of the month in the Palm Room from 9 a.m. to noon.