DictionaryAI

surname

SaySUR-naym/ˈsɝˌneɪm//ˈsɜːˌneɪm/

Pluralsurnames

Verbsurnames, surnaming, surnamed

5 meanings of surname

Practice

  1. 1
    family namenouncountable
    The part of a person's name that is usually inherited or marks their family, shared with relatives or derived from their names, as distinct from a given name.

    She kept her own surname after the wedding, and the children took both.

    The class list is sorted alphabetically by surname.

    Note

    E. A. Freeman's History of the Norman Conquest credits the Conquest with bringing hereditary surnames to England, and William Camden's Remaines (1605) notes that the English had begun giving surnames as Christian names, as nowhere else in Christendom.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Freeman's History of the Norman Conquest attributes the introduction of hereditary surnames to the Conquest. archive.org
    • William Camden wrote Remaines, first published in 1605. shakespearedocumented.folger.edu
    • Camden says that surnames had recently begun to be given as Christian names in England, unlike elsewhere in Christendom. archive.org
  2. 2
    assign a nameverbtransitive
    To give someone a particular surname, or to call or record them by it.

    She appears in the parish records as a woman surnamed Walsh, though she signed her letters Welsh.

    The chroniclers surname the king "the Bold" in nearly every entry.

    UsageMostly as a past participle: a woman surnamed Walsh.

    Similarname, call, dub, style

    Note

    It often appears as a past participle in the style of old romance: in Howard Pyle's The Story of the Champions of the Round Table (1905), Launcelot is surnamed He of the Lake. The name that follows is usually an epithet rather than a family name, which is why the verb suits chronicles and legends.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Howard Pyle wrote The Story of the Champions of the Round Table. gutenberg.org
    • The book was first published in 1905. upload.wikimedia.org
    • Launcelot is surnamed He of the Lake in Pyle's book; Launcelot himself says this. gutenberg.org
  3. 3
    extra namenounobsolete
    An added name or epithet given to a person, place, or thing, often from a birthplace, quality, or achievement; a nickname.
    Barsabas (whose syrname was Iustus).
    1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt (Tyndale Bible)
    To his sur-name Coriolanus longs more pride Then pitty to our Prayers.
    c. 1608, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”
    Note

    In this older use the added name was an epithet: Tyndale's New Testament (1526) gives Barsabas the surname Justus, and in Shakespeare's Coriolanus the hero's pride belongs to his surname. Older texts also spell it syrname or sirname. Today such names are called epithets, and surname is kept for the family name.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    clannounobsoleteScotland
    A clan: a group of related families sharing one family name, especially on the Anglo-Scottish Border.
    Note

    Older writing from the Scottish and English Borders lets the name stand for everyone who bears it, so a whole kindred, such as a feuding reiver family, could be spoken of as a single surname. The use is obsolete; meeting it in an old Border text, read it as the people, not the name.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Historical English and Scottish Border sources used “surname” for a kinship group. en.wikipedia.org
    • A whole kindred involved in Border feuding could be called a surname, referring collectively to its people. electricscotland.com
  2. 5
    noun
    In classical studies, the cognomen: the added name that followed the clan name in a Roman's full name.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English surname, a partial translation of Old French surnum, “surname; nickname,” from Late Latin supernōmen, from super-, “over, above,” + nōmen, “name”; equivalent to sur- + name.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

  • Surname comes from Middle English surname, a partial translation of Old French surnum meaning surname or nickname. en.wiktionary.org
  • The Old French word derives from Late Latin supernōmen. en.wiktionary.org
  • The Latin formation combines super-, meaning over or above, with nōmen, meaning name. en.wiktionary.org
  • Surname is equivalent to sur- + name. en.wiktionary.org