A History of the First Last Names

Have you ever wondered where last names come from? Have you ever wondered just why someone is
named Smith and not Waka-waka-kip-boom-bang? Well discovering the origin of last names is not too
difficult, but what you find just might surprise you...

Why do we have last names?

Up until around the 7th century last names did not exist. But then Kings and Queens discovered how
lucrative it is to tax people, and therefore last names were needed. Without last names governments
wouldn´t be able to know who had been taxed. Kind of makes you want to get rid of your last name,
doesn´t it?

Most last names come from one of four sources: jobs, location, physical characteristics, or family. Here
are some examples of each:

Jobs
One of the easiest ways to describe someone was by saying what job he did in the village. Perhaps
there were three Johns in one village, but usually there would only be one miller, brewer, or cooper.
Thus, we would have John the Miller, John the Brewer, and John the Cooper. Over time names lost
their articles and prepositions, and John the Miller became simply John Miller. Interestingly, the name
Miller is much more common in America than in England. This is because in England millers had a bad
reputation for cheating people, and so not many folks wanted to be named miller. In America millers
did not have that reputation, and neither did they in Germany, where most of the Muellers who
emigrated to the US became Miller.
Here are more occupation last names:
Brewer- one of the most popular men in the village, he brewed beer.

Cooper- he often worked with the brewer, he made barrels.

Fletcher- not many people need arrows made by a fletcher these days, but the name is still common.

Mason- he worked with stone.

Smith- the most common last name in English, this name is really four jobs in one. A smith is anyone
who works with metal, so it could mean blacksmith, silversmith, goldsmith, or tinsmith. Now you see
why it is so common!

Wright- this name also represents many jobs. A wright was someone who was a skilled worker with
their hands. A shipwright made ships, a wheelwright wheels, and Shakespeare was a great playwright
(notice, it isn´t playwrite!). The most famous Wrights were the Wright brothers, who invented the
airplane in 1903.

Carpenter- this was the job of Jesus. A carpenter works with wood and was very important in the
village.

Joiner- he works closely with Mr Carpenter, making wood pieces that fit together. This name is often
spelled Joyner.

Tailor- like Joiner, this name is most often spelled like it was in medieval times, Taylor. Tailors make
clothes, but Elizabeth Taylor made films.

Partridge- many people with animal last names, such as this one, sold their namesake. Mr Partridge was
someone who hunted and sold partridges, which were a tasty delicacy in early England. Another seller
of birds was Mr Pigeon.

Bush- no, he didn´t sell bushes, he actually sold wine. Why? Because in old times most people couldn´t
read, and so many businesses had a symbol outside their shop to let people know what they did. A
barber had a blue, red and white striped pole in front, and a wine merchant had a bush near his door. So
now you know George Bush´s ancestors weren´t in politics, they sold wine!

Location
Sometimes it was enough to say where someone lived. So the John who lived on the hill became John
of the Hill, John of the Moore lived by the moor, John of the Green lived by the village green (a public
meadow where games and festivals were held- today we call it a park), and Rude John came from the
country (here rude means someone who has not been refined by the city). There are many last names
taken from cities and villages as well, such as London and Bristol, and also from regions, such as
Welch (someone from Wales).
With city and regional names the one thing that is clear is that the person did not live in that particular
place when he got the name. A fellow would only be called John of Bristol if he had moved to a
different place, as the idea of last names is to tell someone apart, and there would have been many
Johns in Bristol. So we know that Jack London´s ancestors at one time came from London, but moved
to another town.

Physical Characteristics
The look of someone, or whether they were good or bad at something, gave many people their last
names. For example, Neil Armstrong´s ancestor was known in his region as a strong man, while Paul
Newman´s was the new guy in the village. Someone with the last name of Bird could have been a
colorful dresser, very active, or a good singer. Another bird name for a good singer is Nightingale.
Someone clever or good at repairing things was Handy, Mr Hare was a fast runner (or perhaps
sarcastically a slow one!), Freeman was not a serf, and Mr Little and Mr Small were either short, or
quite big (sarcasm was very popular in medieval England). If there were two men named Peter, the
younger of the two would be known as Peter the Young, which became Peter Young. As for the actor
Gary Oldman, his ancestor was already an old man when taxes were begun.

Family
This is where all the sons, like Peterson, Thompson, and Johnson come from. Originally it was
something like Tim Son of Peter, but no one liked to say that, so he became Tim Peterson, which
sounds much better.
In England the name Johnson is not nearly as common as it is in America (where it is the second most
common name). The reason is not that American men named John had more sons than in England, but
rather because America had a lot of immigrants from Sweden, and most people with the name of
Jonsson, Jensen, and Johansson all became Johnson.
Exercises

I.
Please match the last name (1-10) to the type of job (a-j)
1. Archer
2. Shepherd
3. Forrester
4. Fuller
5. Farmer
6. Akerman
7. Baker
8. Butcher
9. Cooper
10. Tinker

a. barrel maker
b. farmer
c. seller of meat
d. pot repairman
e. cleaner of cloth and brushes
f. baker
g. ploughman
h. sheep master
i. professional bowman
j. forest caretaker

II.
Please match the English last name (1-10) with the Czech equivalent (a-j)

1. Newman
2. Smith
3. Cooper
4. Crow
5. Potter
6. Freeman
7. Baker
8. Rude
9. Pigeon
10. Taylor

a. Vrána
b. Svoboda
c. Hrnčíř
d. Novák
e. Hrubý
f. Bednář
g. Holub
h.Krejčí
i. Kovář
 j. Pekař

Answers
Exercise I:
1. Archer i
2. Shepherd h
3. Forrester j
4. Fuller e
5. Farmer b
6. Akerman g
7. Baker f
8. Butcher c
9. Cooper a
10. Tinker d

Exercise II
1. Newman d
2. Smith i
3. Cooper f
4. Crow a
5. Potter c
6. Freeman b
7. Baker j
8. Rude e
9. Pigeon g
10. Taylor h