I read that in 1811, when the Netherlands came under French rule, the French took a census of Dutch citizens and made people report their surnames. But surnames were uncommon for Dutch people then, so a lot of them just made up stuff... and some of it was intentionally silly, as a sort of protest against the French. So now there are Dutch last names like Uiekruier (onion-crier), Suikerbuik (sugar-belly), Rotmensen (rotten people), Piest (piss), and Poepjes (little poop). BUT then again, some people argue that these names date back to before the 1800s, so maybe it's a myth??
The French formalized the use of last names, but last names were already in use before that. Many of these 'silly' Dutch last names have perfectly boring origins. Like "Naaktgeboren" which translates to "Born naked" probably comes from "Nageboren" ie. "Born after" and was used for second sons who were born after the son that mattered.
White, Black and Green meant Silver Smith, Blacksmith, and Gardener respectively, and were given to people of those occupations, these too have stuck around as surnames
A white smith is not a silver smith. A white smith works with white metals, like tin and pewter. Pewter does contain silver.. so maybe thats where the confusion starts.
White, Black and Brown are not occupation surnames. These exist also in other languages and refer to complexion and hair colors. White was a blonde of fair haired. Schwartz, Leblanc, Moore, Braun, etc. Whitesmith has nothing to do with silver. Tin was the 'white iron' of a Whitesmith, also called a Tinker, or Tinsmith. Ferblantier was a Norman occupation for tin. Moneyers were minters, coin makers. They usually were jewelers when not making coin, and goldsmiths worked with silver too. Silver was always too valued to be wasted mixing it into alloy Pewter. Pewter is lead, tin, and copper. A Brazier was a coppersmith. Brazier as in brass, being alloy of tin and copper.
A lot of surnames work like this: "name of a father"+ -son. That's how it worked in ancient Greece (instead of -son there is the genitive case but it means the same), and why there a lot of names like "Johnson" or "Fitzgerald". The kind of surnames is prevalent in germanic cultures but almost inexistant in France, for example.
Yeah it was very common in Scandinavia. I though that this segment missed that whole thing considering how prevalent it is. Even in English culture we see some surnames with this sort of origin.
***** I've heard this before. I've always thought it was cool (especially that it still continues today). I was hoping they were going to mention it, I'm glad you did.
My family name is MacLeod, which means Son of Leod. Leod was originally called Leoid, which comes from Liotr, which came from Ljotr. which means 'Ugly Wolf' because Leod was as cunning as he was hideous to look at. Also, here's my BIG QUESTION: What are the leading cultural/social theories on what the world would be like now if the 'Great Wars' (World Wars I and II) hadn't have happened? What would be different in the world now?
Sweden used to have a patronymic system where your last name was dependent on your fathers name. Other common names used to be soldiers names that were given out to people employed by the army because the patronymic system created many duplicate names. These names were either adjectives describing positive qualities of the soldier (Rask, Villig, Frisk / Quick, Eager, Healthy) or military nouns (Dolk, Lantz, Sköld / Dagger, Lance, Shield) or nature related (Björk, Ask, Berg, Grahn / Birch, Ash, Mountain, Spruce). When family names were introduced many people exchanged the patronymic names and many used these nature themed soldier names as inspiration and combined them into new names. Many Swedish surnames are combinations of words. Berg-man, Berg-kvist, Ö-berg, Ö-lund, Lund-mark, Mark-lund, Ö-kvist, Lund-kvist. Ö-man, Berg-lund, Lund-berg. (hyphens added for clarity) Berg=Mountain, Ö=Island, Man=man, Kvist=Branch, Lund=type of forest, Mark=Ground/Land
In Finland, where my ancestors came from, people took the name of their land (farms) as their last name until the mid-1800's. My great grandfather (1839-1917) changed his last name when he married my great grandmother (1847-1917) since she had inherited the family farm. Their children did not follow that name rule. I still carry the name of the farm for a last name, and the farm is still occupied by my cousins in Finland.
Even though the background looks like he decorated it in 6th grade...because it's the still the same room at his parents house. this was actually super awesome. Thanks man
So I had to google what my last name stands for: Given the -owski ending, this common Polish surname generally derives from the place where the family originated - and could refer to any of dozens of Polish villages with names beginning with Grab, including Grabowo, Grabówka, etc. These place names, in turn, derive from Polish roots such as grabie (meaning "rake"), grab (meaning "the hornbeam tree), and grabic (meaning "to plunder").
In Norway and a lot of scandinavian countries our last names are mostly the fathers name + sen or son in Sweden. At some point they stopped doing that and a family just stuck to some distant relatives father's name or the name of a place. Hence why so many scandinavian people are named Olsen, Jensen, Hansen and so on.
That was quick. I was under the impression that last names started by beinc recorded in the Famous "Dooms Day Book" Commoners adding their job, as John the Cooper. Travelers by their home 'region' , John from (von) London/Englund, That names (real names) are powerful, as anyone knowing the name could Hex a person. Which considering the legal aspect is true, cannot sue someone if their name is not known.
Interesting, but way too brief. For instance, English names like 'Washington' and 'Wellington' are derived from townships or villages where the people lived such as 'Washing-Town' or 'Welling-Town'. Common Jewish surnames can be directly translated such as '-berg' means 'mountain' and '-blatt' means 'leaf'. For Americans, the whole Ellis Island story was skipped. Many immigrants couldn't read or write their names and were assigned surnames typically based on their trade -- which is why we have so many Smiths. Many of these assigned surnames were based on occupations that we no longer recognize (a 'Weller' was a person that produced salt by boiling sea water, for instance). I find it all fascinating.
Do you know right that the video is not a explanation of the origin of all last names? He just gave a few examples to illustrate the video. The answer is the origin of the concept of last names.
yeah but he left out many details- specifically when it came to such common names as Smith, Jones, etc. - but it's very fascinating none the less. I don't think anyone is saying he did a bad job, I think Mark is saying the surface was scratched on a vast margin of naming. Either way, it was brilliant and interesting and we all can agree with that.
There are also the Germanic names that begin with Van or Von, which means 'From' depending on region. So names like Von Trapp or Van Winkle would mean From Trapp or From Winkle. These can be either cities, regions, or environments like forests or mountains.
My last name is an occupational name for a shopkeeper, which is funny because my grandpa owned several small shops/businesses, and my dad and two uncles all have their own businesses as well!
Ok adding to the list of names in the comments. I can offer up Franklin, an old English term meaning "Freeman" usually used to refer to a land owner. Davies, an hebrew word for "beloved" in wales it refers to the child of saint david, and Mokes possibly connected to the word mock, so "one who mocks"
A much better example of Todd Smith Anger (Todd Smith Anger, really?) would be Gaius Julius Caesar, or Marcus Tullius Cicero. Gaius was his first name, Julius was the Surname, and Caesar was the hereditary nickname. Caesar means 'hairy'. Ironic isn't it? Same for Cicero, Marcus is first name, Tullius (Tully!) is the surname, and Cicero is the given nickname. Things got more complicated during the Empire, as heirs would inherit their father's (predecessor's) names.
And then, the praenomen was ignored or abandoned, because there were like 18 of them in common use by the 1st century BCE, and they stopped being useful outside of close family and friends. Hence Gaius Julius Caesar was (and is) often just referred to as Caesar or Julius Caesar. And we know Marcus Tullius Cicero pretty much as Cicero; you can just give the one name, and even thousands of years later we know who you're talking about. And even the Romans were apparently stuck with abbreviations that referred to old language (like we use 'lb' for 'pound'); Gaius was abbreviated C. (because the abbreviation was in use before the letter G existed), and Caeso was K. (because, of course, you wouldn't want to confuse it with Gaius).
Benzine has an interesting etymology. It comes from India from "Luban Jawi" or Javanese Frankincense. Over time Westerners corrupted it to "La Benjawi", then "La Benjamin". Venetian traders changed the j to a z, and "La Benzoin" Alchemists derived benzoic acid from it. The hydrocarbon derived from benzoic acid was variously called benzin, benzol, or benzene.
You should have mentioned how historically in Scandinavia and today in Iceland your last name was your father's first name with son or dottir(daughter) at the end which is how we get names like Ericson or Johnson or Anderson. Female last names didn't stick around after they changed to how most people do it now.
Lower case letters derived from handwriting. With the shift to printing each typeface was kept in a separate drawer. Over the years mixed case became popular and they were put in divided cases with the capitals on top, ie. the upper case.
Smith is actually believed to be the name given to soldiers and guards. This makes more sense because there were less "metal working" smiths than bakers and Taylors, therefore baker and Taylor should be more popular that smith. Where the metal working came around was the fact that soldiers had to maintain their own equipment. Therefore a soldier who was proficient with heavy metals was known as a blacksmith, of light metals a whitesmith, good at fighting a warsmith etc.
While the masses of Japan didn't have last names until very recently, the nobility had historically recorded clan and family names that can be traced back to at least 700 AD. The names tend to come from geographical features of the area where the clan ruled.
English, Scottish, and Irish: generally a nickname referring to the color of the hair or complexion, Middle English br(o)un, from Old English brun or Old French brun. This word is occasionally found in Old English and Old Norse as a personal name or byname. Brun- was also a Germanic name-forming element. Some instances of Old English Brun as a personal name may therefore be short forms of compound names such as Brungar, Brunwine, etc. As a Scottish and Irish name, it sometimes represents a translation of Gaelic Donn. As an American family name, it has absorbed numerous surnames from other languages with the same meaning.
I'd like to ask if you or anyone could tell me where the very common last name of Allen came from? I would really appreciate the answer to this. Thank you very much, and plus I really love this video. It was very informative. Keep up the good work.
Native tribes in North America go by clan systems. It wasn't until the US government started documenting people on the reservation that we started using last names. The Tribe where I'm from at least had a chance to create last names in our language and not English. Some examples are Kutsakwahu (white eagle) Dawakuku (sun rising) and these names came from the families clans. The funny thing though is that modern last names come from the father while clanship (in my tribe at least) is given to a person from their mother. But when Native people signed up to join the US Army a lot of names where changed. My last name is Dalton because my great grandfather was "assigned" the name so the officers could pronounce it.
My surname is Raison which is French - translated to English it means reason as in raison d'etre: reason for being. When I looked up what it meant it said my ancestors were probably people with good reasoning skills. I can only assume by that that they were lawyers or a similar occupation. I'm not entirely sure though. I know my ancestors were definitely French though, wonderful.
I'm not certain, but i do believe some areas (maybe an alternate name for pastures or similar areas) are referred as greens. So i guess it comes from that.
It's an ancient last name derived from the term of the same name used to describe those that are conscious of the concept of earth stewardship and the 3 R's (reduce, reuse, recycle). That, or the colour purple.
R3Testa Nah, i don't think so. I mean, to me it makes more sense for it to be named after greens, and besides from what familiar word would it have been altered?
Is it possible to get sick from walking into a bathroom and get sick from a person who happens to be sick, by smelling the stink they create in the bathroom? Kind of a second hand smoke kind of thing? I asked this of John Green in one of his others videos but, this seems more like the place to ask because it been bugging me for years...and it's a BIG question that no one seems to be able to answer. I leave it in all of your capable hands. Thanks Joe
The Internet says my last name comes from an occupation but the family story is that some guy painted his face to sneak into the enemy camp and got the nickname.
My family's last name comes from a verb that translates roughly to English: "disrespect, denounce, vilify, defame, malign, diss, mess with". It kinda makes me wonder... :D
Whilst researching family history n the Gower, we came across a report of an Assize in Carmarthen where a t the end of a case the Judge called back one of the witnesses and told in no uncertain terms that if the witness ever appeared in court again without have taken a surname the Judge would call him back for a heavy fine or a prison term. All because the witness had had to identify himself by using 22 “ AP”s’. I’.e son of as he had not taken a surname. 2:412:41
My last name, Pinto(as you can see above) started as a nickname for a particular knight in Portugal who belonged to the Sousa family who were a bunch of aristocrats.
My last name Taverna is actually the town in Italy where my father's family is from. My mother's last name is a medieval title of nobility, Marchio latin equivalent of the German Margrave. My middle name is just one of my dad's uncle's first name. latinized my name would be Gaius Iulius Tabernarius at least in classical latin, late latin would have it be Iulianus Tabernarius. In english it would be Julian Tavern. J not being present in either latin nor italian.
Probably not I got the translation a while ago when I joined nova roma, a roman recreation group. Haven't been a member in ages but from what I remember they are still around. They do the translations for new members on request, or at least they did when I joined several years ago. Then again I have a very old name so the translation was probably easier for them to make than it is for most cases. For example assuming your first name is Danny, I wouldn't even know where to start. Danny comes from the Hebrew Daniel, Hebrew is a Semitic language very different from Latin which is indoeuropean. It means "god is my judge" my name Giuliano comes from Iulianius which means little Iulius or Julius. Since in classical latin you stop being little when you grow up. My name should be Giulio, (Julius) hence the distinction between classical latin (Gaius Iulius,) and late latin (Iulianius.) The late roman emporer Iulianius the apostate being an example of another Iulius that never grew up. I like the comparison, since I'm also an apostate.
I am Icelandic and we (mostly) don't have last names. My name is Axel Þór (Thor), and I am the son of Kolbeinn. But no matter how often I point the Icelandic naming system out to Reuters and the BBC they insist on referring to us by our patronyms. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_name
I am curious if you know anything about the origin of surnames in Romania. My surname is rather rare, and it's super hard to find information about the ancestry.
Some slaves in Brazil used to give themselves last names according to the ship they had been brought on. Or they would just make one up when they arrived. I know my great great grandfather did this and so did a lot of other slaves, trouble is they picked the same last name so I have a similiar name to a bunch of people without being actually their relative.
Seeing how my surname "Long" isn't an occupation, baptismal, nor location name, I can only speculate as for what characteristic my forefathers received such a nickname.
My big question: You know that sound effect in movies that is used for punches that sounds exactly like a punch doesn't? Where did that sound come from?
Some surnames are just the father's first name. Basically, a child's last name would be his father's first name, the father's last name would be _his_ father's first name, and so on. This one's pretty hard to track though, because the surname changes with every generation. Mostly found in predominantly Muslim countries, like Malaysia.
Are you sure there were no last names used in Japan until 1905? How do you reconcile that with historical figures like "Oda Nobunaga" "Ieyasu Tokugawa" "Shingen Takeda" from the 1500s?
My last name is Giuliano, which is the Italian first name for Julian. So I guess somewhere in my ancestry I had a relative named Julian and his son took that as his last name.
Question: this is a big one: Why do joints (human) crack? As in make that popping sound? Im talking about a single pop that can not be repeated for some time, not the ones who crack all the time, like injuries
Question for the Big Question: Is the ocean blue b/c it reflects the sky or is the sky blue b/c it reflects the ocean or... could they both be operational at the same time.
My full name is Caesar Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus. How fun signing contracts are!
I read that in 1811, when the Netherlands came under French rule, the French took a census of Dutch citizens and made people report their surnames. But surnames were uncommon for Dutch people then, so a lot of them just made up stuff... and some of it was intentionally silly, as a sort of protest against the French. So now there are Dutch last names like Uiekruier (onion-crier), Suikerbuik (sugar-belly), Rotmensen (rotten people), Piest (piss), and Poepjes (little poop). BUT then again, some people argue that these names date back to before the 1800s, so maybe it's a myth??
I've heard that before too.
The French formalized the use of last names, but last names were already in use before that. Many of these 'silly' Dutch last names have perfectly boring origins. Like "Naaktgeboren" which translates to "Born naked" probably comes from "Nageboren" ie. "Born after" and was used for second sons who were born after the son that mattered.
they also have naakt geboren (born naked) wich is my favouraite
I googled my maiden name Faber and though it is a Dutch surmame, it's Latin for craftsman...
Kristen Hoffmam
it also means "smith". So you might be Kristen Smith ;)
I’ll never find out my surname
-William Broomrape
Your ancestors was caught humping a broom naked lol
change that... don’t ever tell anyone that’s your last name...
Your great grandfather must've had a monkey that likes to ride motorcycles or something like that. Thats an awesome name!
Unfunny
So where did the last name "Dickinson" come from...
mediocrewarfare someone had a father named Dickin and took his name and added son
Son of Richard
ItsCliffGaming some one put there dick in there son
England
@@jeffthegamer5565 wtf lmao
White, Black and Green meant Silver Smith, Blacksmith, and Gardener respectively, and were given to people of those occupations, these too have stuck around as surnames
A white smith is not a silver smith. A white smith works with white metals, like tin and pewter. Pewter does contain silver.. so maybe thats where the confusion starts.
wrong
Makes me wonder about "Brown"...
White, Black and Brown are not occupation surnames.
These exist also in other languages and refer to complexion and hair colors. White was a blonde of fair haired. Schwartz, Leblanc, Moore, Braun, etc.
Whitesmith has nothing to do with silver. Tin was the 'white iron' of a Whitesmith, also called a Tinker, or Tinsmith. Ferblantier was a Norman occupation for tin.
Moneyers were minters, coin makers. They usually were jewelers when not making coin, and goldsmiths worked with silver too.
Silver was always too valued to be wasted mixing it into alloy Pewter. Pewter is lead, tin, and copper.
A Brazier was a coppersmith. Brazier as in brass, being alloy of tin and copper.
A lot of surnames work like this: "name of a father"+ -son. That's how it worked in ancient Greece (instead of -son there is the genitive case but it means the same), and why there a lot of names like "Johnson" or "Fitzgerald". The kind of surnames is prevalent in germanic cultures but almost inexistant in France, for example.
That's the naming system still used in Iceland. My last name is Pálsson as I am the son of Páll.
Yeah it was very common in Scandinavia. I though that this segment missed that whole thing considering how prevalent it is. Even in English culture we see some surnames with this sort of origin.
***** Like Jon Pàll Sigmarsson?
Dr. Astrô Nauth That's right.
***** I've heard this before. I've always thought it was cool (especially that it still continues today). I was hoping they were going to mention it, I'm glad you did.
I'm so glad that mental floss is expanding this is one of my favorite web series
"I can do what I want Smith" is SO what i'm naming my kid XD
Seymour Butts really appreciated this episode.
My family name is MacLeod, which means Son of Leod. Leod was originally called Leoid, which comes from Liotr, which came from Ljotr. which means 'Ugly Wolf' because Leod was as cunning as he was hideous to look at.
Also, here's my BIG QUESTION: What are the leading cultural/social theories on what the world would be like now if the 'Great Wars' (World Wars I and II) hadn't have happened? What would be different in the world now?
technology would be one thing and cultural acceptance another
I don't suppose you have any uncles who go around cutting people's heads off?
Beggar42 I did.. but they're all dead. Under mysterious circumstances.
Fish in a Barrel
Unfortunately we would have had the Grand wars A & B instead. Primates hay!
My last name means tall mountain. (Højbjerg)
My dads family is also pretty dang tall ^^
damn how tall are you now
My last name means Birch Valley
Love you hosting this show - such a great channel!
Simple and too the point. Thanks
I am pretty baked and this was a question I asked myself .
Sweden used to have a patronymic system where your last name was dependent on your fathers name. Other common names used to be soldiers names that were given out to people employed by the army because the patronymic system created many duplicate names. These names were either adjectives describing positive qualities of the soldier (Rask, Villig, Frisk / Quick, Eager, Healthy) or military nouns (Dolk, Lantz, Sköld / Dagger, Lance, Shield) or nature related (Björk, Ask, Berg, Grahn / Birch, Ash, Mountain, Spruce). When family names were introduced many people exchanged the patronymic names and many used these nature themed soldier names as inspiration and combined them into new names. Many Swedish surnames are combinations of words.
Berg-man, Berg-kvist, Ö-berg, Ö-lund, Lund-mark, Mark-lund, Ö-kvist, Lund-kvist. Ö-man, Berg-lund, Lund-berg. (hyphens added for clarity)
Berg=Mountain, Ö=Island, Man=man, Kvist=Branch, Lund=type of forest, Mark=Ground/Land
In Finland, where my ancestors came from, people took the name of their land (farms) as their last name until the mid-1800's. My great grandfather (1839-1917) changed his last name when he married my great grandmother (1847-1917) since she had inherited the family farm. Their children did not follow that name rule. I still carry the name of the farm for a last name, and the farm is still occupied by my cousins in Finland.
Even though the background looks like he decorated it in 6th grade...because it's the still the same room at his parents house. this was actually super awesome. Thanks man
So I had to google what my last name stands for:
Given the -owski ending, this common Polish surname generally derives from the place where the family originated - and could refer to any of dozens of Polish villages with names beginning with Grab, including Grabowo, Grabówka, etc. These place names, in turn, derive from Polish roots such as grabie (meaning "rake"), grab (meaning "the hornbeam tree), and grabic (meaning "to plunder").
So your family either derived from pirates or trees?
Jacob Frey maybe pirate trees haha who knows
I hope it's pirates.
In Latvia we mostly have trees for surnames. Oaky, Birchy, Willowy, Hazely, Sprucy.
Did you just call me Smith? Yes you did, because you can do what you want, Craig.......................Benzine.
delicious cancer-inducing benzine
In Norway and a lot of scandinavian countries our last names are mostly the fathers name + sen or son in Sweden. At some point they stopped doing that and a family just stuck to some distant relatives father's name or the name of a place. Hence why so many scandinavian people are named Olsen, Jensen, Hansen and so on.
These are just getting better and better
That was quick. I was under the impression that last names started by beinc recorded in the Famous "Dooms Day Book" Commoners adding their job, as John the Cooper. Travelers by their home 'region' , John from (von) London/Englund, That names (real names) are powerful, as anyone knowing the name could Hex a person. Which considering the legal aspect is true, cannot sue someone if their name is not known.
Very interesting video, thanks for the upload smith.
Interesting, but way too brief. For instance, English names like 'Washington' and 'Wellington' are derived from townships or villages where the people lived such as 'Washing-Town' or 'Welling-Town'. Common Jewish surnames can be directly translated such as '-berg' means 'mountain' and '-blatt' means 'leaf'. For Americans, the whole Ellis Island story was skipped. Many immigrants couldn't read or write their names and were assigned surnames typically based on their trade -- which is why we have so many Smiths. Many of these assigned surnames were based on occupations that we no longer recognize (a 'Weller' was a person that produced salt by boiling sea water, for instance). I find it all fascinating.
Do you know right that the video is not a explanation of the origin of all last names? He just gave a few examples to illustrate the video. The answer is the origin of the concept of last names.
yeah but he left out many details- specifically when it came to such common names as Smith, Jones, etc. - but it's very fascinating none the less. I don't think anyone is saying he did a bad job, I think Mark is saying the surface was scratched on a vast margin of naming. Either way, it was brilliant and interesting and we all can agree with that.
There are also the Germanic names that begin with Van or Von, which means 'From' depending on region. So names like Von Trapp or Van Winkle would mean From Trapp or From Winkle. These can be either cities, regions, or environments like forests or mountains.
Spanish names that end with; AZ, EZ, IZ, OZ, UZ are for "son/daughter of".
and guzman is spanish for goodman.
Henry R. Santos
exact, and obvious are also those of occupations, nicknames, places, animals, etc. XD
My surname, which I'm not going to say, essentially means "Beloved of Aodh" or "Devotee of Aodh." Aodh is the Celtic god of fire and the sun. So cool.
McKenna
HA! :-P
theQiwiMan You are correct! Either you have the same name or you just looked it up!
Ravenclaw1991
Lol I just googled it. My last name isn't nearly as cool. Apparently it means "bright, famous, noble youth hostage"..?
Lame.
theQiwiMan At least it has "bright, famous and noble" in it! haha
theQiwiMan ""bright, famous, noble youth hostage"..?" Robin?
We need more of this guy
My last name is an occupational name for a shopkeeper, which is funny because my grandpa owned several small shops/businesses, and my dad and two uncles all have their own businesses as well!
Wow! Much more elaborate than I originally assumed! Smith!
Would like to contact you and interview you regarding genealogy. How do we get in touch?
Ok adding to the list of names in the comments. I can offer up Franklin, an old English term meaning "Freeman" usually used to refer to a land owner. Davies, an hebrew word for "beloved" in wales it refers to the child of saint david, and Mokes possibly connected to the word mock, so "one who mocks"
surnames are starting to have a bigger spectrum now
Craig is cool. I like Craig. Smith.
I raise you a Roger.
Roger Smith sounds like a cool guy.
Maxx B Roger Craig Smith even more so.
The "big question" videos are usually pretty disappointing. But this video was very interesting!
Well actaually the Nomen was a family name and the cognomen was the nickname to distinguish between generations that share a praenomen
A much better example of Todd Smith Anger (Todd Smith Anger, really?) would be Gaius Julius Caesar, or Marcus Tullius Cicero. Gaius was his first name, Julius was the Surname, and Caesar was the hereditary nickname. Caesar means 'hairy'. Ironic isn't it? Same for Cicero, Marcus is first name, Tullius (Tully!) is the surname, and Cicero is the given nickname. Things got more complicated during the Empire, as heirs would inherit their father's (predecessor's) names.
And then, the praenomen was ignored or abandoned, because there were like 18 of them in common use by the 1st century BCE, and they stopped being useful outside of close family and friends. Hence Gaius Julius Caesar was (and is) often just referred to as Caesar or Julius Caesar. And we know Marcus Tullius Cicero pretty much as Cicero; you can just give the one name, and even thousands of years later we know who you're talking about.
And even the Romans were apparently stuck with abbreviations that referred to old language (like we use 'lb' for 'pound'); Gaius was abbreviated C. (because the abbreviation was in use before the letter G existed), and Caeso was K. (because, of course, you wouldn't want to confuse it with Gaius).
Sutton means "south settlement" in Old English. I don't have any relatives or ancestors that are English that I know of.
Benzine has an interesting etymology. It comes from India from "Luban Jawi" or Javanese Frankincense. Over time Westerners corrupted it to "La Benjawi", then "La Benjamin". Venetian traders changed the j to a z, and "La Benzoin" Alchemists derived benzoic acid from it. The hydrocarbon derived from benzoic acid was variously called benzin, benzol, or benzene.
You should have mentioned how historically in Scandinavia and today in Iceland your last name was your father's first name with son or dottir(daughter) at the end which is how we get names like Ericson or Johnson or Anderson. Female last names didn't stick around after they changed to how most people do it now.
Why are there upper and lower case letters (As Bb Cc Did Ee)
I want to find out too!
Mental_floss do dis quastien
Google is your friend
Lower case letters derived from handwriting. With the shift to printing each typeface was kept in a separate drawer. Over the years mixed case became popular and they were put in divided cases with the capitals on top, ie. the upper case.
Okay but what about last names like mine… Rewey
Another source of last names, as is the case with Scottish last names is the name of the clan of origin, for example McDonald or Campbell.
already covered in the video.
Smith is actually believed to be the name given to soldiers and guards. This makes more sense because there were less "metal working" smiths than bakers and Taylors, therefore baker and Taylor should be more popular that smith. Where the metal working came around was the fact that soldiers had to maintain their own equipment. Therefore a soldier who was proficient with heavy metals was known as a blacksmith, of light metals a whitesmith, good at fighting a warsmith etc.
Benzine? Now THAT's an interesting last name.
Our family name was Feld up until about the 11th century when they changed it to Field, damn that was a long time ago...
Love this video....Smith
McCullouch reporting in. Scottish clan whose name derives from the boar. Strength and persistence.
I love the history of peoples names.
I love this guy!!!! Craig for president!!!
While the masses of Japan didn't have last names until very recently, the nobility had historically recorded clan and family names that can be traced back to at least 700 AD. The names tend to come from geographical features of the area where the clan ruled.
The last name Brown, would that indicate the color or something else?
English, Scottish, and Irish: generally a nickname referring to the color of the hair or complexion, Middle English br(o)un, from Old English brun or Old French brun. This word is occasionally found in Old English and Old Norse as a personal name or byname. Brun- was also a Germanic name-forming element. Some instances of Old English Brun as a personal name may therefore be short forms of compound names such as Brungar, Brunwine, etc. As a Scottish and Irish name, it sometimes represents a translation of Gaelic Donn. As an American family name, it has absorbed numerous surnames from other languages with the same meaning.
“And an abdomen, is part of the body”! 🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂
Hello and thank you for your video. What meaning would the last name Peacock have?
I'd like to ask if you or anyone could tell me where the very common last name of Allen came from? I would really appreciate the answer to this. Thank you very much, and plus I really love this video. It was very informative. Keep up the good work.
Celtic surname, originating in Ireland, and common in Scotland, Wales, and England.
OMG I thought about this question randomly and I'm so glad some one could answer it and also that I'm not the only one who wondered
You are the perfect host for this show. THIS is your true calling.
Native tribes in North America go by clan systems. It wasn't until the US government started documenting people on the reservation that we started using last names. The Tribe where I'm from at least had a chance to create last names in our language and not English. Some examples are Kutsakwahu (white eagle) Dawakuku (sun rising) and these names came from the families clans. The funny thing though is that modern last names come from the father while clanship (in my tribe at least) is given to a person from their mother. But when Native people signed up to join the US Army a lot of names where changed. My last name is Dalton because my great grandfather was "assigned" the name so the officers could pronounce it.
"Like the Michael J." Cracked me up that I had to stop and comment.
Epic video dudes
My surname is Raison which is French - translated to English it means reason as in raison d'etre: reason for being. When I looked up what it meant it said my ancestors were probably people with good reasoning skills. I can only assume by that that they were lawyers or a similar occupation. I'm not entirely sure though. I know my ancestors were definitely French though, wonderful.
My last name means brave with a spear, we desire companionship and working together with others to achieve peace and harmony.
Interesting, i've always wondered about mine.
I suppose my ancestors resided under a hill
They were hobbits, from Bree.
I like that better ;)
where did the last name GREEN come from?
I'm not certain, but i do believe some areas (maybe an alternate name for pastures or similar areas) are referred as greens. So i guess it comes from that.
Gardeners got the name
It's an ancient last name derived from the term of the same name used to describe those that are conscious of the concept of earth stewardship and the 3 R's (reduce, reuse, recycle).
That, or the colour purple.
Jon Von Basslake It could also be an altered form of some similar word.
R3Testa Nah, i don't think so. I mean, to me it makes more sense for it to be named after greens, and besides from what familiar word would it have been altered?
I always wondered about the origen of last names and now i have an idea
Is it possible to get sick from walking into a bathroom and get sick from a person who happens to be sick, by smelling the stink they create in the bathroom? Kind of a second hand smoke kind of thing? I asked this of John Green in one of his others videos but, this seems more like the place to ask because it been bugging me for years...and it's a BIG question that no one seems to be able to answer. I leave it in all of your capable hands. Thanks Joe
Could you tell me the name of the picture with the word Dena in it at 1:52?
My question is: where did the idea of carving aliens in the cave walls come from?
The Internet says my last name comes from an occupation but the family story is that some guy painted his face to sneak into the enemy camp and got the nickname.
My family's last name comes from a verb that translates roughly to English: "disrespect, denounce, vilify, defame, malign, diss, mess with". It kinda makes me wonder... :D
Whilst researching family history n the Gower, we came across a report of an Assize in Carmarthen where a t the end of a case the Judge called back one of the witnesses and told in no uncertain terms that if the witness ever appeared in court again without have taken a surname the Judge would call him back for a heavy fine or a prison term. All because the witness had had to identify himself by using 22 “ AP”s’. I’.e son of as he had not taken a surname. 2:41 2:41
I like this guy.
I have a big question.
What is the blie side of the eraser used for?
It cannot erase anything!
My last name, Pinto(as you can see above) started as a nickname for a particular knight in Portugal who belonged to the Sousa family who were a bunch of aristocrats.
My last name Taverna is actually the town in Italy where my father's family is from. My mother's last name is a medieval title of nobility, Marchio latin equivalent of the German Margrave. My middle name is just one of my dad's uncle's first name.
latinized my name would be Gaius Iulius Tabernarius at least in classical latin, late latin would have it be Iulianus Tabernarius. In english it would be Julian Tavern. J not being present in either latin nor italian.
That's really cool!! Can you help me figure out what mine would be in Latin?
Probably not I got the translation a while ago when I joined nova roma, a roman recreation group. Haven't been a member in ages but from what I remember they are still around. They do the translations for new members on request, or at least they did when I joined several years ago.
Then again I have a very old name so the translation was probably easier for them to make than it is for most cases. For example assuming your first name is Danny, I wouldn't even know where to start. Danny comes from the Hebrew Daniel, Hebrew is a Semitic language very different from Latin which is indoeuropean.
It means "god is my judge"
my name Giuliano comes from Iulianius which means little Iulius or Julius. Since in classical latin you stop being little when you grow up. My name should be Giulio, (Julius) hence the distinction between classical latin (Gaius Iulius,) and late latin (Iulianius.)
The late roman emporer Iulianius the apostate being an example of another Iulius that never grew up. I like the comparison, since I'm also an apostate.
+Danny Drawn Trahitur
I am Icelandic and we (mostly) don't have last names. My name is Axel Þór (Thor), and I am the son of Kolbeinn. But no matter how often I point the Icelandic naming system out to Reuters and the BBC they insist on referring to us by our patronyms.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_name
that is because they are run by illiterate communists
Where did my last name come from Gilhmon/Gilman? Thank you very much.
I am curious if you know anything about the origin of surnames in Romania. My surname is rather rare, and it's super hard to find information about the ancestry.
Some slaves in Brazil used to give themselves last names according to the ship they had been brought on. Or they would just make one up when they arrived. I know my great great grandfather did this and so did a lot of other slaves, trouble is they picked the same last name so I have a similiar name to a bunch of people without being actually their relative.
Actually the koreans had Family names such as Yi, Cho, or Kim and had last names well before 1900
Seeing how my surname "Long" isn't an occupation, baptismal, nor location name, I can only speculate as for what characteristic my forefathers received such a nickname.
This is about what I expected. Still, it's nice to know for sure.
I love this host.
My big question: You know that sound effect in movies that is used for punches that sounds exactly like a punch doesn't? Where did that sound come from?
What did the earlier people (before AD) call the year they were in during ~100 BC or 100 BCE?
I think Let's-Get-Started Smith and his sister See-You-Next-Week have pretty cool names.
very informative plus I like your demeanor
This explains so much
Some surnames are just the father's first name. Basically, a child's last name would be his father's first name, the father's last name would be _his_ father's first name, and so on. This one's pretty hard to track though, because the surname changes with every generation. Mostly found in predominantly Muslim countries, like Malaysia.
When did we start using the first name along with the second name in England ?
Are you sure there were no last names used in Japan until 1905? How do you reconcile that with historical figures like "Oda Nobunaga" "Ieyasu Tokugawa" "Shingen Takeda" from the 1500s?
My last name is Giuliano, which is the Italian first name for Julian. So I guess somewhere in my ancestry I had a relative named Julian and his son took that as his last name.
That feel when he says your surname. Fudge yeeeeeh
Why are the letters and symbols arranged how they are on a keyboard and who came up with the design
Question:
this is a big one:
Why do joints (human) crack? As in make that popping sound?
Im talking about a single pop that can not be repeated for some time, not the ones who crack all the time, like injuries
I fucking love this guy.
What television program first used the phrase, "previously on ......"
Question for the Big Question: Is the ocean blue b/c it reflects the sky or is the sky blue b/c it reflects the ocean or... could they both be operational at the same time.
Where did we get Hearts, Spades, Clubs, and Diamonds as the suits on playing cards?