The Origin of Most American Surnames
The U.S Census states that there are at least 150,000 different last names across the US. Some are extremely rare, and some are overly common, but what unites all surnames is that they all have a unique history. Most last names in the United States originated in Europe; England, Scotland, Germany, and Ireland because European settlers were the first ones to step foot on North American soil and remained to start their lives in America.
How to Distinguish the Origin of the Most Popular Surnames
You do not need any complex tools or research papers to understand the origins of last names or their meanings. There are generally four groups of last names; occupational, locative, patronymic, and status/nickname.
Locative last names (although none of these make the most popular surname list in the US) describe a geographic feature or location, such as Hill, or Marsh.
Occupational last names, two of which are highly popular in the states, are last names related to, unsurprisingly, the individual’s occupation. An example of such a last name would be Smith, Miller, Baker, Cook, Fisher, etc.
Patronymic last names are quite straightforward – they originate from the name of the father and have a meaning of “a son”, such as Johnson (John’s son), and Wilson (Will’s son).
Status last names usually relate to the physical appearance or physical attributes such as Small (if the person is small), Brown (if they have brown hair or brown skin), or White (similarly, if they have white skin or white/blonde hair).
Continue reading more on Meanings of the Most Popular US Surnames!
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