What Is The Meaning of Your Last Name?

The beginning or ending of your last name may be a dead giveaway as to the country origins of your ancestors. For instance, if your name ends with -ano or -ez (Romano, Lopez, Martinez, Dominguez, etc), you probably have a distant relative of Latin origin. People with the prefixes O'-, Mac,- or Mc- are often of Irish or Scottish descent.

For instance, the last name Smith derives from an Anglo-Saxon verb meaning 'to hit with a hammer.' The name was given to blacksmiths. Descendants of mill keepers carry the surname Miller. So if your last name is Taylor, Weaver, Baker, Potter, or Cook, it's easy to guess the occupation of your predecessors!

If your last name ends with -son, it's derived from the first name of one of your ancestors. For example, Wilson means 'son of Will.' These names are very common. There are 1,932,812 people with the last name Johnson in America alone. Other countries, like italy, use De or Di to indicate parenthood.

Perhaps not Green, but many last names derived from a person's hair color or complexion. For example, the fourth most common American last name is Brown. Other color-based last names are Gray, White, Black, and even Fairchild!

Your last name is derived from a place. For instance, Hills or Fords are named after geographical landmarks. Some prefixes or suffixes, such as -ton, van, or -ville, refer to towns or cities. So if your surname is London or Holland, it's pretty easy to guess where your ancestors are from.

Descriptive surnames are the least common, especially those which derived from negative characteristics. However, it's not too bad to have been named after a good or neutral characteristic, such as Young, Good, Little, Armstrong, or Wise.