surname

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The portion of a person's name that is generally hereditary or treated as an indicator of a person's family, which may be shared with other members of the family, or otherwise derived from their names in some fashion; distinguished from that person's given name(s).
  2. Synonym of epithet, an additional name, particularly those derived from a birthplace, quality, or achievement.
  3. Synonym of nickname, an additional name given to a person, place, or thing, a byname.
  4. The cognomen of Roman names.
verb
  1. To give a surname to.
  2. To call by a surname.

Pronunciation

/ˈsɜːˌneɪm/ sûʹnām' En-uk-surname.ogg /ˈsɝˌneɪm/ sûrʹnām' En-us-surname.ogg

Word forms

surname surnames sirname sur-name surnaming surnamed

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English surname, a partial calque of Old French surnum, surnoun (“surname; nickname”) (whence Middle English surnoun), from Late Latin supernōmen, suprānōmen (“surname”), from super- (“over, above, beyond”) and nōmen (“name”), equivalent to sur- + name.

Translations

Afrikaans: van Albanian: mbiemër Arabic: لَقَب Arabic: كُنْيَة Arabic: اِسْم الْعَائِلَة Arabic: كنوة Arabic: كْنيّة Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܟܘܼܢܵܝܵܐ Armenian: ազգանուն Asturian: apellíu Azerbaijani: soyad Azerbaijani: familiya Bashkir: фамилия Basque: abizen Basque: deitura Belarusian: про́звішча Belarusian: про́зьвішча Bengali: উপাধি Central Bikol: apelyido Breton: anv Breton: anv-familh Breton: anv-tiegezh Bulgarian: фами́лно и́ме Bulgarian: фами́лия Burmese: ရိုးရာအမည် Carpathian Rusyn: пру́звище Catalan: cognom Catalan: llinatge Chechen: фамили Chichewa: dzina la bambo Chinese Cantonese: 姓 Chinese Cantonese: 姓氏 Chinese: щин Chinese: 字姓 Eastern Min Chinese: 姓氏 Hakka Chinese: 姓 Hakka Chinese: 姓氏 Chinese Mandarin: 姓 Chinese Mandarin: 姓氏 Wu Chinese: 姓 Wu Chinese: 姓氏 Chuvash: хушамат Cornish: hanow Czech: příjmení Danish: efternavn Danish: familienavn Danish: slægtsnavn Dutch: achternaam Dutch: familienaam Esperanto: familia nomo Esperanto: familinomo Estonian: perekonnanimi Faroese: eftirnavn Faroese: ættarnavn Finnish: sukunimi French: nom French: patronyme French: nom de famille Galician: apelido Galician: alcuño Georgian: გვარი German: Nachname German: Familienname Swabian: Familiename Greek: επώνυμο
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