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When we think of tracing our family tree, we often envision following our
surname back thousands of years to the first bearer of the name. In our neat and
tidy dream, each successive generation bears the same surname - spelled exactly
the same way in each and every record - until we reach the dawn of man.
The dream comes to an end, however, when confronted with the cold hard facts
of genealogy research. For the majority of human existence surnames were not
even used.
According to legends, China first initiated the custom of using surnames during
the reign of Emperor Fu Xi (2852BC), but their use didn't begin in the
European world until about the eleventh century,
with some patronymic
surnames in Scandinavia bestowed as late as the nineteenth century.
Surnames, for the most part, evolved during the past eight hundred years to help
distinguish one person from another as the world's population grew. The
acquisition of surnames has been influenced by many factors, including social
class, naming practices and patterns, and even unusual events.
Even tracing your ancestors back to the point where they first acquired
surnames can be a challenge as surname spelling and pronunciation has evolved
over centuries, making it unlikely that your present surname is the same as the
original surname bestowed on your distant ancestor. You may have a slight
spelling variation of the original name, an anglicized version, or even a
completely different surname. This may have occurred for such reasons as:
- Illiteracy - the further back you go in your research, the more you
will find cases of ancestors who couldn't read and write. Many didn't even
know how their own names were spelled, only how to pronounce them. Therefore,
when they gave their names to clerks, census enumerators, clergymen, or other
officials, that person wrote the name the way that it sounded to him. Even if
they did have the spelling memorized, the person recording the information may
not have asked. Example: the German HEYER has become HYER, HIER, HIRE,
HIRES, HIERS, etc.
- Simplification - Immigrants, upon arrival in a new country, often
found that their name was difficult for others to spell or
pronounce. Therefore, they often simplified the spelling or altered their
names to relate them more closely to the language and pronunciations of their
new country. Example: the German ALBRECHT becomes ALBRIGHT, or the
Swedish JONSSON becomes JOHNSON
- Necessity - Those from countries with alphabets other than Latin
had to transliterate them, producing many variations on the same name.
Example: the Ukranian surname ZHADKOWSKYI became ZADKOWSKI
- Mispronunciation - Letters within a surname were often confused due
to verbal miscommunication or heavy accents. Example: depending upon
the accents of both the person speaking the name and the person writing it
down, KROEBER could become GROVER or CROWER
- Desire to Fit In - Many foreigners changed their names in some way
to assimilate into their new country and culture. The most usual change of
surname was to translate the meaning of their surname into the new language.
Example: the Irish BREHONY became JUDGE
- Desire to Break with the Past - Immigration was sometimes prompted
in one way or another by a desire to break with or escape the past. For some
immigrants this included ridding themselves of anything, including their name,
which reminded them of an unhappy life in the old country. Example:
Mexicans fleeing to America to escape the revolution
- Dislike of Surname - People forced by governments to adopt surnames
which were not a part of their culture or were not of their choosing would
often shed themselves of such names at the first opportunity. Example:
Armenians forced by the Turkish government to give up their traditional
surnames and adopt new "Turkish" surnames would revert back to their original
surnames, or some variation, upon emigration/escape from Turkey
- Fear of Discrimination - Surname changes and modifications can
sometimes be attributed to a desire to conceal nationality or religious
orientation in fear of reprisal or discrimination. This motive constantly
appears among the Jews, who often faced anti-Semitism. Example: the
Jewish surname COHEN changed to COHN/KAHN or WOLFSHEIMER shortened to WOLF
Next page > Tips for Searching Out Surname
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