Bible Study Surnames

[agua.]

Is there any indication in the Bible of when our tradition of surnames began ?

 

[reba]

Did nt they kinda start as 'son of' ?

 

[Knotical]

I don't think they started during biblical times, it was much later. A lot of the surnames as we know them now started in the middle ages, and developed from there.

 

[WIP]

Did nt they kinda start as 'son of' ?

That's what I thought. Johnson, Iverson, Anderson, Larson, Christenson,...

 

[TOG]

Did nt they kinda start as 'son of' ?

I don't think those were really names as such, but many of them did eventually become names. We do see a progression in the Bible, though actual family names weren't known among the Jews until well after New Testament times. To start with, everyone had only one name. As the population grew, they ran into situations where more than one person had the same name, so they identified them by where they were from or what they did or who's son or daughter they were. Examples would include Laban the Aramean, Joseph the Carpenter and Simon Bar Jonah (Bar = "Son of"). These were not views as part of the person's name, as can be seen from the fact that the same person was sometimes identified in different ways. For example Jesus was variously identified as being from Nazareth, the son of David, the son of Joseph, the carpenter and others. Eventually these forms of identification became part of people's names. Most surnames today are either occupations (Carpenter, Smith, Cooper etc.), patronyms (Johnson, Anderson, MacDonald etc.) or names of places (DiCaprio, DaVinci, York etc.). I read somewhere that the first people to use these identifiers as actual names were the Caesars. For Julius and a few after him, it was a title that simply meant "emperor". It wasn't until later that it became a name that was applied to everyone in the family, whether they ever held that position or not.

The TOG​

 

[reba]

names somewhere took on a profession ..

 

[agua.]

I don't think those were really names as such, but many of them did eventually become names. We do see a progression in the Bible, though actual family names weren't known among the Jews until well after New Testament times. To start with, everyone had only one name. As the population grew, they ran into situations where more than one person had the same name, so they identified them by where they were from or what they did or who's son or daughter they were. Examples would include Laban the Aramean, Joseph the Carpenter and Simon Bar Jonah (Bar = "Son of"). These were not views as part of the person's name, as can be seen from the fact that the same person was sometimes identified in different ways. For example Jesus was variously identified as being from Nazareth, the son of David, the son of Joseph, the carpenter and others. Eventually these forms of identification became part of people's names. Most surnames today are either occupations (Carpenter, Smith, Cooper etc.), patronyms (Johnson, Anderson, MacDonald etc.) or names of places (DiCaprio, DaVinci, York etc.). I read somewhere that the first people to use these identifiers as actual names were the Caesars. For Julius and a few after him, it was a title that simply meant "emperor". It wasn't until later that it became a name that was applied to everyone in the family, whether they ever held that position or not.

The TOG​

Cool !

 

[Kathi]

names somewhere took on a profession ..

You mean like the name Butler were actually a butler and Shoemaker were shoemakers?

 

[jasonc]

Did nt they kinda start as 'son of' ?

the Hebrew did that to identify themselves with the father whom had the house. I am of the son of jerry, the son of harry, the son of Jacob. and yes that is my grandpa's dad's name.

 

[Deborah13]

You mean like the name Butler were actually a butler and Shoemaker were shoemakers?

Yep, one would be like Black or Smith, blacksmith or silversmith.

When the blacks were brought to America as slaves they did not have sir names either. Not only were they given English speaking names but even after they were freed many took their owner's sir names for their own sir names.

 

[jasonc]

jews, don't do things like that all the time.its been assumed that my last name is either a village in the Ukraine, a code for such or the word for crimea.

 

[Knotical]

You mean like the name Butler were actually a butler and Shoemaker were shoemakers?

Actually, a shoemaker is called a Cobbler.

 

[JohnD]

Is there any indication in the Bible of when our tradition of surnames began ?

YHVH is a surname (if you will) therefore the first surname.

Matthew 28:19 (NASB95)
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

the name of
the Father and
the Son and
the Holy Spirit

distinct yet applicable to all three. YAHWEH / YHVH / Jehovah

 

[Roro1972]

That's what I thought. Johnson, Iverson, Anderson, Larson, Christenson,...

when I was doing research on this a book I bought used these examples. The original is Anders and his son was introduced as Anders son and later the name Anderson became the sons name.