Editing Surname (section)

===Medieval era and beyond===
Later with the gradual influence of Greek and [[Christian culture]] throughout the Empire, Christian religious names were sometimes put in front of traditional ''cognomina'', but eventually people reverted to single names.<ref name="Chavez2006">{{Cite web|last=Chavez|first=Berret|date=9 November 2006|title=Personal Names of the Aristocracy in the Roman Empire During the Later Byzantine Era|url=http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/byzantine/introduction.html|access-date=21 September 2008|website=Official Web Page of the Laurel Sovereign of Arms for the Society for Creative Anachronism|publisher=Society for Creative Anachronism|archive-date=16 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916180738/http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/byzantine/introduction.html|url-status=live}}</ref> By the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, family names were uncommon in the [[Eastern Roman Empire]]. In Western Europe, where Germanic culture dominated the aristocracy, family names were almost non-existent. They would not significantly reappear again in Eastern Roman society until the 10th century, apparently influenced by the familial affiliations of the Armenian military aristocracy.<ref name="Chavez2006"/> The practice of using family names spread through the Eastern Roman Empire, however it was not until the 11th century that surnames came to be used in West Europe.<ref name="j891">{{cite book|last=Kennett|first=D.|title=The Surnames Handbook: A Guide to Family Name Research in the 21st Century|publisher=History Press|year=2012|isbn=978-0-7524-8349-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_8UTDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT19|access-date=2024-06-02|page=19-20}}</ref>

Medieval Spain used a patronymic system. For example, Álvaro, a son of Rodrigo, would be named Álvaro Rodríguez. His son, Juan, would not be named Juan Rodríguez, but Juan Álvarez. Over time, many of these patronymics became family names, and they are some of the most common names in the Spanish-speaking world today. Other sources of surnames are personal appearance or habit, e.g. Delgado ("thin") and Moreno ("dark"); geographic location or ethnicity, e.g. Alemán ("German"); and occupations, e.g. Molinero ("miller"), Zapatero ("shoe-maker") and Guerrero ("warrior"), although occupational names are much more often found in a shortened form referring to the trade itself, e.g. Molina ("mill"), Guerra ("war"), or Zapata (archaic form of ''zapato'', "shoe").<ref>{{Cite web|title=What is the origin of the last name Molina?|url=https://www.last-names.net/lastname/molina/|access-date=2023-08-01|website=Last Name Meanings|language=en-US|archive-date=1 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801151148/https://www.last-names.net/lastname/molina/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In England the introduction of family names is generally attributed to the preparation of the [[Domesday Book]] in 1086, following the [[Norman Conquest]]. Evidence indicates that surnames were first adopted among the feudal nobility and gentry, and slowly spread to other parts of society. Some of the early Norman nobility who arrived in England during the Norman conquest differentiated themselves by affixing 'de' (of) before the name of their village in France. This is what is known as a territorial surname, a consequence of feudal landownership. By the 14th century, most [[English surnames|English]] and most [[Scottish surnames|Scottish]] people used surnames and in Wales following unification under Henry VIII in 1536.<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/get_started/surnames_01.shtml#:~:text=Over%20time%20many%20names%20became,and%20to%20get%20passed%20on.|title=BBC – Family History – What's in a Name? Your Link to the Past|access-date=17 May 2022|archive-date=17 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517182045/https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/get_started/surnames_01.shtml#:~:text=Over%20time%20many%20names%20became,and%20to%20get%20passed%20on.|url-status=live}}</ref>

A four-year study led by the [[University of the West of England]], which concluded in 2016, analysed sources dating from the 11th to the 19th century to explain the origins of the surnames in the [[British Isles]].<ref name="Origin study">{{Cite news|date=17 November 2016|title=Most common surnames in Britain and Ireland revealed|agency=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-38003201|access-date=21 July 2018|archive-date=2 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181102104217/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-38003201|url-status=live}}</ref> The study found that over 90% of the 45,602 surnames in the dictionary are native to Britain and Ireland, with the most common in the UK being [[Smith (surname)|Smith]], [[Jones (surname)|Jones]], [[Williams (surname)|Williams]], [[Brown (surname)|Brown]], [[Taylor (surname)|Taylor]], [[Davies]], and [[Wilson (name)|Wilson]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Hanks|first1=Patrick|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199677764.001.0001/acref-9780199677764|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland|last2=Coates|first2=Richard|last3=McClure|first3=Peter|date=17 November 2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-967776-4|language=en-US|doi=10.1093/acref/9780199677764.001.0001|access-date=1 March 2020|archive-date=26 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526105824/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199677764.001.0001/acref-9780199677764|url-status=live}}</ref> The findings have been published in the ''Oxford English Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland'', with project leader Richard Coates calling the study "more detailed and accurate" than those before.<ref name="Origin study" /> He elaborated on the origins: "Some surnames have origins that are occupational – obvious examples are Smith and Baker. Other names can be [[Toponymic surname|linked to a place]], for example, Hill or Green, which relates to a [[village green]]. Surnames that are 'patronymic' are those which originally enshrined the father's name – such as [[Jackson (name)|Jackson]], or [[Jenkinson]]. There are also names where the origin describes the original bearer such as Brown, [[Short stature|Short]], or Thin – though Short may in fact be an ironic 'nickname' surname for a tall person."<ref name="Origin study"/>

In the modern era, governments have enacted laws to require people to adopt surnames. This served the purpose of uniquely identifying subjects for taxation purposes or for inheritance.{{sfn|Kennett|2012|p=20}} In the late [[Middle Ages]] in England, mandatory surnames were resisted as they were associated with taxes.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Anderson|first1=Raymond A.|title=Credit Intelligence and Modelling: Many Paths Through the Forest of Credit Rating and Scoring|date=2022|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-284419-4|page=193-194|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=04lNEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA193|language=en}}</ref>