Discovering the History of Long Last Names

Last names come in all shapes and sizes, and their use and meaning varies significantly around the world. It’s said that Chinese, Roman, Korean, and Arabic cultures were among the first to adopt surnames to denote family relationships and inform civic matters. It wasn’t until around medieval times that Europeans followed suit, with Jewish communities adopting last names later. South Asians, Indigenous Peoples, Filipinos and other cultures often acquired the naming practice due to colonization and forced cultural assimilation.

Historically, last names may have helped identify people based on where they lived and their occupations. Sometimes, last names such as “Short” and “Swift” were even created from an individual’s specific physical characteristics or personality traits. Middle-Eastern cultures were among the first to establish so-called patronymic surnames, stemming from male ancestors’ names. People from this region may have long last names because of the amount of familial and personal information contained in the name.  For example, Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Yūsuf al-Lawātī al-Ṭanjī ibn Battuta was a 14th century scholar and traveler. His full name includes his title, personal name, tribal affiliations, geographical location, and lineage, with “ibn” meaning “son of.” 

Today, many cultures use surnames, and they range in length from a few letters to 10 letters or longer. If you’re wondering how your long last name came to be, taking some time to research your surname can provide some amazing insight into your family’s history and ancestral traditions.

The 10 Most Common 10-Letter Last Names

One of the longest last names in the world belongs to Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr., a German-American man born in 1914. While Hubert’s surname is considered unusually long at a whopping 40 letters, a typical long last name consists of around 7 to 12 letters. Here are some of the most common 10-letter last names still used today:

• Richardson – Richardson is a common Middle English name that combines the first or given name “Richard” with “son.” The Germanic name “Ricard” translates to “rich” “powerful,” “mighty,” and “brave,” and the suffix “son” pertains to the son or descendant of “Richard.”
• Washington – Washington is an English surname that connects the Old English given name of “Hwassa” with “ing” and “tin,” which means farmstead estate. 
• Cunningham – Cunningham is an Irish surname that means “leader” or “chief.”Conn” comes from the Celtic name “Cunegan,” while “ingham” derives from the Gaelic name “O’ Cuinneagain,” or descendant of “Cuinneagain.”
• Montgomery – The origins of the Montgomery surname are English-Scottish and Northern Irish. As a habitational name, it was once used to identify people who lived in or came from Sainte-Foy-de-Montgomery and Saint-Germain-de-Montgomery in Calvados, France. Montgomery was a common surname in Ireland during Medieval Times and in Scotland during the 17th century.
• Williamson – Williamson is a Middle English surname that means “son of William.” In Norway, Williamson is written and pronounced as “Wilhelmsson.” This last name is fairly common in Antrim, Ireland.
• Fitzgerald – Fitzgerald is an Anglo-Norman French surname that means “son of Gerald.” Fitzgerald is one of the most common surnames used in Ireland, and its Gaelic pronunciation is “Mac Gearailt.”
• McLaughlin – The meaning of the McLaughlin surname is “son of Lochlann” or “son of the Noresman.” While McLaughlin is an Irish last name, derived from the Gaelic pronunciation “Mac Lochlainn,” it also has origins in Scandinavia.
• Strickland – Strickland is a habitational surname of people who lived in Westmorland, North West England. This name combines the words “stirk” and “land,” with “strike” meaning “a young bullock or heifer.” Strickland also refers to “the place where a man held his land.”
• Harrington – Harrington is an English habitational surname. Individuals with this long last name may have originally lived in one of three different farmstead estates named Harrington, located in Cumberland, Lincolnshire, or Northamptonshire in England.
• Villanueva – Villanueva is a habitational long last name used by people who lived on “villas” or outlying farmstead settlements. This surname has Spanish origins, with “villa” meaning “settlement,” and “neuva” meaning “new.”
• Villarreal – Similar to Villanueva, Villarreal is a Spanish habitational surname. The main difference is that the Villarreal farmstead settlements were believed to be connected to Latin royals. The word “real” is derived from “regal” and “royal.”

Why Are Indigenous American Names Sometimes Long?

Indigenous American systems of naming varied widely across hundreds of distinct Native Nations.  In some cultures, family members or relatives presented a child’s name shortly after birth in a public ceremony. Indigenous American names could be singular or have multiple parts, based on clan affiliation, a relative’s notable deed, a nonhuman relative, or a natural phenomenon. 

Over the course of their lives , some people received new or additional names to mark significant achievements, accomplishments, or changes to their way of being in the world (physical or spiritual developments). In what is now known as the U.S. and Canada, Indigenous Peoples didn’t use Western-styled surnames until around 1900. This shift followed centuries of contact with settlers and numerous attempts by the U.S. and Canadian governments to annihilate Native Nations through massacre, forced removal, and forcible assimilation through religious conversion and Federal Indian boarding schools. 

Despite centuries of genocide, Indigenous Americans were able to retain their cultures within a colonial system of governance. This sometimes required utilizing an anglicized version of their name for legal purposes and going by a traditional name within their community.   

Here are some traditional Indigenous  American names and  their anglicized counterparts: 

• Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it: His name translates to “Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain,” but he’s referred to in English as Chief Joseph.

• Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak: This long name means “Black Sparrow Hawk” in English, but he’s often simply called “Black Hawk.”

• Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake: One of the most famous Native Americans, known colloquially as “Sitting Bull,” Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake’s name translates more precisely to “Buffalo Bull Who Sits Down.”

Common Long Last Names Throughout the World

When individuals migrated to America from other nations around the world, they brought along their unique long last names, along with many traditions embraced and appreciated by other cultures today. Here’s a look into some of the most common long last names throughout the world and their meanings. 

Talamantes is a long habitational Spanish last name for people who lived in the Zaragoza province of Talamantes, Spain. 

Fassbender is one of the most common long German last names derived from an individual’s occupation as a cooper, or a barrel maker. “Faz” translates to “cask barrel,” and “binder” translates to “joiner.”

Kobayashi is one of the most common Japanese long last names. Kobayashi translates to “small forest,” with “ko” meaning “small” and “hayashi” meaning “forest” or “grove.” This surname is very common in Central Japan, and it belongs to multiple families who are not all related to one another. 

Discovering the History of Your Own Last Name

Whether your last name is long or short, there are many ways to discover its history. Researching your surname can provide insight into the rich tapestry of your family’s past and their earliest origins.

Conducting a search through records available at Ancestry^® is a great place to start, and DNA testingwith AncestryDNA^® can help you dive even further into the big picture that makes up your unique family history. 

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