bloodymoonreaper

Hi. Well , nowadays we have last names like smith , or payne or weird ones like weener.But what of back then. For example , we know Abraham ,and david and Salomon.... men from way back then and where are their last names?Do they even have a last name and if they do , then why do we not know about it?

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Bloodymoonreaper

Hassun

Wikipedia has some nice info on surnames.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surnames

The easy explanation is this: They didn't exist back then! At least not in the same sense as today.

In those old times they usually used your ancestor to adress you in other ways than your first name. E.g. Son of David.

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HolderOfTheDarkChalice

true unles you was wealthy then you were lord chris or lord someone because wealth. most poeple had last names that went with what there jobs were if they wern't rich like smith for example if they black smiths or people who worked with metal or repair that would be there last name . things have changed now though
your last name isn't given for status or the typ of job you had. today its more of
a "whats more popular" with everyone choice.

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divine_punishment

Seeing as there were fewer people in the world back then and they rarely left their hometown, people did not need surnames. When travel became more frequent and more people live, surnames became necessary to differentiate between one "John" and another (so to speak).

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hyuuga13

they might have had last names but they were probaly not used unless they were very important.

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Why is everything so ****ing hard for me? Keep me down to what you think I should be! Must you tempt me and provoke the ministry? Keep on trying I'm not dying so easily!

La Danse Macabre

That's true and in most of the arabian countries they still do. Take Osama bin Ladin for example, i'm just using this name because everyone knows it. Now you would think that the averge person would see that as a full name. While truthfully, Osama bin Ladin translates into "Osama son of Ladin"

Also, in feudal Japan instead of giving the lower classes actual names, they were known by what they did. Take "Ryoushi" for example. It's japanese for fisherman and would also be their name. While their partner may be named "Gyofu" which is japanese for fisher

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HolderOfTheDarkChalice

thats it is true like i staed before your name is given depnding on status
but thats isnt true here in the us much it is more about favorite names and the like but everyone had a name depending on the stutus at the time
an example would be weaver that last anem was given to family that worked in the stitching buisness or shoemaker wich was given to familys that repaired or made shoes for everyone. but it isnt like that anymore

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La Danse Macabre

Aye that's true, but there are also clan names that change with the times. My last name could easily be traced back to the scottish clan of Birnie who actually took the name from the town that they lived in before they migrated to america.

To tell the truth, you could get your name from anywhere or anything

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