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Name History
A name, or family name, can be defined as legal identification
which is transmitted by family members from generation to
generation. The use of a name is a comparatively recent
phenomenon.1 Surnames were adopted in order to legally distinguish
two individuals with the same given name. By surname, we mean a
fixed name by which that particular individual is known. Different
areas of the world adopted names at different periods in time. For
example, names were commonly used four thousand years ago in areas
occupied or influenced by the Romans. Other areas of the world
were slower to begin using names, but they were coming into
regular use by the time of the Middle Ages, first by the serfs,
then by the stewards. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Irish
were one of the first people to adopt hereditary names, and Irish
names are found as early as the tenth century. Origins of Surnames
Surnames are generally derived from one of five sources: the name
of the person's father (patronymic), the person's locality, the
person's occupation, the ethnic background, or a descriptive
nickname for the person. When nameswere created, they answered one
of the following questions: Who is this person's father? Where is
this person from? What does this person do for a living? What kind
of person is this, What is his or her most prominent feature?
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