how old is your last name?

[Kreon]

Scotland.

Dates from 900s AD iirc from when I did research on it.

Its highland, and means "live son" likely referring to a couple who had a number of stillborn sons before.

On that same side is Skaye (part of the Sinclair Clan), who were minor nobles, some of whom were exiled to near where I live in America by Cromwell. They aren't direct ancestors though. The ones I'm descended from came to the US in the early 1900s with my ancestors sharing my last name. This name is ancient

On my mom's side there is and Americanized Polish name that is first recorded on a salt mine in the early 1500s.

The other is Barone, from Sicily. This name also has ancient roots, and some branches of the family were involved in the Mafia (though none of my direct relations).

I like genealogy (in case you couldn't figure that out)

 

[InflatableBuddha]

http://www.surnamedb.com/

Surname: Lister

Recorded in a wide range of spellings including Lister (English & Scottish), Lyster, Lester, Lestor (English), McInlester, McLeister, Laister, Litster, Lidster, and the rare Ledgister and Ledster (Scottish), this interesting surname has two known origins. Firstly it may be occupational for a textile dyer, from the Middle English word "litster", meaning to dye. This term was used principally in Northern England and specifically Yorkshire, where to this day, the surname is principally found in that region. Secondly the surname may be of Scottish origins and again occupation, deriving from a fused spelling of the early Gaelic Mac an Fleisdeir, meaning the son of the arrow-maker. The surname in either case is medieval dating back to the 13th century (see below) with in Scotland the recording of Aleyn le Littester of Edinburghshire who rendered homage to the Republican Government in 1296, whilst In England Richard le Lyster appears in the Subsidy Tax Rolls of Derbyshire in 1327. Early church registers of the city of London include the christenings of Lawnslet Lister on the 24th September 1539 at Allhallows, Honey Lane, and that of Thomas Ledster at St Giles Cripplegate, on June 24th 1641. Thomas Lister sailed from London for the New World colony of Virgina, on the ship "Paula" in July 1635. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ralph Litster. This was dated 1286, in the Court Rolls of the manor of Wakefield, Yorkshire, during the reign of King Edward 1st of England and known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling. © Copyright: Name Orgin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2010

13th Century Scotland or 16th Century England, depending on how you look at it.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

inspired by the slave name thread... my last name is neither Americanized nor a slave name. my father's side of the family traces back pretty cleanly to 1600's Quebec.

Mine is quite old (ala 13th or 14th century old). Not going to say what it is on this forum, as it is quite unusual and would allow people to quickly identify my RL identity. I will say that it means "charcoal maker" in one of the slavic languages. My middle name means "young king." So I am Soxfan, young king of the charcoal makers.

 

[sandorski]

No idea.

 

[tk149]

My last name is the same as a fairly common word. Google does nothing for me. Also, it's Chinese and therefore would probably be spelled in different ways.

No, it's not "Wang"

 

[Ika]

My last name is the same as a fairly common word. Google does nothing for me. Also, it's Chinese and therefore would probably be spelled in different ways.

No, it's not "Wang"

If it's chinese, wikipedia one of the alternate spellings and you'll probably find it...

 

[gaidensensei]

Are you a Long? Only chinese name I can immediately think of that is a common word.
PS for foreigners its not pronounced long, it's more like J-Lo's "Lo"

 

[imported_Champ]

I think I'm the winner...mine dates back to 1932

when the gov thought my grandfathers name was to complicated or something and changed it to something even more complicated and difficult

I am one of 5 with the name living

 

[AbsoluteParadigm]

At least 10th century BC old.

 

[sjwaste]

Not sure. The oldest record I could quickly find was in the 1700's from my father's home town in Italy. It's not a common last name and not americanized.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I have a family tree that traces our name back to 1670, somewhere southwest between Prague and the German border.

 

[mmntech]

Surname: Philp

This unusual surname is Scottish. It is one of the many versions of the Ancient Greek name "Phillipos," and is almost exclusively from the county of Fifeshire. First introduced into the British Isles by returning crusader soldiers from their expeditions to free the Holy Land in the 11th century, the name as Philip was borne by one of Christ's twelve apostles as well as by several of the early saints. However unusually, for a Christian name, although it means literally "horse lover," it was a warrior name, and owes its great popularity not to the early Christian church, but to the romantic stories and fables relating to Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great. The earliest recordings are to be found in England, and then as Christian names, and these include Filippus de Crochesbi of Lincolnshire in 1142. The surname was a century later with possibly the first recording being that of William Philip of Norfolk in the Hundred Rolls of 1275. In the modern idiom the spellings include Phelp, Philp, Phalp, Phelps, Phipps and Phelops, and it is claimed that the surname is first recorded in Scotland with that of Rauf Phelippe of Berwick in 1296, whilst Sir James Philp was curate of Arbroath Abbey in 1467. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/surname.aspx?name=philp#ixzz0nBPiGaVG​

This is probably the first relatively accurate one I've come across since my family is from Fife. I've gotten mixed origins over the years that me surname is Welsh or French. It's a rare name but it's so close to the common Phillip that it throws people off.
​

 

[ViviTheMage]

Nothing comes up for my last name.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

I think I'm the winner...mine dates back to 1932

when the gov thought my grandfathers name was to complicated or something and changed it to something even more complicated and difficult

I am one of 5 with the name living

Buddy of mine in highschool had the most complicated name I've heard yet. Not sure I can even spell it. Phonetically, it went something like Chittawan Somachongavon. Everyone called him Chit (with a "chuh" sound, not a "sh" sound).

 

[Sho'Nuff]

I have a family tree that traces our name back to 1670, somewhere southwest between Prague and the German border.

Cool, we might be related. Oh cousin, how I've missed you!

 

[Matthiasa]

occupational name for someone who does odd jobs or a tinkerer, hobby worker =, of uncertain origin.

I think I lose.

Even better is following the varients and getting to this

from an agent derivative of Middle Low German,‘to behave in a confused manner’, hence a nickname for a scatterbrained person.

 

[sjwaste]

Cool, we might be related. Oh cousin, how I've missed you!

Hermano?

 

[crab]

The Crabtree family originated in Yorkshire, England-the name coming from the fact that they lived by the crabtrees in the county of York. The earliest record 'From the Crabtrees of Southwest Virginia'-no longer in print was of John Crabtree who lived in Yorkshire around the end of the 14th century; William Crabtree of Yorkshire, during the same time period; William Crabtree of the parish of Smithe, Yorkshire 1412; and a bit later, John Crabtree of Halifax, Yorshire. All the Crabtree's are thought to have a common origin in the Crabtrees of Yorkshire. 'Crabtree Tule River Patriarchs, Marilyn Meredith, 1984, Golden West Publishers'

The Crabtree name can, with high degree of accuracy, be traced back to 14th century England. At about that time the use of surnames became popular. As far as we know, the Family Crabtree started in only one place, a village in Yorkshire. It seems that this large family group was centered about one large Crabapple Tree! The first known record of a Crabtree coming to America was in 1622 in Massachusetts. The record of these Crabtrees vanished until some Crabtres appeared in Philadelphia and then move on to Baltimore. source: "The Crabtrees of Southwest Virginia"

 

[BurnItDwn]

Ehh mines English, 1000ish years old, possibly more.... They didn't quite keep the best books back then....

 

[tk149]

If it's chinese, wikipedia one of the alternate spellings and you'll probably find it...

No luck.

I don't know the Chinese character for it either.

 

[tk149]

This reminds me of an old sitcom episode where the black guy has hired a service to trace his ancestry. At one point, he's talking over the phone and the service tells him that they've traced his family back to Europe.

He screams into the phone, "You get me back to Africa!"

 

[thegimp03]

6th century Bavarian.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Nothing comes up for my last name.

Same. I have an Italian last name, not that common even in Italy, and I can't get information about the name anywhere.

Other last names in my family are also mysteries. I generally know where they came from but I can't find anything I don't already know.

 

[Riceninja]

a couple thousand years.

not kidding.

 

[Glitchny]

This unusual and interesting name is of Norse-Viking pre 7th century origins.

that's as far back as I could find.