Origin Of Surnames

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land. They did not need surnames to signify who they we�re or what they did. In these small villages they went by their first names, people all had different first names, so they did not need surnames to tell people apart. But when the population of the villages grew, it became important to have surnames to identify two people with the same name. The use of surnames showed social class, culture, tradition and, the jobs they worked.
The forming of surnames first came from other names by which someone was called. The name �Johnson� originated from �the son of John,� and the same goes with my last name �Richardson.� In some countries they would use their mothers first name for a surname, such as �Paige.� Jimmy Paige, from the band Led Zeppelin, could say his surname originated this way. Other origins of surnames came from places and geographical names. The surname �England� or �Penn� show this quality. Obviously England is a country and Penn is shortened from Pennsylvania. ...

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