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Family Surname (Last Name) Search

It is believed that surnames (or family last names) came into existence about as early as 2000 years ago with the Romans. However, some parts of the world didn't start using surnames until the early 1900s. The surname (or last name) was usually derived from either the name of the person's father, location where they came from, occupation or a predominate physical feature.

Surnames came into use for legal reasons to be able to distinguish among people with the same given name. It also showed an association with a specific family. It can be very useful to know the origin of a family name as it can help locate family records and allow a better understanding of family customs.

This database contains more than 34,000 surnames. Check to see if your last name is here. Remember if you can't find your last name initially, there may be a variation of spelling that you can locate.

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2008

Updated: 6/7/08