It can also happen by changing the spelling of a surname over the decades so that the original family name is not the same. There is a list of names that are extinct. It includes Bread, Spinster, Chips, Rummage, Pussett, Temples, Wellbelove, Hatman and Bytheseashore.
The family history website compared surnames from the 1901 censuses with those from modern records and found that many had disappeared, including Chips, Hatman, Rummage, Nithercott, Raynott, Temples, Southwark and Woodbead.
The oldest surname in the world is KATZ (the initials of the two words — Kohen Tsedek). Every Katz is a priest, descending in an unbroken line from Aaron the brother of Moses, 1300 B.C.
Believe it or not, the oldest recorded English name is Hatt. An Anglo-Saxon family with the surname Hatt are mentioned in a Norman transcript, and is identified as a pretty regular name in the county. It related simply to a hat maker and so was an occupational name.
Surnames weren't widely used until after the Norman Conquest in 1066. As the country's population grew, it became necessary to distinguish between people and so names began to include descriptions of the person, such as Thomas son of John, Peter the Baker, Richard the Whitehead, Mary Webster, etc.
ŠIM) is the earliest known recorded name of a person in writing. The name "Kushim" is found on several Uruk period (c. 3400–3000 BC) clay tablets used to record transactions of barley.
The Oldest Family Trees
While the Confucius family tree carries the title of the biggest one, the Lurie family is known as the oldest one in the world. Its history traces back to 1037 BC. According to the records, the family lineage starts from the 3rd king of the United Monarchy of Israel and Judah called King David.
In the U.S., Smith is followed by Johnson, Williams, Brown and Jones, all names that can be traced to the English, Scottish and Welsh — the country's early European colonizers. Smith is also tops in England and refers to someone who is a skilled craftsman (like a blacksmith).
1. Abbott. The name Abbott is derived from the Old French word abet, which means “priest.”. It also has origins in Greek and Latin, where it means “power.”.
A mononym may be the person's only name, assigned to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains common in modern societies such as in Afghanistan, Bhutan, Indonesia, Java, Myanmar, Mongolia, Tibet, and South India.
As offsprings of each generation can be either male or female and only the males carry on family names, the family name becomes extinct if male descendants die out. This is also related to the Y chromosome transmission in genetics.
The Donnellys, the world's oldest family, have more than 1,000 years of life among them. The 13-sibling farming family from rural County Armagh, Ireland, recently received a Guinness World Record for being the oldest living siblings. They received the gong while making the BBC documentary "The World's Oldest Family."
In 2005, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized the Confucius genealogical line as the longest family tree in history, with 86 recorded generations over 2,500 years. The Chinese philosopher (551 to 479 BCE) is thought to have 3 million descendants all over the world [source: Zhou].
The oldest traceable family tree is that of the Chinese Kang clan, which documents the family's lineage over 5200 years and more than 80 generations! This family tree contains over 2 million descendants, including the great philosopher Confucius.
Scientists still don't know exactly when or how the first humans evolved, but they've identified a few of the oldest ones. One of the earliest known humans is Homo habilis, or “handy man,” who lived about 2.4 million to 1.4 million years ago in Eastern and Southern Africa.
Yes, Sophia is officially the most popular girl's name IN THE WORLD! The moniker is the most popular girl's name in eight countries - Mexico, Russia, Argentina, Italy, Switzerland, Estonia, Chile and Slovakia - and is the second or third most popular in a further 20!
Examples of surnames are documented in the 11th century by the barons in England. English surnames began as a way of identifying a certain aspect of that individual, such as by trade, father's name, location of birth, or physical features, and were not necessarily inherited.
Surnames developed in the rest of Europe starting in the 11th century. Norman barons brought them to England after the invasion of 1066. Most of these surnames grew organically from one of the following characteristics. Lineage: Patronymic and matronymic surnames originate from a father or mother's name.