Ever wonder what your last name means? The origins, meanings and age of your name? Whether it's ancient or modern, last names are intimate things that anchor us to our heritage. Here are the meanings and origins of some of the worlds most popular and not so popular last names. Your's maybe in here as well. WILSON: Wilson is an English and Scottish surname, common in the English-speaking world. The name is derived from a form of Will, a popular medieval name. The medieval Will is derived from any of several names containing the first Germanic element wil, meaning "desire". Possibly the most common of these names was William, derived from elements wil and helm, meaning "desire" and "helmet", "protection". RUSSELL: Is an Anglo-Norman word meaning "red haired" or even "red-skinned." STEWART: The Scottish name would have denoted a guardian who handled administrative tasks for a big royal household. It comes from the ancient word "stigweard." CLARK: Clark means "professional scribe." ALLEN: This name means "little rock" or "harmony." MYERS: In English, Myers means "son of the mayor." SINGH: Singh means "lion." Sikh in origin, it's given to a son on achieving manhood. WRIGHT: The name comes from an Old English word for "craftsman," and usually denoted someone who made things with wood, like windmills or wheels. CARTER: Carter is also English. It originally referred to a job in which someone would transport goods via cart, hence Cart-er. MULLER: In German, Muller meant someone who operated a mill. The English version of that one is, also of course, Miller. COOPER: In England, a cooper was someone who made barrels. MOORE: Moore has multiple meanings. It may have meant someone who lived by a moor or someone who worked on boats, or someone who was dark-skinned, like Othello. PERRY: In Old English, if you were named Perry, it meant that you spent a lot of time near pear trees. That sort of feels like a lazy nickname situation. In French, it was someone who worked in a quarry. TURNER: Turner also has a couple different origins. It might mean "turn hare," or someone who can run faster than a hare. It could also mean "one who works with a lathe". HOFFMAN: In German, Hoffman meant someone who was a steward on an estate. Or someone associated with a farm. LEWIS: Lewis comes from many cultures and has a few different meanings. An English Lewis was the son of a Lowis. Lewis also developed various first names in France and Germany and Normandy and so on. Those with the last name Llewellyn, in Welsh, usually becomes Lewis in English. They all came from the Frankish name Hludwig which meant "famous battle." YOUNG: Young referred to the youngest child. You might also might have earned the surname if you were young at heart. WEBER: Weber is German for "weaver." It probably stemmed form the Old English word webbe, which meant "to weave." KING: In English, King obviously means leader, but many people adopted it who weren't rulers, and it was used as a nickname quite often. You'll notice, for instance, that the Queen of England is not named Elizabeth Queen. But the name became popular among American immigrants from Ireland, and in the 16th century it was also common to give orphans in France the last name Roi, meaning "king." End of Part 02.
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