Word Finder - surname

definition

An additional name, particularly those derived from a birthplace, quality, or achievement; an epithet.

definition

An additional name given to a person, place, or thing; a byname or nickname.

definition

The name a person shares with other members of that person's family, distinguished from that person's given name or names; a family name.

definition

(Classical studies) The cognomen of Roman names.

definition

A clan.

definition

To give a surname to.

definition

To call by a surname.

His success in conquering Sicily earned him the surname of "the Great."

Under what circumstances, and by whose selection, the surname was attached to a king, is obscure.

The elder of these, succeeding as 3rd Baron Grantham (1781-1859), became in 1833 2nd Earl de Grey, in right of his maternal aunt, and assumed the surname of de Grey; he was lord-lieutenant of Ireland (1841-44).

He earned the surname of "Pious" by banishing his sisters and others of immoral life from court; by attempting to reform and purify monastic life; and by showing great liberality to the church.

His father was Cassius Apronianus, governor of Dalmatia and Cilicia under Marcus Aurelius, and on his mother's side he was the grandson of Dio Chrysostom, who had assumed the surname of Cocceianus in honour of his patron the emperor Cocceius Nerva.

It is equally certain that almost every one of the long line of princes and voivods bore a Slavonic surname, perhaps due to the influence of the Slavonic Church, to which the Rumanians belonged.

His later adopted surname, Villanovanus or de Villeneufve, was no mere pseudonym since he followed his father's example.

He was the first of the gens who bore this surname.

Napoleon (who now used his Christian name instead of the surname Bonaparte) thereupon sent proposals for various changes in the constitution, which were at once registered by the obsequious Council of State and the Senate on the 4th of August (16 Thermidor) 1802.

Finally, Baha-uddin was invited to Iconium by `Ala-uddin Kaikubad (1219-1236), the sultan of Asia Minor, or, as it is commonly called in the East, Ram - whence Jalaluddin's surname (takhallus) Rumi.

In the absence of positive information the 4th-century writers (on whom Plutarch and Nepos mainly rely) seized upon his surname of "Just," and wove round it a number of anecdotes more picturesque than historical.

All that is certainly known, however, is that in Domesday the manor is assigned to one Roger, who took his surname from it.

His original name was Octavian, but when he assumed the papal tiara as successor to Agapetus II., he adopted the apostolic name of John, the first example, it is said, of the custom of altering the surname in connexion with elevation to the papal chair.

Albert, whose attempts to reform the monasteries earned for him the surname of Pious, was almost elected king of Bohemia in 1440.

In Italy, Cenomani is the name of a people; in Gaul, merely a surname of the Aulerci.

His name was Zahir ud-din-Mahomet, and he was given the surname of Baber, meaning the tiger.

He was called Jean le Rond from the church near which he was found; the surname Alembert was added by himself at a later period.

Metellus, who earned by this success the surname of Creticus (67 B.C.).

He assumed the name of Mahommed when he embraced the Mussulman faith; and on account of his military prowess he obtained the surname Alp Arslan, which signifies "a valiant lion."

The official surname of Antiochus II., Theos, suggests that he himself had here been the innovator.

He was born (January 1, 1431) at Xativa, near Valencia in Spain, and his father's surname was Lanzol or Llancol; that of his mother's family, Borgia or Borja, was assumed by him on the elevation of his maternal uncle to the papacy as Calixtus III.

He saw active service in the Anglo-French wars and probably elsewhere, winning the surname of L'adventureux.

The fine ruins which have been discovered at the last-mentioned place have earned for it the surname of the African.

The name Tyler, or Teghler, is a trade designation and not a surname.

His zeal in founding monasteries earned for him his surname "the Pious," and canonization by Pope Innocent VIII.

By his conduct in many stubborn fights with these foes, Robert thoroughly earned his surname and gained the confidence of the king, who gave him the counties of Nevers and Auxerre.

The origin of the name Vaygach is as dubious as its orthography; it has been held to be Dutch (waaien, to blow, and gat, a strait, hence "windy strait") or Russian, in which case it is probably a surname.

Henry was a man of great ambition, and won his surname of "Lion" by his personal bravery.

A college of Luperci, with the surname Juliani, was instituted in his honour and flamines were created as priests of his godhead.

His surname Diaconus, or Levita, shows that he took orders as a deacon; and some think he was a monk before the fall of the Lombard kingdom.

He well deserved the surname of Le Bon, by which he is known to posterity.

The name, as is shown by manuscript testimony, was also pronounced Kamhi and further mention is made of the French surname Petit.

In the later days of the dynasty the surname of Beaufort was adopted by the legitimated issue of John of Gaunt by Katherine Swynford, but that of Plantagenet was bestowed on Arthur, natural son of Edward IV., who was created Viscount L'Isle.

It appears, however, to have been adopted as a surname by Richard duke of York (father of Edward IV.) some twelve years before his death.

In 1789 his mother succeeded to the barony of Hastings, and Rawdon added the surname of Hastings to his own.

When the empire broke up in the weak reign of Gallienus, the prefect Aemiianus, who took the surname Alexander or Alexandrinus, was made emperor by the troops at Alexandria, but was conquered by the forces of Gallienus.

During 1663 he was made duke of Orkney, duke of Monmouth and knight of the Garter, and received honorary degrees at both universities; and on his marriage he and his wife were created duke and duchess of Buccleuch, and he took the surname of Scott.

It was by the zeal of these councillors that Charles obtained the surname of "The Well-Served."

The almspeople consisted of six " poor brethren " and six " poor sisters," and the teaching and governing staff of a master and a warden, who were always to be of the founder's surname, and four fellows, all " graduates and divines," among whom were apportioned the ministerial work of the chapel, the instruction of the boys, and the supervision of the almspeople.

He acquired his surname of Soter, or Saviour, from the Babylonians, whom he delivered from the tyranny of the Median satrap, Timarchus, and is famous in Jewish history for his contests with the Maccabees.

He bore the surname of "Horse Neptune" (Hoo-a6c7w 17r7rcos), and was regarded as the tamer as well as the creator of the steed.

Whether he was also, like Hephaestus, the deity of smiths, is very doubtful; his surname Mulciber may rather be referred to his power to allay conflagrations.

Mahommed received the surname of al-Amin (" the Sure"), Abdallah that of al-Ma`mun (" he in whom men trust"), and Qasim that of al-Mo`tamin billah (" he who trusts in God").

Possibly " Matthew " (Yahweh's gift) was his Christian surname, since two native names, neither being a patronymic, is contrary to Jewish usage.

His French colleague, Petau, better known under his latinized surname of Petavius, opened still wider floodgates when he taught that theological dogmas, like everything else, have a history.

The surname Grammaticus he assumed in virtue of his lectures on language and literature; that of Philoponus owing to the large number of treatises he composed.

He enjoyed a genuine popularity, and in 1506 the estates of Tours conferred on him the surname of Pere du Peuple.

The surname "hammerer" might have been applied to Judas either as a distinctive title pure and simple or symbolically as in the parallel case of Edward Scotorum ` malleus."

He was descended from the house of Nevill, one of whose scions, accompanying John Plantagenet to Ireland in the capacity of usher in 1185, adopted his official title as a surname.

Richard owes his surname to the fact that Henry II.