What Are Patronyms and Matronyms?
If you live in a very small community, first names alone might suffice to differentiate one person from another. Almost 1,500 years ago, this was exactly how people identified themselves. But as clans grew larger, surnames (literally meaning “additional names,” coming from Anglo-Norman French) were required. Surnames (last names) were
not widely used in England until the Norman Conquest in 1066. Then the introduction of parish registers in 1538 fostered the use of hereditary surnames. By the end of the 16th century, in many parts of Western Europe, surnames had been passed down through generations and become fixed in spelling...
