Where does “surname” come from?

Surname comes from Old French surnum, from Latin nomen meaning "name," which derives from Proto-Indo-European h₁nómn̥.

surname (English): An additional name, particularly those derived...

Definitions

  1. An additional name, particularly those derived...

Ancestry of “surname”, step by step

surname traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English surname

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishsurnameepithet, nickname; surname, family name; alias,...
2Old Frenchsurnounadditional name; nickname
3Late Latinsupernomensurname
4Latinsuper-super-; over, above
5Latinsuper"accusative" above, on the top of, upon;...
6Latineks-uper—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanupérialternative reconstruction of *upér
8Proto-Indo-Europeanupérabove; over
9Proto-Indo-Europeanupóunder, below
10Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃ewp-—

via Old French surnum

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchsurnum—

Words derived from “surname”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃ewp- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European upó →Every word from Proto-Indo-European upér →