# surname

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈsɜːˌneɪm/ · frequency rank #15,070

## Definitions
1. The portion of a person's name that is generally hereditary or treated as an indicator of a person's family, which may be shared with other members of the family, or otherwise derived from their names in some fashion; distinguished from that person's given name(s).
2. Synonym of epithet, an additional name, particularly those derived from a birthplace, quality, or achievement.
3. Synonym of nickname, an additional name given to a person, place, or thing, a byname.
4. The cognomen of Roman names.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English surname, a partial calque of Old French surnum, surnoun (“surname; nickname”) (whence Middle English surnoun), from Late Latin supernōmen, suprānōmen (“surname”), from super- (“over, above, beyond”) and nōmen (“name”), equivalent to sur- + name.

## Easily confused with
- **surface** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/surface-vs-surname)
- **Suriname** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/suriname-vs-surname)

## Common misspellings (10)
`sruname`, `ssurname`, `sunrame`, `suranme`, `surnaem`, `surnamme`, `surnmae`, `surnname`, `surrname`, `usrname`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/surname