1
as in family name
a name shared by members of a family
judging from your surname, I'd guess that your family is Italian
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in nickname
a descriptive or familiar name given instead of or in addition to the one belonging to an individual
"da Vinci" was Leonardo's surname but not his family name, Vinci being the town near Florence where the great artist was born
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of surname
Eunice Yoon,evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 20 Sep. 2024
An employee surnamed Lin who answered the phone at Gold Apollo but declined to provide her full name or title said the company did not directly fill the pager order from Hezbollah, and that BAC handles the vast majority of device sales from Middle Eastern customers.
—Stephanie Yang, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2024
Eren Orbey, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Nataliia made a pastry swan to celebrate her grandparents, whose surname translates to the name of a wetland bird.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for surname
Noun
The individual, surnamed Yang, declined to share his first name due to concerns about speaking with foreign media.
—Eunice Yoon,evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 20 Sep. 2024
An employee surnamed Lin who answered the phone at Gold Apollo but declined to provide her full name or title said the company did not directly fill the pager order from Hezbollah, and that BAC handles the vast majority of device sales from Middle Eastern customers.
—Stephanie Yang, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2024
Verb
According to Helen, White took her surname when they got married, in the early nineties, in order to distance himself from his criminal history.
—Eren Orbey, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Nataliia made a pastry swan to celebrate her grandparents, whose surname translates to the name of a wetland bird.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for surname
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surname
Noun
-
Famously, the original title of Annie Hall was Anhedonia (meaning an inability to experience pleasure), but was changed to reflect Keaton’s dominant presence (and her actual family name, Hall).—
Matt Zoller Seitz,
Vulture,
12 Oct. 2025
-
Beckham, a marketeer to her core and fully aware of the power of the family name, offered deeply personal stories to go with each fragrance.—
Samantha Conti,
Footwear News,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Her strategically manipulative style of play on the series earned her the nickname Black Widow, a moniker that also followed her on other reality show appearances, such as on The Traitors 2 and Deal or No Deal Island 2.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Oct. 2025
-
But the nickname in Jets lore lives on.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The series — technically titled The All-New Mickey Mouse Club — was a revival of a classic series that had enjoyed runs in the 1950s and 1970s.—
Victoria Edel,
PEOPLE,
24 Oct. 2025
-
Eastin revealed that the show will be titled White Collar Renaissance in September 2024.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The backside also included his last name, similar to that of a jersey design.—
Skyler Caruso,
PEOPLE,
22 Oct. 2025
-
Others, including Connecticut and Delaware, schedule payments based on the first letter of the recipient’s last name.—
Aliss Higham,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
According to research from Copyleaks, an AI analysis firm that helps businesses and institutions navigate the shifting landscape of this emergent technology, a new trend has produced Sora videos of celebrities appearing to spew hateful racist epithets.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
23 Oct. 2025
-
On his next broadcast, Maher convened guests like Ice Cube and Michael Eric Dyson to call him to task for using the epithet and to explore the issues about its us.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The two were falsely named as recruits to the university's crew team, even though neither ever participated in the sport, including posing for photos of themselves working out using crew machines.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
-
The survey said 30% of employers named chronic disease, 26% cited higher use of services and 22% said hospital prices accelerated the cost of health insurance.—
Ken Alltucker,
USA Today,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
North also styled her hair in braids like Dionne and carried a small black leather handbag.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
26 Oct. 2025
-
From there, the tennis champion styled her platinum blonde hair in a middle part with long, voluminous curls.—
Kelsey Stewart,
Footwear News,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Third-party nationals, as non-EU citizens are termed, are only allowed to spend 90 out of every 180 days in the bloc.—
Julia Buckley,
CNN Money,
10 Oct. 2025
-
Both projects were organized to determine if the 68 percent of all mass and energy, collectively termed dark matter, originates from a pure cosmological constant.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Surname.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surname. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share