1
: an added name derived from occupation or other circumstance : nickname sense 1
2
: the name borne in common by members of a family
Synonyms
Examples of surname in a Sentence
Noun
judging from your surname, I'd guess that your family is Italian
“da Vinci” was Leonardo's surname but not his family name, Vinci being the town near Florence where the great artist was born
Recent Examples on the Web
Chris Lau, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024
His paternal grandfather, like many Jews who immigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe, had changed his surname to one that didn’t sound Jewish.
—Michael S. Rosenwald, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2024
In one example of this problem, the USA TODAY Network found that in 57 cities and towns, police marked the majority of men with Hispanic surnames as white on traffic tickets.
—Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY, 1 Feb. 2024
In a video shared by the NFL on Instagram, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones can be seen discussing the correct pronunciation of the tight end’s surname while keeping warm on the sidelines.
—Bailey Richards, Peoplemag, 27 Jan. 2024
Visitors can use an app to locate their own surnames on the surface, making the monument a living archive.
—Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
Paul Krugman’s column on Tuesday misspelled the surname of a talk-show host.
—New York Times, 5 Mar. 2024
The Times also reported that Harry and Meghan adopted the Sussex surname for their children after Charles’ coronation.
—Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 15 Feb. 2024
Lake formed Awake Media in March using her husband’s surname.
—Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 30 Jan. 2024
Chris Lau, CNN, 9 May 2023
The Chengdu police used social media on Wednesday to report that a 39-year-old man surnamed Chen was arrested on suspicion of opening a casino.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 22 Nov. 2023
The 39-year-old Chinese national, surnamed Hao, was a cadre at a ministry and had gone to Japan for studies, which was where the spying recruitment occurred, the ministry said.
—Reuters, NBC News, 21 Aug. 2023
Gandhi had asked in an election campaign speech, referring to two fugitive businessmen, both surnamed Modi.
—Reuters, NBC News, 4 Aug. 2023
The defense ministry said Wednesday that a lieutenant colonel surnamed Hsieh and other defendants were suspected of having been recruited by China to leak national defense secrets and other information.
—Time, 2 Aug. 2023
Police arrested the suspect, a 25-year-old man surnamed Wu, shortly after at around 8 a.m.
—Jessie Yeung, CNN, 10 July 2023
With stalwarts such as Bernie Sanders, Sheldon Whitehouse and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Washington, as well as various people surnamed Biden, what could possibly go wrong?
—WSJ, 1 June 2023
The image of the employee, surnamed Han, was blurred in an interview with the state broadcaster and appeared to be wearing a prison uniform.
—Daisuke Wakabayashi, New York Times, 8 May 2023
Noun
And the vast majority of the population – almost 86% – share just 100 surnames.
—Chris Lau, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024
His paternal grandfather, like many Jews who immigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe, had changed his surname to one that didn’t sound Jewish.
—Michael S. Rosenwald, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2024
In one example of this problem, the USA TODAY Network found that in 57 cities and towns, police marked the majority of men with Hispanic surnames as white on traffic tickets.
—Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY, 1 Feb. 2024
In a video shared by the NFL on Instagram, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones can be seen discussing the correct pronunciation of the tight end’s surname while keeping warm on the sidelines.
—Bailey Richards, Peoplemag, 27 Jan. 2024
Visitors can use an app to locate their own surnames on the surface, making the monument a living archive.
—Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
Paul Krugman’s column on Tuesday misspelled the surname of a talk-show host.
—New York Times, 5 Mar. 2024
The Times also reported that Harry and Meghan adopted the Sussex surname for their children after Charles’ coronation.
—Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 15 Feb. 2024
Lake formed Awake Media in March using her husband’s surname.
—Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 30 Jan. 2024
Verb
Gansu authorities said the suspect, surnamed Hong, was questioned in the city of Dongguan in southern Guangdong province on May 5.
—Chris Lau, CNN, 9 May 2023
The Chengdu police used social media on Wednesday to report that a 39-year-old man surnamed Chen was arrested on suspicion of opening a casino.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 22 Nov. 2023
The 39-year-old Chinese national, surnamed Hao, was a cadre at a ministry and had gone to Japan for studies, which was where the spying recruitment occurred, the ministry said.
—Reuters, NBC News, 21 Aug. 2023
Gandhi had asked in an election campaign speech, referring to two fugitive businessmen, both surnamed Modi.
—Reuters, NBC News, 4 Aug. 2023
The defense ministry said Wednesday that a lieutenant colonel surnamed Hsieh and other defendants were suspected of having been recruited by China to leak national defense secrets and other information.
—Time, 2 Aug. 2023
Police arrested the suspect, a 25-year-old man surnamed Wu, shortly after at around 8 a.m.
—Jessie Yeung, CNN, 10 July 2023
With stalwarts such as Bernie Sanders, Sheldon Whitehouse and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Washington, as well as various people surnamed Biden, what could possibly go wrong?
—WSJ, 1 June 2023
The image of the employee, surnamed Han, was blurred in an interview with the state broadcaster and appeared to be wearing a prison uniform.
—Daisuke Wakabayashi, New York Times, 8 May 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'surname.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Surname.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surname. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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