Thesaurus results for FAMILY NAME

family name

noun

Definition of family name next

as in surname

a name shared by members of a family searched for their family name on a popular genealogy website

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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 family name The move to mirror the suffocation of fame and family name by making the show’s scope increasingly claustrophobic is not untrodden territory. —

Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 12 Feb. 2026 The husband can take the wife’s name or the wife can take the husband’s name, but only one family name. —

Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2026 The sports shirt had the number 64 and his family name Ocasio on it in subtle white lettering. —

Tony Bravo, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Feb. 2026 But the president backed off after appeals from San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and tech executives, including Marc Benioff, the Salesforce CEO whose family name is attached to the Oakland children’s hospital. —

Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 27 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for family name

Recent Examples of Synonyms for family name

Noun

The campaign between challenger Juan Beto Ruiz and incumbent Campos was one of the more unusual of the primaries in Lake County, with Ruiz ultimately removed from the ballot less than a day before the election over his missing maternal surname on nomination papers.

— Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 18 Mar. 2026
This would mean that married women who have changed their surname would have to show citizenship documents that match their current legal name.

— Melina Khan, USA Today, 12 Mar. 2026