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
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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
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Recent Examples of surname
Ronnie Li, USA Today, 30 Dec. 2025
Grammer ultimately maintained the Frasier actor's surname.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Dec. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for surname
Noun
In the video above, listen as his surname announced, and watch the stunned stepdad collapse into tears of joy.
—Ronnie Li, USA Today, 30 Dec. 2025
Grammer ultimately maintained the Frasier actor's surname.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Dec. 2025
Verb
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
See All Example Sentences for surname
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surname
Noun
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Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl founded the company bearing the family name in 1909.—
James Raia,
Mercury News,
4 Jan. 2026
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According to the Associated Press, Abatti comes from a multigenerational farming family in California’s Imperial Valley, where the family name has long been associated with agricultural businesses and community leadership.—
Stepheny Price,
FOXNews.com,
30 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The Hoosier Dome opened in 1984, mall culture grew as teens and shoppers flocked to Castleton Square and plans for Circle Centre got underway, all while Indy began to outgrow its 'Naptown' nickname.—
Joe Mutascio,
IndyStar,
8 Jan. 2026
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Simpson is a member of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter’s Santa Monica Mountains Task Force trail crew, known often by their nickname, the Trailies.—
Jaclyn Cosgrove,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Sadoski last appeared on the big screen in a movie titled Adult Children in 2025.—
Tommy McArdle,
PEOPLE,
8 Jan. 2026
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Along with a documentary titled One Last Adventure, chronicling the filming of Season 5, set to release on January 12, 2026, Netflix also has two more Stranger Things projects in the works.—
Jason Pham,
StyleCaster,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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According to her petition, Good wanted to change her last name from Renee Nicole Macklin to Renee Nicole Macklin Good.—
Nathan Pilling,
Kansas City Star,
9 Jan. 2026
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Here’s a rundown of those players, listed in alphabetical order by last name.—
Rachel Roberts,
Idaho Statesman,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Just a few days earlier in California, a house that had been decorated with lights celebrating Chanukah was riddled with bullets, with the assailant having been heard to yell anti-Jewish epithets.—
Rabbi Steve Roth,
Sun Sentinel,
6 Jan. 2026
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The doc has also earned the ire of Chase’s former Community co-star Yvette Nicole Brown, who firmly distanced herself from it and all attempts to reinvestigate Chase’s firing from the show amid accusations of hurling racial epithets.—
Seth Abramovitch,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Dec. 2025
Verb
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First, Monty Miller (a suave, anguished Jon Hamm), Tommy’s lifelong friend and billionaire founder of M-Tex, dies suddenly, but not before naming the fixer as the new company president.—
Michael M. Rosen,
The Washington Examiner,
9 Jan. 2026
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The rover, named SCARABS, comes from the Lunar and Planetary Exploration Laboratory at UEL and focuses on compact design, hardware validation, and long-term lunar infrastructure rather than spectacle.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Wear it around the house on a chilly day in, or style it with plush boots or sneakers for errands, cafe runs, or walks around the neighborhood.—
Clara McMahon,
PEOPLE,
15 Jan. 2026
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Free People Glow Up Faux Leather Pants Stylish leather pants are dominating Milan’s windows again and this time, the cut is looser, baggier, and often styled with a slightly heeled boot in the winter.—
Nneya Richards,
Travel + Leisure,
14 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Saturday night’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Kaseya Center was the latest example of his ability to bounce back, leaving in the first quarter due to what the team termed leg soreness, listed as questionable to return at that point, and then back on the court in the second period.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
4 Jan. 2026
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Preliminary results from the clinical trial that Christina joined, termed the Remain-1 study, indicate that the procedure is working as intended to stabilize weight after GLP-1 therapy.—
Elie Dolgin,
IEEE Spectrum,
29 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Surname.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surname. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.
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