1
as in family names
a name shared by members of a family
judging from your surname, I'd guess that your family is Italian
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in nicknames
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 surnames
Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Sep. 2025
Many younger Red Sox weren’t in the majors, or even drafted in ‘19, the last time the league allowed players to replace their surnames with nicknames on the back of their Players’ Weekend jerseys.
—Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 16 Aug. 2025
Verb
Yuliia Kaveshnikova/Getty Images The new husband's last name is the same as u//Specken_zee_Doitch's first name, and because the couple have hyphenated each other's surnames, their last names are the same as u//Specken_zee_Doitch's full name.
—Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Sep. 2025
Many younger Red Sox weren’t in the majors, or even drafted in ‘19, the last time the league allowed players to replace their surnames with nicknames on the back of their Players’ Weekend jerseys.
—Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 16 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surnames
Noun
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Newsom's press office's X account has been regularly posting memes, snarky all-caps messages and using catchy nicknames for his opponents.—
Alia Shoaib,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
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Colleagues described a popular chaplain with nicknames for the tiny patients and soothing words for their bleary-eyed parents.—
Hannah Allam,
ProPublica,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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That was just in time for the first of three Super Bowl titles the Chiefs won between that year and 2023-24.—
Matthew Schmidt,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Sep. 2025
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The Dragons didn’t play in 2024 after winning Manzanita League titles the previous two seasons.—
Rick Hoff,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
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In the fall of 1975, officials assigned students to schools based on their grade levels and the first letter of their last names.—
Krista Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
4 Sep. 2025
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Enslaved people weren’t given last names.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Then there was the woman who was Speaker of the House and would walk around talking to herself, screaming out epithets to imaginary people.—
Larry David,
New Yorker,
28 Aug. 2025
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Terrell represented a Black teenager who’d been expelled from a Los Angeles high school for punching a white referee during a football game after the referee allegedly had directed racial epithets at him.—
Peter Elkind,
ProPublica,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The lawsuit also names publisher Penguin Random House and four Times reporters as defendants.—
Kinsey Crowley,
USA Today,
16 Sep. 2025
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According to a Manhattan Supreme Court foreclosure suit filed in December that names both Bill and Camille, the pair stopped making payments on the loans in June 2024 in addition to failing to pay over $300,000 in property taxes.—
Matthew Sedacca,
Curbed,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Tube styles The single tube is a style that connects a tube to the diaphragm and splits into two before reaching the headset.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
8 Sep. 2025
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For instance, Jean styles a head scarf impeccably well.—
Nneya Richards,
Travel + Leisure,
17 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Brixius terms the results creolization, a hybridization of people and knowledge.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
16 Aug. 2025
Verb
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North Korea labels the allies' joint drills as invasion rehearsals and often uses them as a pretext to dial up military demonstrations and weapons tests aimed at advancing its nuclear program.—
KIM TONG-HYUNG THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Arkansas Online,
13 Aug. 2025
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Designed by house favorite architect Peter Marino, the new House of Dior New York location is the first in the world to house the designer labels' entire offerings, including women's, men's, beauty, and home, under one roof.—
Roxanne Robinson,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Surnames.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surnames. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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