My parents gave me a first name and a second name and I inherited my surname from my father.

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My wife was born in a culture that didn’t give middle names and so she only has two names.

It’s all about style.

It’s the style in western culture to identify ourselves by two names and so you probably know my first name and my last name but not my middle name.

In fact sometimes people who identify themselves with more than two names come across as pretentious.

That’s part of the style too.

The reason a last name is called a surname is because it wasn’t always the style to have two names.

Surname literally means “on top of name” and figuratively means “another name on top of the one you already have.”

This meaning makes sense when you understand why people began to think that having two names was more stylish—and practical.

When the Normans invaded in 1066 almost no one in England went by more than one name. There were a large variety of names and people hung out in smaller groups in towns and villages.

As French culture of the Normans influenced people French names began to be more popular, especially those with New Testament origins.

In 1379 tax records show that in the town of Sheffield one third of the male taxpayers were named John and another 19 percent were named William.

That’s more than half the guys with only two names.

At the same time, as cottage industry began to give way to factories populations became more centralized.

It’s one thing to keep 5 people named John straight, it’s quite another to keep 50 straight.

Clearly another name on top of the name their parents gave them was necessary to tell which was who.

What to call them?

Margaret Atwood’s ancestors must have lived near the edge of town. Samuel Johnson must have had an ancestor who was the son of one of those Johns.

I’ve always known that this happened somewhere back there in history but it’s nice to figure out why and when.

In the early 1200s surnames hadn’t caught on widely, by the end of the 1400s almost everybody had ‘em.

In case you’re wondering, my middle name is Brodie, from my mother’s maiden name.