How was my last name created? or how was anyones last name created?

Question:

How was my last name created? or how was anyones last name created?

Think about it, like my last name is Brown how did like my great great great w.e make my last name
you dont hear any one now a days saying that i just made my last name "ahsdf" or w.e

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Alot of last names were started by the persons occupation, like Smith coming from blacksmiths etc. In fact, I have a friend whos last name is Mort, and he can trace his family heretige back to a time where they were a family of executioners. Mort being the root of alot of words relating to death ie. mortal, mortuary etc.

Spelling for various last names was regional, as words and spelling were not as strictly defined back in the 18th and 19th century as they are today. Hence some people are called Taylor, and some are called Tailor, depending on how the person called that at the time thought it was spelled.

Stuart/Stewart started as the surname for a line of scottish kings and is derived from the latin 'stig' and 'ward' roughly meaning 'keeper' and 'house' respectively. They kept the thrown and thus kept the 'house'. It is interesting how Stuart is more common as a first name, and Stewart as a last.

The names Brown, Black, White, Grey etc. were derived from particularly noticable features of that person that was that colour. For example, in a small farming community, perhaps John was the only one who had brown hair, brown eyes etc. Perhaps he moved up from the south and thus had a browner complexion, or only wore brown clothes. Then he became as John Brown and the name carried to his children etc. Since these names are derived from a noticable feature of colour that a person had, these names are very common as opposed to one like Mort, as there were alot more people out there with stand out features then executioners.