How and when did the use of surnames come about?

Question:

How and when did the use of surnames come about?

When did people start to use last names? and where? and why?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: First the names was only one parted.I mean the pple only had first names like Stephen and etc like nowadays.
They distinguished themselves from the other by different methods.
Like using prexifes that indicated they are coming from a certain town,city, area, and implicitly, the noble had prefixes that reflected their lands.
And used very imaginative names that implyed to their ancestors, to the ones, that bred them,aka their father:) Stephens son Stephen.You can see its very imaginative and fancy.

BUT

The turning point can not be as certain as you want it.
You cant name a specific date, but a tendency.
This tendency is linked with the forming of a modern (or a more modern) state, when the kings could centralize their powers to declra their absolut superiority thus the absolut state.

Absolutistic kingdoms needed money. Their stabiliyt based upon nearly 2 things.
1.skilled clercks, who receives payment(and not a bad one) for their worksm as abs.kingd. created and mastered the burocracy.

2.massive numbers of trained soldiers (mercenary.)Who needed
food, weapons,etc. and this meant a standing army, not a drafted
militia like one.

These 2 things ate the money.I mean it.
For xample in the 16t century, at the highest point,The Spanish Kingdom had 80% of their incomes spent on the army.
At that time the Spanish Kingd. was nearly a superpower, with unlimited potential(colonization).

So you need to raise the income, to keep the state runnin, and as
abs.kingdms had some kind of a imperialistic way of thinking you need it hard.

SO you need to create a stable way of income.
TAX
Yes, this era saw the rise of the creation and mastering of the tax system.
And you want the money from everyone,yes?
Well you can only taxed (is there a word for this?) the peasants, as the nobles had immunity.
So you need a list, with all the names(!) and information.
So the states rised the level of controll over their fellow civilians(well they dont even have any right,but who cares).You need the names on a paper to collect all the tax.
So, the creation of massive taxation created a heat to *invent*
surnames. It would be fun to collect money from nearly the 47487287th Stephen, you can guess the efficiency of this system.

and yes, its always about money.

Well, its an other story that how the spec. surnames created.
They refer to a job,craft(Smith), an ability(Swift),a nickname, outlook, possibly the hair (Red-hehe im Red,too) or by complete imagination.
They NEEDED some name, afterall, or they were fined, or alternatively( and more common) punished, beaten and such. After all the work must be done.

sorry for the low quality, it was made from the nothing (no pre-plan).