Where did last names come from and when?

Question:

Where did last names come from and when?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: It wasn't until after 1200 or so that last names started to become popular. It used to be you were just known by your first name, although in biblical times you were often known as "Isaac, son of Abraham" (Issac ben Avraham). After a while, two problems emerged. One is that the same names kept getting used. In England around 1200, 1 out of every three people was John or William or Richard. Hence you needed a way of distinguishing them. A second was when people started moving to new towns.

Last names came from varying things. One was family - hence, the son of John took the surname Johnson. Another was physical characteristics: Brown, Armstrong, Russell (brown haired), Grant (a tall guy), and Moore (meaning you were dark complected). A third was jobs (Farmer, Bishop, Cooper, Chandler, Archer, Smith). Throw in influences of invaders and you've got quite the variation going.