Why do a lot of Americans have surnames as their first name?

[Gwendoline]

McKenzie, Cooper, Dempsey, Miller, Mitchell, Paisley, Reid, Reagan, Rockwell, Quinn, Brook, Flynn, Murphy, McCann, Riley, Brooke, Austin, Russell, Taylor, Morgan, McCauley, Mackenna, Mackay. There are so many and can be confusing as a non American when you ask them what their Christian name is.

[abc3643]

It's very common. A significant reason is that surnames (last names) are much more varied and meaningful than given names (first names). For instance, naming your kid "Lincoln" instead of "Abe" or "Abraham" has more impact because 1) there are less Lincolns because Abraham is a biblical name and biblical names are common and 2) Lincoln has a more historically impactful name in the United States.

Do some R&D on the web about the history of baby names in the USA and watch how they have changed in popularity over time.

Meanwhile, you might get a kick out of preppy "old money" names. It's a joke within the lacrosse world. Lacrosse has historically been popular in the northeast especially among private "prep" schools for generations. In the world of old money / blue bloods / preppies, children often have surnames as last names. Or they have some fanciful preppy first name.

Here's an example: The Stanwick family from Baltimore (lacrosse is very big in Maryland). Stanwick is, of course, an uptight northeast English surname.
Everyone in the family played lacrosse including the father and grandfather.
Grandfather: Tad Stanwick, author of the 1940 book "Lacrosse".
Father: Wellington ("Wells") Stanwick, Sr.
Mother: Dori Stanwick
4 Daughters:
Sheehan
Wick
Coco
Covie
4 Sons:
Tad
Steele
Wellington, Jr.
Shackleford

Here's an article about them...

The Stanwicks, One of the First Families of Lacrosse, Find the Ties That Bind
www.nytimes.com/.../...ind-the-ties-that-bind.html

For more examples of this, Google "Inside Lacrosse All-Name Team".
For instance, here's the 2016 list:
www.insidelacrosse.com/.../33504

[Bricealan]

@gwendoline Only guessing Gwendoline, but I think many get tired of the same old shit 'given names" and resort to surnames as first names to have something different.

My neighbors named their son "Cameron"... which is a not uncommon Surname.

[wynning]

In patrynomic tradition, a person takes their father’s first name as their surname. So this would mean that their fathers took their forefathers first names as their surnames and so on.

[Gwendoline]

If it's patrynomic tradition then that would mean a person would be called say McKenzie McKenzie. Orginially most people in western Europe didn't have surnames it was a matter of son of like when you see Mc or Mac or their clan name or their proffession like Cooper, thatcher, smith, Taylor etc. No need for a surname if you aren't going to travel more than 10 miles from the place you were born.

[wynning]

Actually I think we're both at least partially wrong and right. I was talking about a pure version of patronymics which doesn't exist everywhere in the way I described - in reality, each generation’s last name changes to reflect that generation’s father. However in Western Europe particularly the Isles (which I'm admittedly more familiar with) patronymic labels gradually became set into hereditary family names that an entire family bloodline would inherit generations down.

The doubling up is a misconception - it wouldn't make sense to call your children the son of x the son of x. if your dad was David McSharry, you’d be “X son of David”, your children would take your first name, not David's again. But you're right in how surnames became fixed over time.

[Communicationisking]

No idea but just brain storming maybe a girl that is the last person in a family line ie. there a no boys to carry on the family name use that name to continue it another generation... probably completely wrong but sounds like a feasible answer ✌

[WonderingManII]

I did a google search and found this answer:

"Many Americans have surnames as their first name due to a combination of factors, including the tradition of honoring family history, the cultural influence of surnames in literature and popular culture, and the desire for unique yet familiar names. It's also a way to preserve family history or honor a loved one without using their actual surname."

[FunkyMonkee]

It's like that in other countries, too.
A bass player friend of mine goes by the name, Smith. His real first name is, Bradley, another surname.

[Dongie]

Cool jingle, Monk!

[FunkyMonkee]

@Dongie There's also a movie from the `40's, I think, where the main character is named, Smith. I don't recall his last name.

[Dongie]

Interesting! I liked the name Turkish in Snatch.

[Anonymous]

It's typically parents (usually mothers) wanting to give their girls a masculine sounding name rather than a traditional feminine one.

Having said that, many of the names you listed have been used traditionally as first names forever (Mitchell, Reid, Quinn, Riley, Austin, etc.).

[Gwendoline]

Maybe traditionally in America

[Opinion Owner]

Google the origins of some of those names. Most did not originate in America, as surnames or given names.

[Gwendoline]

Most are from the British Isles so like Cooper somewhere down the line someone's ancestors was a Cooper by trade.

[slatyb]

It's an attempt to give their children uncommon names. The upper class is still giving their children traditional names.

[MisterWack]

That is a good question, will look forward to reading answers.

[Kaneki05]

There is no such thing as names being only for surnames or first names so it's not confusing at all. And this question is based on a false premise.

[AviatorTom]

To quote Shakespeare...

What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

[Med_guy1978]

Just a trend, in most cases. you know, something different and cool 😎

[QuestionObsession]

Because America was formed by lunatic separatists who wanted everything different from the British

[Med_guy1978]

Didn't want to be slaves to the system and pay taxes to the king 👑

[QuestionObsession]

But they did exactly that by enslaving Africans and native Americans. They came from the same European blood of colonizers and pillagers. No different from whom they were defying.

[Med_guy1978]

If I'm not mistaken, the slaves were brought over before the war of independence and not forgetting the Irish slaves abducted and resettled by the British navy and legalised pirates East India Co. Anyway, soon after the war of independence the English lobby had great influence in the US through bribery and politicians as can be seen in the vote for the official language of the US in which German won but with a few bribes and murders English won which secured a strong foothold in the US. Yes, the emerging Anglo American establishment did horrors to the indigenous Indians but let's not forget the English nation were in a way enslaved after the English civil war.

[QuestionObsession]

That is good history, thanks for sharing, I learned something more. I know the English Jews had a big influence in putting down standards in the newly formed USA. Especially the banks.

[Med_guy1978]

😊 the banks definitely. Then again, who controls the finances he controls everything else.
That was part of the reason for the American civil war, separate the south and instal the federal reserve (private central bank) by the same people who had already established this in England amongst other countries. Lincoln was against this. Plus Britain was expanding it's textile industry during the industrial revolution and cotton became the most important textile. The southern states had an abundance in this and a return to Britain as a colony would have been very profitable. Of course the unionists under Lincoln wanted to preserve the unity of the US and there the war began. Britain and France supported the south and prepared their fleets for the southern states. On the contrary, the Russian Tsar sent a fleet to the western coast and Eastern coast of the US and openly supported Lincoln and a pact was made that if Britain and France help the Confederate States then Russia would enter the war on Lincoln's side. Russia also loaned Lincoln gold to support the war. I guess this almost could have been the start of an alternative WW1. The people had no real benefit of the American civil war, it was just a case of separatists and unionists. A very small percentage of Americans had slaves and it never is hard to encourage men to get into a fight with a little marketing, whiskey and a wage.

[msc545]

It is an attempt to be "fashionable"

[Sal_Monella]

They often sound more distinguished. Harrison Ford. Broderick Crawford. Charleston Heston. McKenzie Phillips. Patton Oswalt. Back then there was Glen Glenn studios.

[shortster]

A lot of people didn't like the old school names and thought they'd come up with new ones.

[Chayce]

Thats not limited to Americans only, that's everywhere. Bogdan Bogdanovic is an EE NBA player.

[exitseven]

I think some name their kids after a rich relative hoping for a mention in their will.

[beefcakebradybatson]

Because sometimes a name can be a first name or a surname.(And in the case of William D. "Billy" Williams, both or nearly both).

[Jeff51]

Don't know. I do not. Maybe should have 1 to blend in.

[Newsy1971]

A. Decade’s passing fascination for being different.

[biraileeşkadını]

As a Turkish person, this seems strange to me.

[Cubus]

You forgot Kennedy and Madison.

[katiesmuff]

Because that is what their parents named them!

[DrPepper12]

It's the zeitgeist. Whatevs

[Dongie]

To honor the mothers maiden name. I guess.

[zagor]

Seems to be a lot more common this century.

[Staximus]

Because we are dumb

[jahaims]

Different culture