What is the term for using an ancestral given name as a surname?

Question

This is NOT a question about people who have surnames that are usually found as given names, such as Rand Paul.

My question relates to the process of Americanization of surnames. For example, I have done genealogical research about descendants of Harry Krewiansky who took the surnames Harris and Harrison, and descendants of Bernard Gogolinsky who took the surname Barney.

Why in the world would this have a “term” for it? You simply describe it, and you are done. — tchrist, Feb 15 '14 at 18:12
I take issue with "Americanization" in this context; this process has been happening worldwide, for hundreds of years - certainly since the widespread European adoption of surnames and possibly even longer elsewhere. In Scandinavian-derived names there's the suffix -son / -ssen; in Russian there's the suffix -ov; in Ukrainian -enko; in Armenian -ian / -yan; there are surely other patterns I'm forgetting. — MT_Head, Feb 15 '14 at 18:55
Armenian tradition is a little unusual in that the same suffix is used both for patronymic and geographic names; Grigoryan is a guy whose ancestor was named Grigor, while Alepyan is a guy whose family came from Aleppo. — MT_Head, Feb 15 '14 at 18:59
possible duplicate of What is the term for someone who has a last name that can also be a first name? Specifically, this answer — FumbleFingers, Feb 15 '14 at 19:01

ermanen · Answer 1 · 2014-02-15T18:25:07.260

Patronymic:

a name derived from that of the father or a paternal ancestor usually by the addition of an affix

Also from wikipedia:

A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor.

Matronymic:

a name derived from that of the mother or a maternal ancestor

Also from wikipedia:

A matronymic is a personal name based on the name of one's mother, grandmother, or any female ancestor. It is the female equivalent of a patronymic.

For second part of the question, we may call the process as "Anglicisation of Patronymic names" or "Anglicisation of Matronymic names".

What is the term for using an ancestral given name as a surname?

1 Answers1