A family name that is generally passed down from generation to generation (via males of the family in Western culture). Women, traditionally (but not quite so much these days) often adopt the surname of the man they marry.
In modern culture it's fine for a male to adopt the females surname (though not that common), for couples to hyphenate their existing surnames into a new surname eg. if mary jones marries john smith they may join their surnames to be jones-smith or... possibly, it's fine to just create a whole new name (also not that common). Most commonly it is fine for each person to keep their own surnames and then fight when the children come along as to whose surname the children will get.
In modern culture it's fine for a male to adopt the females surname (though not that common), for couples to hyphenate their existing surnames into a new surname eg. if mary jones marries john smith they may join their surnames to be jones-smith or... possibly, it's fine to just create a whole new name (also not that common). Most commonly it is fine for each person to keep their own surnames and then fight when the children come along as to whose surname the children will get.
by Em Wun March 08, 2005
Get the surname mug.
The act of adding a surname to the phone contact of an ex after breaking up with them. Forms part of closure as usually only the bf/gf would be surname-less in an address book.
"Have you definitely finished it with Kylie then?"
"Yeah, it's official. I surnamed her this morning."
"Yeah, it's official. I surnamed her this morning."
by sternboller March 30, 2012
by Enlightened one2.0 December 27, 2021
My surname is Siko,somebody asked me do you know what your surname means he knew what the surname means but I couldn't ask him because I was shy and it was the first time I met him.Please tell me what the surname Siko means????😭😭
by Candice Siko April 19, 2023
The person in a family, traditionally a male member of the family, who is responsible or ABLE to carry on the family name. ie- Luke Cantone is the surnamer for "Cantone" in the USA, which is why we were pressuring his dad, John Cantone, to have another child, after having two girls, Julia and Charlotte Cantone. Surnamer was created by Doctor Ron Smolkin.
We needed a surnamer in the USA since every male Cantone had only female daughters so we put the pressure on John Cantone to have a third child, even though he had his hands full with his two daughters. In the end, John was thrilled to have a third child, especially since he had a boy, Luke Anthony Cantone, our surnamer in the USA.
by VirginiaCantoneTutoringNYC August 05, 2022