1
: an added name derived from occupation or other circumstance : nickname sense 1
2
: the name borne in common by members of a family
Synonyms
Examples of surname in a Sentence
Noun
judging from your surname, I'd guess that your family is Italian
“da Vinci” was Leonardo's surname but not his family name, Vinci being the town near Florence where the great artist was born
Recent Examples on the Web
Shawn Deng, CNN, 11 Jan. 2025
Editors’ Picks The tourist, who only gave her surname, Xu, shared a video showing several single-story brick buildings with collapsed walls.
—Bhadra Sharma, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2025
Nectar Gan, CNN, 28 Nov. 2024
The individual, surnamed Yang, declined to share his first name due to concerns about speaking with foreign media.
—Eunice Yoon,evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 20 Sep. 2024
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Noun
The trigger for the protests was the death of a teenage student, whose surname was Dang and who was in his third year at the school.
—Shawn Deng, CNN, 11 Jan. 2025
Editors’ Picks The tourist, who only gave her surname, Xu, shared a video showing several single-story brick buildings with collapsed walls.
—Bhadra Sharma, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2025
Verb
Zhang’s late wife, surnamed Sun, fell to her death during an aerial silks performance with her husband in a village in Anhui province in April last year, sparking horror and outcry on social media over the lack of safety measures for performers.
—Nectar Gan, CNN, 28 Nov. 2024
The individual, surnamed Yang, declined to share his first name due to concerns about speaking with foreign media.
—Eunice Yoon,evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for surname
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Cite this Entry
“Surname.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surname. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
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