Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use surname in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Surname means the portion of a person's name that is generally hereditary or treated as an indicator of a person's family, which may be shared with other members of the family, or otherwise derived from their names in some fashion; distinguished from that person's given name(s). Example: “James is my first name, and Smith is my surname.”

Examples of surname by meaning

nounThe portion of a person's name that is generally hereditary or treated as an indicator of a person's family, which may...

  • James is my first name, and Smith is my surname.

verbTo call by a surname.

  • “Lord,” said Sir Launcelot, “I am hight Launcelot, and am surnamed ‘He of the Lake.’”1905, Howard Pyle, “The Story of Launcelot”, in The Story of the Champions of the Round Table, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 66
  • The man, surnamed Hsieh (謝), was arrested in the city’s Jhonghe District (中和) on Friday afternoon, after investigators combed through surveillance video footage a day earlier, police said.2025 March 2, “Taxi driver arrested after seven dead cats are found”, in Taipei Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 02 Mar...

More sentences with surname

  • He had the same surname as me, but we were unrelated.From the entry unrelated
  • The books were sorted by title, but I'm going to reorder them by author's surname.From the entry reorder
  • It was almost impossible to locate specific books in the library until we had alphabetized them by the authors' surnames.From the entry alphabetize
  • The profession of barker has been made largely obsolete by the introduction of more effective tanning agents, but it lives on as a surname.From the entry barker
  • In many countries, matronymic surnames can be adopted after the death of the father, although the process is very formal and lengthy.From the entry matronymic
  • You be the judge: my husband refuses to double-barrel our surnames.2024 November 29, Georgina Lawton, “You be the judge: my husband refuses to double-barrel our surnames. Should I take his last name?”, in…. From the entry double-barrel
  • "All Jewish surnames echo throughout history," explained the Right Stuff, the blog that hosted the podcast.2018, (((Semitism))): Being Jewish in America in the Age of Trump, page 131. From the entry gorillion
  • In Yunlin’s Sihhu township, 65% of the people are surnamed Lin.2018 November 5, Natalie Tso, “Same surname! 149 Taiwan towns have a “majority surname””, in Radio Taiwan International, archived from the…. From the entry Sihhu
  • Thus two female Miqos having the same surnames are almost certainly related.2017 March 22, Spiswel, Reddit. From the entry Miqo
  • The third largest group of surnames is formed by professionyms (e.g.2016, Carole Hough, Daria Izdebska, editors, The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 114. From the entry professionym
  • Kovář ‘smith’, Kolář ‘wheeler’, Mlynář ‘miller’), which make up about 12% of the total number of surnames.2016, Carole Hough, Daria Izdebska, editors, The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 114. From the entry professionym
  • Rooms are named with Fukienese surnames like “Chen” and “Huang”; employees don traditional Chinese cheongsams.2014 November 11, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, “Hotel Review: Amoy Hotel in Singapore”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the…. From the entry Fukienese
  • The surname, "New," appears on both Hampshire Co., Virginia and Pendleton Co., Kentucky records.1980, John Douglas Sinks, Karen Mirinda Cain, Sinks: A Family History, page 9. From the entry new
  • The traditional inequalities of marriage, such as changing her surname to his.1976 February 14, A. Nolder Gay, “The View from the Closet”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 33, page 17. From the entry inequality
  • In his fourteenth year, Chang was married to a girl surnamed Yü.1966, David S. Nivison, The Life and Thought of Chang Hsüeh-ch'eng (1738-1801), Stanford University Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 23. From the entry Ying-ch'eng
  • A couple of weeks later, he gave the mayor and his secretary, surnamed Chen (陳), an additional NT$3.5 million.2024 February 22, Matthew Strong, “Prosecutors charge Taiwan council speaker with buying signatures for Foxconn founder”, in Taiwan News…. From the entry Chaozhou
  • Police tracked down a 32-year-old wanted man, surnamed Dang (鄧), to a dormitory in Hsinchu County's Hukou Township, reported TVBS.2023 July 17, Keoni Everington, “Migrant worker stabs cop, compatriot in north Taiwan”, in Taiwan News, archived from the original on 17…. From the entry hukou
  • Almost unbelievably, some authors have formed the erroneous conception that ‘Hobson-Jobson’ is actually the double-barrelled surname of the dictionary’s editor.2018, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in International Journal of Lexicography…. From the entry double-barrelled
  • Christ is not the surname used by Jesus.2015, Randall C. Hale, “A Brief History as Reported in The Bible”, in War On…, Frederick, Md.: America Star Books, →ISBN, page 61. From the entry Jesus the Christ
  • The butt of the mickey-taking was Ed's surname.2009, Martyn Croft, The Boy Who Knew Things, →ISBN, page 10. From the entry mickey-take
  • And then I like monosyllabic surnames that aren’t too common, so I’d have Dean or Bell or King.1998, Barbara Vine, The Chimney Sweeper’s Boy, →ISBN, page 168. From the entry jonathan
  • The surname Graff was chosen because upscale consumers respect anything Teutonic - regard it as efficient, intelligent, and reliable.1990, Jonathan Kellerman, Time Bomb, page 163. From the entry Gregory
  • All villages in the cluster shared the same surname.1989, Janice E. Stockard, Daughters of the Canton Delta: Marriage Patterns and Economic Strategies in South China, 1860-1930, Stanford…. From the entry Punyu
  • Surnames are, with a few exceptions, monosyllabic.1986, Nikukua Sai Nagkiariien Nininife: - Issues 94-95; Issue 110, page 181. From the entry selfname
  • However, as a surname Fletcher's all right.1968, Robin Maugham, The Second Window, McGraw - Hill, page 275. From the entry Sebastian
  • Between friends like us, surnames are all wrong.1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 185. From the entry front name
  • Phil (surname: McGraw) had ended his flagship talk show and created his own news and entertainment network, trafficking daily in conservative-coded subjects — “Dr.2025 August 10, Matt Flegenheimer, “Dr. Phil’s Road From Oprah to ICE Raids”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times…. From the entry coded
  • The man, surnamed Chai, from Jincheng city in Shanxi province, was outraged after he discovered the abandoned little puppy, according to Toutiao News.2022 October 31, Liya Su, “Heartwarming tales of man’s best friend: dog finds way home after 6 years, canine’s face scanned to open gate…. From the entry Jincheng
  • A man surnamed Chen (陳) on Wednesday (March 9) was charged with growing marijuana at his residence in Qidu District, Keelung City.2022 March 10, George Liao, “Man charged for growing marijuana in northern Taiwan”, in Taiwan News, archived from the original on 10 Mar…. From the entry Qidu
  • The term surname originally denoted an additional name—that is, one used in addition to an individual’s given name, with no implication that it was hereditary.2016, Patrick Hanks et al., The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, volume I, page xii. From the entry byname
  • Due to the occupation, people used to call him Sitarmaker, which became very much familiar and lead to change in surname of Shikalkar to Sitarmaker.2015 February 25, “About K S Sitarmaker”, in K. S. Sitarmaker (blog), archived from the original on 11 May 2024. From the entry Sitarmaker
  • A former vice-director of the Gangkou district water plant in Fangchenggang , surnamed Zhong, has been jailed for 10 years for graft, Chinanews.com reports.2014 October 25, “Mum throws daughter to death at hospital; Fujian's hottest September since 1961”, in South China Morning Post, →ISSN…. From the entry Gangkou
  • Nowadays, there are still some people surnamed Diwu in China, and most of them lived in a village in Xunyi County, Shaanxi Province.2010, Bi Yanli [毕艳莉], translated by Qin Dan [秦丹], Tales from the Hundreds Surnames (Tales from China's Classic Essential Readings)…. From the entry Xunyi
  • A kongsi is a clan house, a building that’s partly a temple and partly a meeting hall for Chinese of the same clan or surname.2004, Simon Richmond, Marie Cambon, Damian Harper, Richard Watkins, Lonely Planet: Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. From the entry kongsi
  • E was later adopted as a common surname by his descendants and the family settled in Hsiang-ning hsien 鄉寧縣, Shan-hsi 山西 province.[2000, Sheau-yueh J. Chao (趙賀筱岳), “Genealogy of Chinese Surnames”, in 尋根溯源中國人的姓氏 [In Search of Your Asian Roots: Genealogical Research on…. From the entry Xiangning
  • For if modern woman is so intent on keeping her surname alive, why not demand it be passed along to her children?1997, Bob Grant, Let's Be Heard, page 42. From the entry woman
  • Parents researched birth charts probably not so much to assure good fortune as to circumvert incest in a population that has but one hundred surnames.1979, Brain, James Lewton, The last taboo : sex and the fear of death. From the entry circumvert

Meaning of surname

  1. noun The portion of a person's name that is generally hereditary or treated as an indicator of a person's family, which may be shared with other members of the family, or otherwise derived from their names in some fashion; distinguished from that person's given name(s).
  2. noun Synonym of epithet, an additional name, particularly those derived from a birthplace, quality, or achievement.
  3. noun Synonym of nickname, an additional name given to a person, place, or thing, a byname.

Full definition of surname

Questions about surname in a sentence

How do you use surname in a sentence?
Surname is used as a noun and verb. For example: “James is my first name, and Smith is my surname.”
What is a short sentence with surname?
“However, as a surname Fletcher's all right.”
What does surname mean?
Surname means the portion of a person's name that is generally hereditary or treated as an indicator of a person's family, which may be shared with other members of the family, or otherwise derived from their names in some fashion; distinguished from that person's given name(s).

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: surname (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use surname in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/surname. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.