Last name: Davis This distinguished surname, with no less than twenty Coats of Arms, and several notable entries in the "Dictionary of National Biography", is a patronymic form of the male given name David, itself coming from the Hebrew "Dodaveha" meaning "Beloved of Jehovah".
There are some obvious examples: father's name, occupation, etc
Did they ever overlap?
There were probably several times when people had to "spontaneously" generate surnames. One example was the freeing of the slaves in USA. All slaves without surnames (most of them) picked their own - many choosing famous politicians - Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, etc.
[ + ] dulcima
[ - ] dulcima 2 points 3.7 yearsSep 13, 2021 12:32:42 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] NeoNazirite
[ - ] NeoNazirite 1 point 3.7 yearsSep 13, 2021 18:52:09 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Deleted
[ - ] deleted 0 points 3.7 yearsSep 13, 2021 13:22:56 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] 1Icemonkey
[ - ] 1Icemonkey 1 point 3.7 yearsSep 13, 2021 16:52:16 ago (+1/-0)
Last name: Davis
This distinguished surname, with no less than twenty Coats of Arms, and several notable entries in the "Dictionary of National Biography", is a patronymic form of the male given name David, itself coming from the Hebrew "Dodaveha" meaning "Beloved of Jehovah".
[ + ] carrotcar
[ - ] carrotcar 0 points 3.7 yearsSep 13, 2021 18:24:00 ago (+0/-0)
There are some obvious examples: father's name, occupation, etc
Did they ever overlap?
There were probably several times when people had to "spontaneously" generate surnames. One example was the freeing of the slaves in USA. All slaves without surnames (most of them) picked their own - many choosing famous politicians - Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, etc.
[ + ] NeoNazirite
[ - ] NeoNazirite 1 point 3.7 yearsSep 13, 2021 18:56:39 ago (+1/-0)
Most people throughout history were illiterate so most names were passed down like a game of telephone, morphing them in the process.