Instructions and Help

The main feature of this website is a listing of surnames and their meanings. Entries are displayed in the following manner:

NAME
SOURCE: Given Name, Occupation, Location, or Nickname USAGE: where the name is used OTHER SCRIPTS: spellings of the names in other character sets PRONOUNCED: pro-nunt-see-AY-shun  [key] Meaning & History (if available)	MORE INFORMATION Links to popularity, comments, etc.

Not all names have usages, other scripts or pronunciations. The meaning and history is a sentence or short paragraph describing the etymology and source language of the surname. It also sometimes gives details about the name's etymological elements, its historical usage, and some of its notable bearers.

In many cases a name is a form of another name. For example: Smythe is a variant of Smith. In these cases the meaning will be listed at the other name, so follow the link provided to go to that other name.

For instructions and tips on doing searches please see the search page.

On the search page you will find two different types of searches. Search for Names allows you to search the name database in many different ways. Search for Additional Information on a Name finds similar-sounding and related names, as well as popularities and more.

For those interested, someone has created an OpenSearch plugin for surnames.behindthename.com - supported by Firefox 2+, Internet Explorer 7+, etc.

Besides the main name database, there are several other features on this website.

• The most popular names provides lists of the surnames used most frequently in many parts of the world.
• The comments is a collection of comments about names left by users of this website.
• The message boards are a good place to ask and answer questions about names.
• The submit-a-name page is the place to add names that are missing from the database.
• By signing up for a completely free user account, you get complete access to the message boards.

Also, Behind the Name is a sister site, dealing with given names instead of surnames.