About This Site

Behind the Surname is a website for learning about all aspects of surnames. Its scope is broad: all surnames from all cultures and periods are eligible to be included in the main name database. There are currently 8,395 names in the database (and additionally 64,517 in the submitted name database), a fraction of what the scope entails. There's still much work to be done.

This site was created in 2002 by Mike Campbell as an offshoot of Behind the Name. I hope you enjoy your visit here!

Follow Behind the Name
name of the day
occasional news
infographics

About names and etymology

Instructions and help

What's new

Frequently asked questions about this site

Sources used

Statistics about the names in the database

Bug bounty program

Privacy policy

Terms of use

Copyright notice

Contact information

Made on Mac