Onomasticians and family-law professors beat crest shops.
Geneticists belong here only when they talk methods, not origin myths.
People
- Elsdon C. Smith 1903–1996 · United States — Surname populariser
Collected American family-name stories; use as a period source.
- Patrick Hanks 1940–2024 · United Kingdom — Dictionary of American Family Names
Etymology and geography as research.
- Claudia Goldin b. 1946 · United States — Women’s surnames
Labour-market identity and the last name.
- George R. Stewart 1895–1980 · United States — Names on the Land
How place and family names intertwine in the U.S.
- Japanese family-law scholars ongoing · Japan — Koseki analysis
The technical voice on household surnames.
- Spanish civil-status reformers 2000s– · Spain — Surname order
Showed that two-surname order is legislation, not nature.
A good surname voice can explain a form. A bad one sells you a knight.