FAMILY NAME

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does family name mean? 

• FAMILY NAME (noun)
  The noun FAMILY NAME has 1 sense:

1. the name used to identify the members of a family (as distinguished from each member's given name)

  Familiarity information: FAMILY NAME used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FAMILY NAME (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The name used to identify the members of a family (as distinguished from each member's given name)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

cognomen; family name; last name; surname

Hypernyms ("family name" is a kind of...):

name (a language unit by which a person or thing is known)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "family name"):

maiden name (a woman's surname before marriage)

 Context examples 

In some cultural traditions the family name comes first.

(Person Name, NCI Thesaurus)