It says nowadays there are some 45,000 different English surnames drawn from sources including trades, places and nicknames.

So according to the Guild of One-Name Studies, an organisation devoted to the study of family names, “traditional English surnames” such as Mackmain, Bythewood, Foothead and Pauncefoot ...

While names from a number of European languages originated from nicknames, below we have broken out only English last names and their likely corresponding meanings, as determined by Hanks and Hodges.

Before 1917, the British royal family had no last name at all. • That year, King George V decreed that the family surname would be Windsor. • Today's royals still don't need a last name ...

Royal surnames only came into existence after 1917. Before then, members of the British royal family would employ the name of the house or dynasty to which they belonged, such as Hanover - i.e ...