as in surname
a name shared by members of a family
searched for their family name on a popular genealogy website
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of family name
If family names and trendy baby names for 2025 aren’t buttering your baby bread, perhaps some of the names shared by Redditors in the thread, that seem to take inspiration from food, will be your, well, cup of tea.
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Melissa Willets, Parents, 5 Dec. 2024
In the Shakespear play (Romeo and Juliet) two feuding families prevent the main characters from being together because of the family name.
—Joshua D. Smeltzer, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024
The family name adorns the middle school’s performing arts center.
—Max Kutner, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Dec. 2024
The charges stem from Hunter’s reckless lifestyle, abetted and financed by his willingness to trade shamelessly on the family name.
—Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for family name 
Melissa Willets, Parents, 5 Dec. 2024
In the Shakespear play (Romeo and Juliet) two feuding families prevent the main characters from being together because of the family name.
—Joshua D. Smeltzer, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024
The family name adorns the middle school’s performing arts center.
—Max Kutner, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Dec. 2024
The charges stem from Hunter’s reckless lifestyle, abetted and financed by his willingness to trade shamelessly on the family name.
—Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for family name
Thesaurus Entries Near family name
Cite this Entry
“Family name.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/family%20name. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
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