aftername

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noun

A designation which comes after a name, similar to, yet not necessarily equivalent to one's last name

Opposite
Scrabble 14

Meanings

nounaftername (plural afternames)

plural afternames

  1. A designation which comes after a name, similar to, yet not necessarily equivalent to one's last name

    'Now is Dog the first name you have or the aftername?'

    2006, Nigel Cox, Cowboy Dog, page 94
    4 more examples

    'Oh, Lord kens that; we dinna mind folk's afternames muckle here, they run sae muckle into clans.'

    1815, Walter Scott, Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer

    Not only did the saints have all these afternames but the heroes and ancestors had twice as many of an identical pattern. And soon I observed that the first names were composed of the same elements as the afternames.

    1972, Hubert Butler, Ten Thousand Saints, page 30

    In England, in the Middle Ages, an individual sometimes used alternative afternames, that of his place of residence, his trade, or that of his master instead of that of his father.

    1979, Raymond Pearl, Human Biology, page 73

    At this point in his narrative Snorri ties up his tale of Harald's aftername.

    2009, Robert Ferguson, The Vikings

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

aftername. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aftername

MLA

“aftername.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aftername. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “aftername,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aftername.

Source: aftername on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.