A man on Instagram went viral after explaining how the way we save names in our phones is basically how surnames came to be.
Linguist and etymology enthusiast Adam Aleksic blew the internet's collective mind when he exhibited how our last names were created in practically the same manner in which we often save new contacts in our phones.
The content creator from New York began:
"The craziest thing about having people saved in your phone with descriptive contact information is that this is literally how Western last names have always worked."
He explained:
"Before the 12th century, everybody just had first names."
"But then England's population expanded and they had to do more record keeping, so they started using four types of surnames to identify individuals."
Those four types were occupational, toponymic, adjectival and relationship descriptor.
He then displayed present-day examples from his phone of occupational names: "AJ Plumber" and "Leo Finance."
Aleksic explained how those examples are the same as someone having the last name "Smith" because they were a blacksmith.
He next made the correlation with toponymic surnames which are based on where someone is from or where you met them.
The linguist used "Joanna Math Class" or "Raina Minnesota" from his phone to make that point.
He explained:
"This is similar to how someone would end up with the last name Bush if their family lived in a bushy area."
Aleksic then presented the present-day examples of adjectival surnames from his phone, "Dylan DO NOT ANSWER" and "Steph (stoner)."
He continued:
"This is how someone who moved quickly would end up with the last name Swift."
Finally, Aleksic discussed relationship descriptor names, or names given to a person that represent them in terms of their connection to another known person.
"This is how someone known as the son of John would get the last name Johnson, or the son of Richard would get the last name Richardson."
His examples included "Ina Bestie" and "Sam Tinder."
He finished the video:
"We’re all just reinventing this old process in a completely new way."
Aleksic captioned his post:
"when ur occupation is 'nerd' 😔"
You can watch below.
Viewers of the eye-opening video had their minds blown.
@etymologynerd/Instagram
@etymologynerd/Instagram
Some also broke down their own contact lists.
@etymologynerd/Instagram
@etymologynerd/Instagram
@etymologynerd/Instagram
@etymologynerd/Instagram
And, of course, they had a little fun with their newfound knowledge.
@etymologynerd/Instagram
@etymologynerd/Instagram
@etymologynerd/Instagram
@etymologynerd/Instagram
@etymologynerd/Instagram
@etymologynerd/Instagram
This is truly a fascinating realization.
We're a little curious as to what we're saved as, though...
@LeeMerrittesq/X
@bob_moss/X
@jelanijones/Bluesky
@Aurkayne/X
@sadcommunistdog; @froglok/Bluesky