Surname

# Surname

## Abstract

A surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several given names and surnames are possible in the full name. In modern times the "hereditary" requirement is a traditional, although common, interpretation, since in most countries a person has a right for a name change.

Depending on culture, the surname may be placed at either the start of a person's name, or at the end. The number of surnames given to an individual also varies: in most cases it is just one, but in many Spanish-speaking countries, two surnames are used for legal purposes. Depending on culture, not all members of a family unit are required to have identical surnames. In some countries, surnames are modified depending on gender and family membership status of a person. Compound surnames can be composed of separate names.

Using names has been documented in even the oldest historical records. Examples of surnames are documented in the 11th century by the barons in England. English surnames began as a way of identifying a certain aspect of that individual, such as by trade, father's name, location of birth, or physical features, and were not necessarily inherited. By 1400 most English families, and those from Lowland Scotland, had adopted the use of hereditary surnames.

The study of proper names (in family names, personal names, or places) is called onomastics.

## History

### Origin

While the use of given names to identify individuals is attested in the oldest historical records, the advent of surnames is relatively recent. Many cultures have used and continue to use additional descriptive terms in identifying individuals. These terms may indicate personal attributes, location of origin, occupation, parentage, patronage, adoption, or clan affiliation.

In China, according to legend, family names started with Emperor Fu Xi in 2000 BC. His administration standardised the naming system to facilitate census-taking, and the use of census information. Originally, Chinese surnames were derived matrilineally, although by the time of the Shang dynasty (1600 to 1046 BC) they had become patrilineal. Chinese women do not change their names upon marriage. In China, surnames have been the norm since at least the 2nd century BC.

In the early Islamic period (640–900 AD) and the Arab world, the use of patronymics is well attested. The famous scholar Rhazes (c. 865–925 AD) is referred to as "al-Razi" (lit. the one from Ray) due to his origins from the city of Ray, Iran. In the Levant, surnames were in use as early as the High Middle Ages and it was common for people to derive their surname from a distant ancestor, and historically the surname would be often preceded with 'ibn' or 'son of'. Arab family names often denote either one's tribe, profession, a famous ancestor, or the place of origin; but they were not universal. For example, Hunayn ibn Ishaq (fl. 850 AD) was known by the nisbah "al-'Ibadi", a federation of Arab Christian tribes that lived in Mesopotamia prior to the advent of Islam.

In Ancient Greece, as far back as the Archaic Period clan names and patronymics ("son of") were also common, as in Aristides as Λῡσῐμᾰ́χου – a genitive singular form meaning son of Lysimachus. For example, Alexander the Great was known as Heracleides, as a supposed descendant of Heracles, and by the dynastic name Karanos / Caranus, which referred to the founder of the dynasty to which he belonged. These patronymics are already attested for many characters in the works of Homer. At other times formal identification commonly included the place of origin.

Over the course of the Roman Republic and the later Empire, naming conventions went through multiple changes. (See Roman naming conventions.) The nomen, the name of the gens (tribe) inherited patrilineally, is thought to have already been in use by 650 BC. The nomen was to identify group kinship, while the praenomen (forename; plural praenomina) was used to distinguish individuals within the group. Female praenomina were less common, as women had reduced public influence, and were commonly known by the feminine form of the nomen alone.

### Medieval era and beyond

Later with the gradual influence of Greek and Christian culture throughout the Empire, Christian religious names were sometimes put in front of traditional cognomina, but eventually people reverted to single names. By the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, family names were uncommon in the Eastern Roman Empire. In Western Europe, where Germanic culture dominated the aristocracy, family names were almost non-existent. They would not significantly reappear again in Eastern Roman society until the 10th century, apparently influenced by the familial affiliations of the Armenian military aristocracy. The practice of using family names spread through the Eastern Roman Empire, however it was not until the 11th century that surnames came to be used in West Europe.

Medieval Spain used a patronymic system. For example, Álvaro, a son of Rodrigo, would be named Álvaro Rodríguez. His son, Juan, would not be named Juan Rodríguez, but Juan Álvarez. Over time, many of these patronymics became family names, and they are some of the most common names in the Spanish-speaking world today. Other sources of surnames are personal appearance or habit, e.g. Delgado ("thin") and Moreno ("dark"); geographic location or ethnicity, e.g. Alemán ("German"); and occupations, e.g. Molinero ("miller"), Zapatero ("shoe-maker") and Guerrero ("warrior"), although occupational names are much more often found in a shortened form referring to the trade itself, e.g. Molina ("mill"), Guerra ("war"), or Zapata (archaic form of zapato, "shoe").

In England, the introduction of family names is generally attributed to the preparation of the Domesday Book in 1086, following the Norman Conquest. Evidence indicates that surnames were first adopted among the feudal nobility and gentry, and slowly spread to other parts of society. Some of the early Norman nobility who arrived in England during the Norman conquest differentiated themselves by affixing 'de' (of) before the name of their village in France. This is what is known as a territorial surname, a consequence of feudal landownership. By the 14th century, most English and most Scottish people used surnames and in Wales following unification under Henry VIII in 1536.

A four-year study led by the University of the West of England, which concluded in 2016, analysed sources dating from the 11th to the 19th century to explain the origins of the surnames in the British Isles. The study found that over 90% of the 45,602 surnames in the dictionary are native to Britain and Ireland, with the most common in the UK being Smith, Jones, Williams, Brown, Taylor, Davies, and Wilson. The findings have been published in the Oxford English Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, with project leader Richard Coates calling the study "more detailed and accurate" than those before. He elaborated on the origins: "Some surnames have origins that are occupational – obvious examples are Smith and Baker. Other names can be linked to a place, for example, Hill or Green, which relates to a village green. Surnames that are 'patronymic' are those which originally enshrined the father's name – such as Jackson, or Jenkinson. There are also names where the origin describes the original bearer such as Brown, Short, or Thin – though Short may in fact be an ironic 'nickname' surname for a tall person."

In the modern era, governments have enacted laws to require people to adopt surnames. This served the purpose of uniquely identifying subjects for taxation purposes or for inheritance. In the late Middle Ages in Europe, there were several revolts against the mandate to have a surname.

### Modern era

During the modern era, many cultures around the world adopted family names, particularly for administrative reasons, especially during the age of European expansion and particularly since 1600. The Napoleonic Code, adopted in various parts of Europe, stipulated that people should be known by both their given name(s) and a family name that would not change across generations. Other notable examples include the Netherlands (1795–1811), Japan (1870s), Thailand (1920), and Turkey (1934). The structure of the Japanese name was formalized by the government as family name + given name in 1868.

In Breslau, Prussia enacted the Hoym Ordinance in 1790, mandating the adoption of Jewish surnames. Napoleon also insisted on Jews adopting fixed names in a decree issued in 1808.

Names can sometimes be changed to protect individual privacy (such as in witness protection), or in cases where groups of people are escaping persecution. After arriving in the United States, European Jews who fled Nazi persecution sometimes anglicized their surnames to avoid discrimination. Governments can also forcibly change people's names, as when the National Socialist government of Germany assigned German names to European people in the territories they conquered. In the 1980s, the People's Republic of Bulgaria forcibly changed the first and last names of its Turkish citizens to Bulgarian names.

## Origins of particular surnames

### Patronymic and matronymic surnames

These are the oldest and most common type of surname. They may be a first name such as "Wilhelm", a patronymic such as " Andersen ", a matronymic such as " Beaton ", or a clan name such as " O'Brien ". Multiple surnames may be derived from a single given name: e.g. there are thought to be over 90 Italian surnames based on the given name " Giovanni ".

#### Examples

- Patronal from patronage (Hickman meaning Hick's man, where Hick is a pet form of the name Richard) or strong ties of religion Kilpatrick (follower of Patrick) or Kilbride (follower of Saint Brigid of Kildare).

- Patronymics, matronymics or ancestral, often from a person's given name. e.g., from male name: Richardson, Stephenson, Jones (Welsh for Johnson), Williams, Jackson, Wilson, Thompson, Benson, Johnson, Harris, Evans, Simpson, Willis, Davies, Reynolds, Adams, Dawson, Lewis, Rogers, Murphy, Morrow, Nicholson, Robinson, Powell, Ferguson, Davis, Edwards, Hudson, Roberts, Harrison, Watson, or female names Molson (from Moll for Mary), Madison (from Maud), Emmott (from Emma), Marriott (from Mary) or from a clan name (for those of Scottish origin, e.g., MacDonald, Forbes, Henderson, Armstrong, Grant, Cameron, Stewart, Douglas, Crawford, Campbell, Hunter) with "Mac" Gaelic for son.

### Cognominal surnames

This is the broadest class of surnames, originating from nicknames, encompassing many types of origin. These include names based on appearance such as "Schwartzkopf", "Short", and possibly "Caesar", and names based on temperament and personality such as "Daft", "Gutman", and "Maiden", which, according to a number of sources, was an English nickname meaning "effeminate".

A group of nicknames look like occupational ones: King, Bishop, Abbot, Sheriff, Knight, etc. but it is rather unlikely that a person with surname King was a king or descended from a king. Bernard Deacon suggests that the first nickname/surname bearer may have acted as a king or bishop, or was corpulent as bishop. etc.

A considerable group of surname-producing nicknames may be found among ethnonymic surnames.

### Ornamental surnames

Ornamental surnames are made up of names, not specific to any attribute (place, parentage, occupation, caste) of the first person to acquire the name, and stem from the middle class's desire for their own hereditary names like the nobles. They were generally acquired later in history and generally when those without surnames needed them. In 1526, King Frederik I of Denmark-Norway ordered that noble families must take up fixed surnames, and many of them took as their name some element of their coat of arms; for example, the Rosenkrantz ("rose wreath") family took their surname from a wreath of roses comprising the torse of their arms, and the Gyldenstierne ("golden star") family took theirs from a 7-pointed gold star on their shield. Subsequently, many middle-class Scandinavian families desired names similar to those of the nobles and adopted "ornamental" surnames as well. Most other naming traditions refer to them as "acquired". They might be given to people newly immigrated, conquered, or converted, as well as those with unknown parentage, formerly enslaved, or from parentage without a surname tradition.

Ornamental surnames are more common in communities that adopted (or were forced to adopt) surnames in the 18th and 19th centuries. They occur commonly in Scandinavia, and among Sinti and Roma and Jews in Germany and Austria.

### Acquired surnames

During the era of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade many Africans were given new names by their masters. Many of the family names of many African-Americans have their origins in slavery (i.e. slave name). Some freed slaves later created family names themselves.

Another category of acquired names is foundlings names. Historically, children born to unwed parents or extremely poor parents would be abandoned in a public place or anonymously placed in a foundling wheel. Such abandoned children might be claimed and named by religious figures, the community leaders, or adoptive parents. Some such children were given surnames that reflected their condition, like (Italian) Esposito, Innocenti, Della Casagrande, Trovato, Abbandonata, or (Dutch) Vondeling, Verlaeten, Bijstand. Other children were named for the street/place they were found (Union, Liquorpond (street), di Palermo, Baan, Bijdam, van den Eyngel (shop name), van der Stoep, von Trapp), the date they were found (Monday, Septembre, Spring, di Gennaio), or festival/feast day they found or christened (Easter, SanJosé). Some foundlings were given the name of whoever found them.

### Occupational surnames

Occupational names include Smith, Miller, Farmer, Thatcher, Shepherd, Potter, and so on, as well as non-English ones, such as the German Eisenhauer (iron hewer, later Anglicized in America as Eisenhower) or Schneider (tailor) – or, as in English, Schmidt (smith). There are also more complicated names based on occupational titles. In England it was common for servants to take a modified version of their employer's occupation or first name as their last name, adding the letter s to the word, although this formation could also be a patronymic. For instance, the surname Vickers is thought to have arisen as an occupational name adopted by the servant of a vicar, while Roberts could have been adopted by either the son or the servant of a man named Robert. A subset of occupational names in English are names thought to be derived from the medieval mystery plays. The participants would often play the same roles for life, passing the part down to their oldest sons. Names derived from this may include King, Lord and Virgin. The original meaning of names based on medieval occupations may no longer be obvious in modern English.

### Toponymic surnames

Location (toponymic, habitation) names derive from the inhabited location associated with the person given that name. Such locations can be any type of settlement, such as homesteads, farms, enclosures, villages, hamlets, strongholds, or cottages. One element of a habitation name may describe the type of settlement. Examples of Old English elements are frequently found in the second element of habitational names. The habitative elements in such names can differ in meaning, according to different periods, different locations, or with being used with certain other elements. For example, the Old English element tūn may have originally meant "enclosure" in one name, but can have meant "farmstead", "village", "manor", or "estate" in other names.

Location names, or habitation names, may be as generic as "Monte" (Portuguese for "mountain"), "Górski" (Polish for "hill"), or "Pitt" (variant of "pit"), but may also refer to specific locations. "Washington", for instance, is thought to mean "the homestead of the family of Wassa", while "Lucci" means "resident of Lucca ". Although some surnames, such as "London", "Lisboa", or "Białystok" are derived from large cities, more people reflect the names of smaller communities, as in Ó Creachmhaoil, derived from a village in County Galway. This is thought to be due to the tendency in Europe during the Middle Ages for migration to chiefly be from smaller communities to the cities and the need for new arrivals to choose a defining surname.

In Portuguese-speaking countries, it is uncommon, but not unprecedented, to find surnames derived from names of countries, such as Portugal, França, Brasil, Holanda. Surnames derived from country names are also found in English, such as "England", "Wales", "Spain".

Many Japanese surnames derive from geographical features; for example, Ishikawa (石川) means "stone river" (and is also the name of one of Japan's prefectures), Yamamoto (山本) means "the base of the mountain", and Inoue (井上) means "above the well".

Arabic names sometimes contain surnames that denote the city of origin. For example, in cases of Saddam Hussein al Tikriti, meaning Saddam Hussein originated from Tikrit, a city in Iraq. This component of the name is called a nisbah.

#### Examples

- Estate names For those descended from land-owners, the name of their holdings, castle, manor or estate, e.g. Ernle, Windsor, Staunton

- Habitation (place) names e.g., Burton, Flint, Hamilton, London, Laughton, Leighton, Murray, Sutton, Tremblay

- Topographic names (geographical features) e.g., Bridge or Bridges, Brook or Brooks, Bush, Camp, Hill, Lake, Lee or Leigh, Wood, Grove, Holmes, Forest, Underwood, Hall, Field, Stone, Morley, Moore, Perry

### Other

The meanings of some names are unknown or unclear. The most common European name in this category may be the Irish name Ryan, which means 'little king' in Irish. Also, Celtic origin of the name Arthur, meaning ' bear '. Other surnames may have arisen from more than one source: the name De Luca, for instance, likely arose either in or near Lucania or in the family of someone named Lucas or Lucius; in some instances, however, the name may have arisen from Lucca, with the spelling and pronunciation changing over time and with emigration. The same name may appear in different cultures by coincidence or romanization; the surname Lee is used in English culture, but is also a romanization of the Chinese surname Li. In the Russian Empire, illegitimate children were sometimes given artificial surnames rather than the surnames of their adoptive parents.

## Order of names

In many cultures (particularly in European and European-influenced cultures in the Americas, Oceania, etc., as well as West Asia/North Africa, South Asia, and most Sub-Saharan African cultures), the surname or family name ("last name") is placed after the personal, forename (in Europe) or given name ("first name"). In other cultures the surname is placed first, followed by the given name or names. The latter is often called the Eastern naming order because Europeans are most familiar with the examples from the East Asian cultural sphere, specifically, Greater China, Korea (both North and South), Japan, and Vietnam. This is also the case in Cambodia and among the Hmong of Laos and Thailand. The Telugu people of south India also place surname before personal name. There are some parts of Europe, in particular Hungary, where the surname is placed before the personal name.

Since family names are normally written last in European societies, the terms last name or surname are commonly used for the family name, while in Japan (with vertical writing) the family name may be referred to as "upper name" (ue-no-namae (上の名前)).

When people from areas using Eastern naming order write their personal name in the Latin alphabet, it is common to reverse the order of the given and family names for the convenience of Westerners, so that they know which name is the family name for official/formal purposes. Reversing the order of names for the same reason is also customary for the Baltic Finnic peoples and the Hungarians, but other Uralic peoples traditionally did not have surnames, perhaps because of the clan structure of their societies. The Samis, depending on the circumstances of their names, either saw no change or did see a transformation of their name. For example: Sire in some cases became Siri, and Hætta Jáhkoš Ásslat became Aslak Jacobsen Hætta – as was the norm. Recently, integration into the EU and increased communications with foreigners prompted many Samis to reverse the order of their full name to given name followed by surname, to avoid their given name being mistaken for and used as a surname.

Indian surnames may often denote village, profession, and/or caste and are invariably mentioned along with the personal/first names. However, hereditary last names are not universal. In Telugu -speaking families in south India, surname is placed before personal / first name and in most cases it is only shown as an initial (for example 'S.' for Suryapeth).

In English and other languages like Spanish—although the usual order of names is "first middle last"—for the purpose of cataloging in libraries and in citing the names of authors in scholarly papers, the order is changed to "last, first middle," with the last and first names separated by a comma, and items are alphabetized by the last name. In France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Latin America, administrative usage is to put the surname before the first on official documents.

## Gender-specific versions of surname

In most Balto-Slavic languages (such as Latvian, Lithuanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Polish, Slovak, Czech, etc.) as well as in Greek, Irish, Icelandic, and Azerbaijani, some surnames change form depending on the gender of the bearer.

In Slavic languages, substantivized adjective surnames have commonly symmetrical adjective variants for males and females (Podwiński/Podwińska in Polish, Nový/Nová in Czech or Slovak, etc.). In the case of nominative and quasi-nominative surnames, the female variant is derived from the male variant by a possessive suffix (Novák/Nováková, Hromada/Hromadová). In Czech and Slovak, the pure possessive would be Novákova, Hromadova, but the surname evolved to a more adjectivized form Nováková, Hromadová, to suppress the historical possessivity. Some rare types of surnames are universal and gender-neutral: examples in Czech are Janů, Martinů, Fojtů, Kovářů. These are the archaic form of the possessive, related to the plural name of the family. Such rare surnames are also often used for transgender persons during transition because most common surnames are gender-specific.

The informal dialectal female form in Polish and Czech dialects was also -ka (Pawlaczka, Kubeška). With the exception of the -ski/-ska suffix, most feminine forms of surnames are seldom observed in Polish.

Generally, inflected languages use names and surnames as living words, not as static identifiers. Thus, the pair or the family can be named by a plural form which can differ from the singular male and female form. For instance, when the male form is Novák and the female form Nováková, the family name is Novákovi in Czech and Novákovci in Slovak. When the male form is Hrubý and the female form is Hrubá, the plural family name is Hrubí (or "rodina Hrubých").

In Greece, if a man called Papadopoulos has a daughter, she will likely be named Papadopoulou (if the couple has decided their offspring will take his surname), the genitive form, as if the daughter is "of" a man named Papadopoulos. Likewise, the surnames of daughters of males with surnames ending in -as will end in -a, and those of daughters of males with the -is suffix will have the -i suffix.

Latvian, like Lithuanian, use strictly feminized surnames for women, even in the case of foreign names. The function of the suffix is purely grammar. Male surnames ending -e or -a need not be modified for women. An exception is 1) the female surnames which correspond to nouns in the sixth declension with the ending "-s" – "Iron", ("iron"), "rock", 2) as well as surnames of both genders, which are written in the same nominative case because corresponds to nouns in the third declension ending in "-us" "Grigus", "Markus"; 3) surnames based on an adjective have indefinite suffixes typical of adjectives "-s, -a" ("Stalts", "Stalta") or the specified endings "-ais, -ā" ("Čaklais", "Čaklā") ("diligent").

In Iceland, surnames have a gender-specific suffix (-dóttir = daughter, -son = son).

Finnish used gender-specific suffixes up to 1929 when the Marriage Act forced women to use the husband's form of the surname. In 1985, this clause was removed from the act.

Until at least 1850, women's surnames were suffixed with an -in in Tyrol.

### Indication of family membership status

Some Slavic cultures originally distinguished the surnames of married and unmarried women by different suffixes, but this distinction is no longer widely observed. Some Czech dialects (Southwest-Bohemian) use the form "Novákojc" as informal for both genders. In the culture of the Sorbs (a.k.a. Wends or Lusatians), Sorbian used different female forms for unmarried daughters (Jordanojc, Nowcyc, Kubašec, Markulic), and for wives (Nowakowa, Budarka, Nowcyna, Markulina). In Polish, typical surnames for unmarried women ended -ówna, -anka, or -ianka, while the surnames of married women used the possessive suffixes -ina or -owa. In Lithuania, if the husband is named Vilkas, his wife will be named Vilkienė and his unmarried daughter will be named Vilkaitė. Male surnames have suffixes -as, -is, -ius, or -us, unmarried girl surnames aitė, -ytė, -iūtė or -utė, wife surnames -ienė. These suffixes are also used for foreign names, exclusively for grammar; Welby, the surname of the present Archbishop of Canterbury for example, becomes Velbis in Lithuanian, while his wife is Velbienė, and his unmarried daughter, Velbaitė.

Many surnames include prefixes that may or may not be separated by a space or punctuation from the main part of the surname. These are usually not considered true compound names, rather single surnames are made up of more than one word. These prefixes often give hints about the type or origin of the surname (patronymic, toponymic, notable lineage) and include words that mean from, and son of/daughter of/child of.

The common Celtic prefixes "Ó" or "Ua" (descendant of) and "Mac" or "Mag" (son of) can be spelled with the prefix as a separate word, yielding "Ó Briain" or "Mac Millan" as well as the anglicized "O'Brien" and "MacMillan" or "Macmillan". Other Irish prefixes include Ní, Nic (daughter of the son of), Mhic, and Uí (wife of the son of).

A surname with the prefix "Fitz" can be spelled with the prefix as a separate word, as in "Fitz William", as well as "FitzWilliam" or "Fitzwilliam" (like, for example, Robert FitzRoy). Note that " Fitz " comes from French (fils) thus making these surnames a form of patronymic.

## Surname law

A family name is typically a part of a person's personal name and, according to law or custom, is passed or given to children from at least one of their parents' family names. The use of family names is common in most cultures around the world, but each culture has its own rules as to how the names are formed, passed, and used. However, the style of having both a family name (surname) and a given name (forename) is far from universal (see §History below). In many cultures, it is common for people to have one name or mononym, with some cultures not using family names. Issues of family name arise especially on the passing of a name to a newborn child, the adoption of a common family name on marriage, the renunciation of a family name, and the changing of a family name.

Surname laws vary around the world. Traditionally in many European countries for the past few hundred years, it was the custom or the law for a woman, upon marriage, to use her husband's surname and for any children born to bear the father's surname. If a child's paternity was not known, or if the putative father denied paternity, the newborn child would have the surname of the mother. That is still the custom or law in many countries. The surname for children of married parents is usually inherited from the father. In recent years, there has been a trend towards equality of treatment in relation to family names, with women being not automatically required, expected or, in some places, even forbidden, to take the husband's surname on marriage, with the children not automatically being given the father's surname. In this article, both family name and surname mean the patrilineal surname, which is handed down from or inherited from the father, unless it is explicitly stated otherwise. Thus, the term "maternal surname" means the patrilineal surname that one's mother inherited from either or both of her parents. For a discussion of matrilineal ('mother-line') surnames, passing from mothers to daughters, see matrilineal surname.

## Surname of women

King Henry VIII of England (reigned 1509–1547) ordered that marital births be recorded under the surname of the father. In England and cultures derived from there, there has long been a tradition for a woman to change her surname upon marriage from her birth name to her husband's family name. (See Maiden and married names.)

In the Middle Ages, when a man from a lower-status family married an only daughter from a higher-status family, he would often adopt the wife's family name. In the 18th and 19th centuries in Britain, bequests were sometimes made contingent upon a man's changing (or hyphenating) his family name, so that the name of the testator continued.

The United States followed the naming customs and practices of English common law and traditions until recent times. The first known instance in the United States of a woman insisting on the use of her birth name was that of Lucy Stone in 1855, and there has been a general increase in the rate of women using their birth name. Beginning in the latter half of the 20th century, traditional naming practices (writes one commentator) were recognized as "com into conflict with current sensitivities about children's and women's rights". Those changes accelerated a shift away from the interests of the parents to a focus on the best interests of the child. The law in this area continues to evolve today mainly in the context of paternity and custody actions.

Naming conventions in the US have gone through periods of flux, however, and the 1990s saw a decline in the percentage of name retention among women. As of 2006, more than 80% of American women adopted the husband's family name after marriage.

It is rare but not unknown for an English-speaking man to take his wife's family name, whether for personal reasons or as a matter of tradition (such as among matrilineal Canadian aboriginal groups, such as the Haida and Gitxsan). Upon marriage to a woman, men in the United States can change their surnames to that of their wives, or adopt a combination of both names with the federal government, through the Social Security Administration. Men may face difficulty doing so on the state level in some states.

It is exceedingly rare but does occur in the United States, where a married couple may choose an entirely new last name by going through a legal change of name. As an alternative, both spouses may adopt a double-barrelled name. For instance, when John Smith and Mary Jones marry each other, they may become known as "John Smith-Jones" and "Mary Smith-Jones". A spouse may also opt to use their birth name as a middle name, and e.g. become known as "Mary Jones Smith". An additional option, although rarely practiced, is the adoption of the last name derived from a blend of the prior names, such as "Simones", which also requires a legal name change. Some couples keep their own last names but give their children hyphenated or combined surnames.

In 1979, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women ("CEDAW"), which declared in effect that women and men, and specifically wife and husband, shall have the same rights to choose a "family name", as well as a profession and an occupation.

In some places, civil rights lawsuits or constitutional amendments changed the law so that men could also easily change their married names (e.g., in British Columbia and California). Québec law permits neither spouse to change surnames.

In France, until 1 January 2005, children were required by law to take the surname of their father. Article 311-21 of the French Civil code now permits parents to give their children the family name of either their father, mother, or hyphenation of both – although no more than two names can be hyphenated. In cases of disagreement, both names are used in alphabetical order. This brought France into line with a 1978 declaration by the Council of Europe requiring member governments to take measures to adopt equality of rights in the transmission of family names, a measure that was echoed by the United Nations in 1979.

Similar measures were adopted by West Germany (1976), Sweden (1982), Denmark (1983), Finland (1985) and Spain (1999). The European Community has been active in eliminating gender discrimination. Several cases concerning discrimination in family names have reached the courts. Burghartz v. Switzerland challenged the lack of an option for husbands to add the wife's surname to his surname, which they had chosen as the family name when this option was available for women. Losonci Rose and Rose v. Switzerland challenged a prohibition on foreign men married to Swiss women keeping their surname if this option was provided in their national law, an option available to women. Ünal Tekeli v. Turkey challenged prohibitions on women using their surname as the family name, an option only available to men. The Court found all these laws to be in violation of the convention.

From 1945 to 2021 in the Czech Republic women by law had to use family names with the ending -ová after the name of their father or husband (so-called přechýlení). This was seen as discriminatory by a part of the public. Since 1 January 2022, Czech women can decide for themselves whether they want to use the feminine or neutral form of their family name.

## Compound surnames

While in many countries surnames are usually one word, in others a surname may contain two words or more, as described below.

### English

Compound surnames in English and several other European cultures feature two (or occasionally more) words, often joined by a hyphen or hyphens. However, it is not unusual for compound surnames to be composed of separate words not linked by a hyphen, for example Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the British Conservative Party, whose surname is "Duncan Smith".

### Chinese

Some Chinese surnames use more than one character.

## Multiple surnames

### Spanish-speaking countries

In Spain and in most Spanish-speaking countries, the custom is for people to have two surnames, with the first surname coming from the father and the second from the mother; the opposite order is now legally allowed in Spain but still unusual. In informal situations typically only the first one is used, although both are needed for legal purposes. A child's first surname will usually be their father's first surname, while the child's second surname will usually be their mother's first surname. For example, if José García Torres and María Acosta Gómez had a child named Pablo, then his full name would be Pablo García Acosta. One family member's relationship to another can often be identified by the various combinations and permutations of surnames.

In some instances, when an individual's first surname is very common, such as for example in José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the second surname tends to gain preeminence over the first one in informal use. Rodríguez Zapatero, therefore is more often called just Zapatero and almost never Rodríguez only; in other cases, such as in writer Mario Vargas Llosa, a person becomes usually called by both surnames. This changes from person to person and stems merely from habit.

In Spain, feminist activism pushed for a law approved in 1999 that allows an adult to change the order of his/her family names, and parents can also change the order of their children's family names if they (and the child, if over 12) agree, although this order must be the same for all their children.

In Spain, especially Catalonia, the paternal and maternal surnames are often combined using the conjunction y ("and" in Spanish) or i ("and" in Catalan), see for example the economist Xavier Sala-i-Martin or painter Salvador Dalí i Domènech.

In Spain, a woman does not generally change her legal surname when she marries. In some Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, a woman may, on her marriage, drop her mother's surname and add her husband's surname to her father's surname using the preposition de ("of"), del ("of the", when the following word is masculine) or de la ("of the", when the following word is feminine). For example, if "Clara Reyes Alba" were to marry "Alberto Gómez Rodríguez", the wife could use "Clara Reyes de Gómez" as her name (or "Clara Reyes Gómez", or, rarely, "Clara Gómez Reyes". She can be addressed as Sra. de Gómez corresponding to "Mrs Gómez"). Feminist activists have criticized this custom as they consider it sexist. In some countries, this form may be mainly social and not an official name change, i.e. her name would still legally be her birth name. This custom, begun in medieval times, is decaying and only has legal validity in Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Peru, Panama, and to a certain extent in Mexico (where it is optional but becoming obsolete), but is frowned upon by people in Spain, Cuba, and elsewhere. In Peru and the Dominican Republic, women normally conserve all family names after getting married. For example, if Rosa María Pérez Martínez marries Juan Martín De la Cruz Gómez, she will be called Rosa María Pérez Martínez de De la Cruz, and if the husband dies, she will be called Rosa María Pérez Martínez Vda. de De la Cruz (Vda. being the abbreviation for viuda, "widow" in Spanish). The law in Peru changed some years ago, and all married women can keep their maiden last name if they wish with no alteration.

Historically, sometimes a father transmitted his combined family names, thus creating a new one e.g., the paternal surname of the son of Javier (given name) Reyes (paternal family name) de la Barrera (maternal surname) may have become the new paternal surname Reyes de la Barrera. For example, Uruguayan politician Guido Manini Rios has inherited a compound surname constructed from the patrilineal and matrilineal surnames of a recent ancestor. De is also the nobiliary particle used with Spanish surnames. This can not be chosen by the person, as it is part of the surname, for example, "Puente" and "Del Puente" are not the same surname.

Sometimes, for single mothers or when the father would or could not recognize the child, the mother's surname has been used twice: for example, "Ana Reyes Reyes". In Spain, however, children with just one parent receive both surnames of that parent, although the order may also be changed. In 1973 in Chile, the law was changed to avoid stigmatizing illegitimate children with the maternal surname repeated.

Some Hispanic people, after leaving their country, drop their maternal surname, even if not formally, so as to better fit into the non-Hispanic society they live or work in. Similarly, foreigners with just one surname may be asked to provide a second surname on official documents in Spanish-speaking countries. When none (such as the mother's maiden name) is provided, the last name may simply be repeated.

A new trend in the United States for Hispanics is to hyphenate their father's and mother's last names. This is done because American-born English-speakers are not aware of the Hispanic custom of using two last names and thus mistake the first last name of the individual for a middle name. In doing so they would, for example, mistakenly refer to Esteban Álvarez Cobos as Esteban A. Cobos. Such confusion can be particularly troublesome in official matters. To avoid such mistakes, Esteban Álvarez Cobos, would become Esteban Álvarez-Cobos, to clarify that both are last names.

In some churches, such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where the family structure is emphasized, as well as a legal marriage, the wife is referred to as " hermana " plus the surname of her husband. And most records of the church follow that structure as well.

#### Informal traditional names

In many places, such as villages in Catalonia, Galicia, and Asturias and in Cuba, people are often informally known by the name of their dwelling or collective family nickname rather than by their surnames. For example, Remei Pujol i Serra who lives at Ca l'Elvira would be referred to as "Remei de Ca l'Elvira"; and Adela Barreira López who is part of the "Provisores" family would be known as "Adela dos Provisores".

Also in many places, such as Cantabria, the family's nickname is used instead of the surname: if one family is known as "Ñecos" because of an ancestor who was known as "Ñecu", they would be "José el de Ñecu" or "Ana la de Ñecu" (collective: the Ñeco's). Some common nicknames are "Rubiu" (blond or red hair), "Roju" (reddish, referring to their red hair), "Chiqui" (small), "Jinchu" (big), and a bunch of names about certain characteristics, family relationship or geographical origin (pasiegu, masoniegu, sobanu, llebaniegu, tresmeranu, pejinu, naveru, merachu, tresneru, troule, mallavia, marotias, llamoso, lipa, ñecu, tarugu, trapajeru, lichón, andarível).

#### Compound surnames

Beyond the seemingly "compound" surname system in the Spanish-speaking world, there are also true compound surnames. These true compound surnames are passed on and inherited as compounds. For instance, former Chairman of the Supreme Military Junta of Ecuador, General Luis Telmo Paz y Miño Estrella, has Luis as his first given name, Telmo as his middle name, the true compound surname Paz y Miño as his first (i.e. paternal) surname, and Estrella as his second (i.e. maternal) surname. Luis Telmo Paz y Miño Estrella is also known more casually as Luis Paz y Miño, Telmo Paz y Miño, or Luis Telmo Paz y Miño. He would never be regarded as Luis Estrella, Telmo Estrella, or Luis Telmo Estrella, nor as Luis Paz, Telmo Paz, or Luis Telmo Paz. This is because "Paz" alone is not his surname (although other people use the "Paz" surname on its own). In this case, Paz y Miño is in fact the paternal surname, being a true compound surname. His children, therefore, would inherit the compound surname "Paz y Miño" as their paternal surname, while Estrella would be lost, since the mother's paternal surname becomes the children's second surname (as their own maternal surname). "Paz" alone would not be passed on, nor would "Miño" alone.

To avoid ambiguity, one might often informally see these true compound surnames hyphenated, for instance, as Paz-y-Miño. This is true especially in the English-speaking world, but also sometimes even in the Hispanic world, since many Hispanics are unfamiliar with this and other compound surnames, "Paz y Miño" might be inadvertently mistaken as "Paz" for the paternal surname and "Miño" for the maternal surname. Although Miño did start off as the maternal surname in this compound surname, it was many generations ago, around five centuries, that it became compounded, and henceforth inherited and passed on as a compound.

Other surnames which started off as compounds of two or more surnames, but which merged into one single word, also exist. An example would be the surname Pazmiño, whose members are related to the Paz y Miño, as both descend from the "Paz Miño" family of five centuries ago.

Álava, Spain is known for its incidence of true compound surnames, characterized for having the first portion of the surname as a patronymic, normally a Spanish patronymic or more unusually a Basque patronymic, followed by the preposition "de", with the second part of the surname being a placename from Álava.

### Portuguese-speaking countries

In the case of Portuguese naming customs, the main surname (the one used in alpha sorting, indexing, abbreviations, and greetings), appears last.

Each person usually has two family names: though the law specifies no order, the first one is usually the maternal family name, whereas the last one is commonly the paternal family name. In Portugal, a person's full name has a minimum legal length of two names (one given name and one family name from either parent) and a maximum of six names (two first names and four surnames – he or she may have up to four surnames in any order desired picked up from the total of his/her parents and grandparents' surnames). The use of any surname outside this lot, or of more than six names, is legally possible, but it requires dealing with bureaucracy. Parents or the person him/herself must explain the claims they have to bear that surname (a family nickname, a rare surname lost in past generations, or any other reason one may find suitable). In Brazil, there is no limit of surnames used.

In general, the traditions followed in countries like Brazil, Portugal and Angola are somewhat different from the ones in Spain. In the Spanish tradition, usually, the father's surname comes first, followed by the mother's surname, whereas in Portuguese-speaking countries the father's name is the last, mother's coming first. A woman may adopt her husband's surname(s), but nevertheless, she usually keeps her birth name or at least the last one. Since 1977 in Portugal and 2012 in Brazil, a husband can also adopt his wife's surname. When this happens, usually both spouses change their name after marriage.

The custom of a woman changing her name upon marriage is recent. It spread in the late 19th century in the upper classes, under French influence, and in the 20th century, particularly during the 1930s and 1940, it became socially almost obligatory. Nowadays, fewer women adopt, even officially, their husbands' names, and among those who do so officially, it is quite common not to use it either in their professional or informal life.

The children usually bear only the last surnames of the parents (i.e., the paternal surname of each of their parents). For example, Carlos da Silva Gonçalves and Ana Luísa de Albuquerque Pereira (Gonçalves) (in case she adopted her husband's name after marriage) would have a child named Lucas Pereira Gonçalves. However, the child may have any other combination of the parents' surnames, according to euphony, social significance, or other reasons. For example, is not uncommon for the firstborn male to be given the father's full name followed by "Júnior" or "Filho" (son), and the next generation's firstborn male to be given the grandfather's name followed by "Neto" (grandson). Hence Carlos da Silva Gonçalves might choose to name his first born son Carlos da Silva Gonçalves Júnior, who in turn might name his first born son Carlos da Silva Gonçalves Neto, in which case none of the mother's family names are passed on.

In ancient times a patronymic was commonly used – surnames like Gonçalves ("son of Gonçalo "), Fernandes ("son of Fernando "), Nunes ("son of Nuno "), Soares ("son of Soeiro "), Sanches ("son of Sancho "), Henriques ("son of Henrique "), Rodrigues ("son of Rodrigo ") which along with many others are still in regular use as very prevalent family names.

In Medieval times, Portuguese nobility started to use one of their estates' names or the name of the town or village they ruled as their surname, just after their patronymic. Soeiro Mendes da Maia bore a name "Soeiro", a patronymic "Mendes" ("son of Hermenegildo – shortened to Mendo") and the name of the town he ruled " Maia ". He was often referred to in 12th-century documents as "Soeiro Mendes, senhor da Maia", Soeiro Mendes, lord of Maia. Noblewomen also bore patronymics and surnames in the same manner and never bore their husband's surnames. First-born males bore their father's surname, other children bore either both or only one of them at their will.

Only during the Early Modern Age, lower-class males started to use at least one surname; married lower-class women usually took up their spouse's surname, since they rarely ever used one beforehand. After the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, Portuguese authorities realized the benefits of enforcing the use and registry of surnames. Henceforth, they became mandatory, although the rules for their use were very liberal.

Until the end of the 19th century, it was common for women, especially those from a very poor background, not to have a surname and so to be known only by their first names. A woman would then adopt her husband's full surname after marriage. With the advent of republicanism in Brazil and Portugal, along with the institution of civil registries, all children now have surnames.During the mid-20th century, under French influence and among upper classes, women started to take up their husbands' surname(s). From the 1960s onwards, this usage spread to the common people, again under French influence, this time, however, due to the forceful legal adoption of their husbands' surname which was imposed onto Portuguese immigrant women in France.

From the 1974 Carnation Revolution onwards the adoption of their husbands' surname(s) receded again, and today both the adoption and non-adoption occur, with non-adoption being chosen in the majority of cases in recent years (60%). Also, it is legally possible for the husband to adopt his wife's surname(s), but this practice is rare.

## Prevalence

In the United States, 1,712 surnames cover 50% of the population, and about 1% of the population has the surname Smith, the most common American name.

According to some estimates, 85% of China's population shares just 100 surnames. The names Wang (王), Zhang (张), and Li (李) are the most frequent.


The Humans (film)

# The Humans (film)

## Abstract

The Humans is a 2021 American psychological drama film written and directed by Stephen Karam in his feature directorial debut, and based on his one-act play of the same name. It stars Richard Jenkins, Jayne Houdyshell, Amy Schumer, Beanie Feldstein, Steven Yeun, and June Squibb. It had its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2021. The film was released by A24 on November 24, 2021, both in theaters and on Showtime.

## Plot

On Thanksgiving, Erik and Deirdre Blake, their daughter Aimee, and Erik's senile mother, Momo, visit their other daughter, Brigid and her partner Richard at their new apartment in Chinatown. Erik is immediately disapproving of the run-down apartment in a flood risk zone and close to Ground Zero. On 9/11, he had driven Aimee to a job interview and had planned to visit the observation deck of the Twin Towers, but had waited across the street as the deck had not yet opened for the morning. He has also been haunted by memories of seeing a deceased victim who resembled Aimee.

As the evening wears on, tension and unhappiness in the family is evident. Brigid is openly resentful that her parents have not given her money to afford a better lifestyle, and privately wounded that her dreams of being a composer have not come into fruition. Both she and her partner face Deirdre's disapproval that they are not yet married. Richard has struggled with depression and is treading water in his personal life and career, as he will be a recipient of a trust fund that he will not receive until he is 40, five years from now. Aimee suffers from a chronic illness, recently lost both her job and her longtime girlfriend, and will need to get her colon removed. Deirdre suffers from arthritis and is on the receiving end of mockery from the rest of the family due to her religious attitude, and Erik, already depressed over Momo's condition, clashes with Brigid by judging her work ethic and new-age, urban lifestyle. There is a brief respite when Deirdre reads the daughter a letter that Momo wrote when still lucid, apologizing for her deterioration and assuring them that she will always love them, and to not get so worked up over life's problems.

The family eventually begins talking about their dreams and nightmares. Richard is open and honest about his own, but Erik is reserved about revealing his own. Eventually, he confesses that he suffers from nightmares about a faceless woman, implied to be reflective of his 9/11 trauma. The rest of the family teases him about the faceless woman, much to his discomfort. Prodded by Deirdre, Erik confesses to his daughters that he had an affair with one of the teachers at the Catholic school he was working at, resulting in loss of both his job as well as his pension. He reveals that their beloved lakehouse had to be sold to cover the costs of Momo's care. Despite Erik's assurance that he and Deirdre received counseling and have moved past his infidelity, the daughters are appalled and disillusioned with their father.

As Thanksgiving ends, the visiting family members depart for a hotel. As the rest help Momo get into the taxi, Erik lingers behind in the apartment, attempting to fix a power outage; however, he becomes disoriented and suffers a panic attack in the darkness, leaving him whimpering and praying. He only comes to his senses when Brigid re-enters the apartment to collect him, and they leave together.

## Cast

- Beanie Feldstein as Brigid Blake

- Richard Jenkins as Erik Blake

- Jayne Houdyshell as Deirdre Blake

- Amy Schumer as Aimee Blake

- Steven Yeun as Richard

- June Squibb as Momo

## Production

A24, IAC, Scott Rudin and Eli Bush made a deal in March 2019 with Stephen Karam to adapt his play into a feature-length film. Jayne Houdyshell was set to reprise her role from the Broadway production in the film, with Beanie Feldstein, Richard Jenkins, Amy Schumer, and Steven Yeun also cast. In April 2021, Scott Rudin was removed as a producer on the film, following allegations of abuse.

Principal photography began in September 2019, in New York City.

## Release

The Humans premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2021. The film screened at over 25 film festivals including Austin (Centerpiece screening), Indianapolis (Centerpiece screening), Nashville (Closing Night), Middleburg, San Diego, Philadelphia, Denver, and Savannah. The film was simultaneously released in theaters and aired on Showtime on November 24, 2021.

## Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 140 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's consensus reads: " The Humans takes its Tony-winning source material from stage to screen without sacrificing the essence of writer-director Stephen Karam's dysfunctional drama." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

The film landed on several 2021 Top 10 lists including Vanity Fair, the Associated Press, The Guardian, Vogue, The Austin Chronicle, RogerEbert.com, The Hollywood Reporter, and Indiewire's list of top first feature films of 2021. The film was selected as a "Critic's Pick" from The New York Times.


The Humbling (film)

# The Humbling (film)

## Abstract

The Humbling is a 2014 comedy-drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Buck Henry and Michal Zebede, based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Philip Roth. The film stars Al Pacino, Greta Gerwig, Dianne Wiest, Nina Arianda, Dylan Baker, Charles Grodin, Dan Hedaya, Billy Porter, Kyra Sedgwick, and Mary Louise Wilson.

It was screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and in the Out of Competition section of the 71st Venice International Film Festival. The film was released on January 23, 2015, by Millennium Films.

## Plot

Simon Axler is an aging actor who suffers from bouts of dementia. He is institutionalized after an incident during a Broadway play, then returns home, where he contemplates suicide in Hemingway style. When he embarks upon an affair with an old friend's amoral bisexual daughter, his world starts to fall apart. It ends on stage, with even Axler's audience and fellow actors unsure of what's real and what's not.

## Cast

- Al Pacino as Simon Axler

- Greta Gerwig as Pegeen Mike Stapleford

- Kyra Sedgwick as Louise Trenner

- Dan Hedaya as Asa Stapleford

- Dianne Wiest as Carol Stapleford

- Charles Grodin as Jerry

- Dylan Baker as Dr. Farr

- Nina Arianda as Sybil

- Billy Porter as Prince

- Mary Louise Wilson as Mrs. Rutledge

## Production

After reading and connecting with the book, Pacino decided to option the book and asked Barry Levinson to direct it. Levinson decided to make the movie as a dark comedy, noting, "If you want to talk about an older actor in decline, just to do it as some straight drama didn’t seem that intriguing to me" also citing that comedy "seemed to me inherent in the piece". Although both Pacino and Levinson have denied that the character of Simon is autobiographical to Pacino's life, Pacino noted that he related to the material, stating that "it’s in, as they say, my wheelhouse."

Although the film in the beginning had ample funding, the listed conditions got too much for Levinson, who rejected them and lost by his estimate "somewhere in the area of $6 million." Subsequently it was decided to shoot the film incrementally with several breaks built in to accommodate Pacino's schedule. This was a new experience for Levinson although he welcomed the change of pace as "It added to the clarity."

On February 4, 2014, it was announced that Millennium Films had acquired the worldwide rights to the film.

## Reception

The Humbling received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 53%, based on 64 reviews, with a rating of 5.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, " The Humbling is an inarguable highlight of Al Pacino's late-period filmography, but that's an admittedly low bar that it doesn't always clear by a very wide margin." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 59 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


Arthur Byron

# Arthur Byron

## Abstract

Arthur William Byron (April 3, 1872 – July 16, 1943) was an American actor who played a mixture of British and American roles in films.

## Early years

Born in Brooklyn, Byron was the son of actors Kate Crehan and Oliver Doud Byron. He was a nephew of the stage actress Ada Rehan, his maternal aunt.

## Career

Byron started his theatrical career in February 1889 at the age of 17 with his father's dramatic company. In 1939 he celebrated his 50 years in showbusiness.

He appeared in more than 300 plays and played with stars like Maxine Elliott, Ethel Barrymore, John Gielgud, Katherine Cornell, Maude Adams and Minnie Maddern Fiske.

He was the founder and one-time president of The Actors' Equity Association and he also served as an officer of The Lambs and the Actor's fund of America.

Byron appeared many times at the Lakewood Playhouse in Maine.

## Personal life and death

Byron was married to Kathryn Keyes, and they had two daughters and a son. He died of a heart ailment, from which he suffered for some years, in Hollywood in 1943. He was cremated and his ashes were sent to the Byron summer home in Maine.

## Selected filmography

- Nervy Nat Kisses the Bride (1904, Edison)

- Fast Life (1932) - John D. Jameson

- The Mummy (1932) - Sir Joseph Whemple

- 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932) - Warden Paul Long

- Gabriel Over the White House (1933) - Jasper Brooks - Secretary of State

- The Silk Express (1933) - Conductor Clark

- Private Detective 62 (1933) - Tracey (uncredited)

- The Mayor of Hell (1933) - Judge Gilbert

- College Coach (1933) - Dr. Phillip Sargent

- Two Alone (1934) - Slag

- The House of Rothschild (1934) - Baring

- Stand Up and Cheer! (1934) - John Harly

- Fog Over Frisco (1934) - Everett Bradford

- The Notorious Sophie Lang (1934) - Police Insp. Stone

- The Man with Two Faces (1934) - Dr. Kendall

- That's Gratitude (1934) - Thomas Maxwell

- Marie Galante (1934) - Gen. Gerald Phillips

- The President Vanishes (1934) - President Craig Stanley

- The Secret Bride (1934) - Governor W.H. Vincent

- Shadow of Doubt (1935) - Morgan Bellwood

- The Whole Town's Talking (1935) - Spencer

- The Casino Murder Case (1935) - Richard Kinkaid

- Murder in the Fleet (1935) - Capt. John Winslow

- Oil for the Lamps of China (1935) - No. 1 Boss

- The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936) - Mr. Erickson

- The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) - (scenes deleted) (final film role)


Castle Lodge, Ludlow

# Castle Lodge, Ludlow

## Abstract

52°22′02″N 2°43′16″W / 52.3671°N 2.7211°W

Castle Lodge is a medieval Tudor and Elizabethan architectural transition period house in Ludlow, Shropshire, situated close to Ludlow Castle. Scenes from the 1965 film version of Moll Flanders were shot here. Castle Lodge has one of the largest collections of oak panelling in England and dates from the early 13th century, rebuilt in 1580. In Tudor times it was the home of Elizabeth I's Master of Requests and was once used as a prison.

## Supposed royal connections

There is no documentary evidence for the widely held opinion of Castle Lodge being the residence of Catherine of Aragon whilst she was married to Prince Arthur or when widowed. The building was not constructed until the 1570s, 60 years later than any possible occupation by Catherine, with the top floor being added in the early 17th century. The couple lived in apartments adjacent to the Great Hall in Ludlow Castle. In 1509 she married Henry VIII, Arthur's younger brother after Arthur's death from sweating sickness in 1502. Between these events Catherine lived in Durham House in London.

## Ownership

Castle Lodge has been privately owned throughout its history and was a hotel up until the Second World War. The Lodge was re-opened to the public in 1999, after which time over £100,000 was spent on the restoration of the building by owner Bill Pearson. Pearson struggled to find public or private funding for the upkeep of the building, and created plans to convert Castle Lodge into a hotel once again. Nevertheless, these plans never reached fruition, a failure which Pearson attributes to the lack of support from local businesses, stating that "if it was anywhere else but Ludlow we would be getting a £1,000 a week grant to do it". Pearson claimed that if his plans for a hotel were rejected, "Castle Lodge will be down the swanee. It will be the end." In October 2019 it was announced the property had new owners who had begun to undertake the necessary consent process with a view to converting Castle Lodge into a boutique hotel. As of February 2020 Castle Lodge is closed to the public while restoration and refurbishment takes place.

## Use in film

A 1965 film adaptation titled The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders starred Kim Novak as Moll Flanders and Richard Johnson as Jemmy with Angela Lansbury as Lady Blystone, with George Sanders as the banker, and Lilli Palmer as Dutchy had some of its scenes shot in Castle Lodge.


Yusuke Inaba

# Yusuke Inaba

## Abstract

Yusuke Inaba (稲場 悠介, Inaba Yūsuke, born 11 April 2000) is a Japanese water polo player. He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics.


The Initiation (film)

# The Initiation (film)

## Abstract

The Initiation is a 1984 American slasher film directed by Larry Stewart, and starring Daphne Zuniga, Vera Miles, Clu Gulager, and James Read. The plot focuses on a young woman plagued by a disturbing recurring nightmare, who finds herself and her fellow sorority pledges stalked by a killer during their initiation ritual in a department store after-hours.

Filmed in Dallas, Texas in 1983, The Initiation initially had English director Peter Crane attached, though he was fired from the project early into the shoot, after which television director Stewart took over. The Dallas Market Center and Southern Methodist University served as the primary shooting locations.

The Initiation was given a regional staggered release by New World Pictures beginning in the spring of 1984, and continued to screen theatrically through December of that year. It was met by largely unfavorable reviews by film critics. In the years since its release, the film has been noted for marking star Zuniga's first leading role after her minor part in The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982), as well as establishing a contemporary cult following as a midnight movie.

## Plot

Since childhood, college student Kelly Fairchild has suffered from a recurring nightmare in which a strange man is burned alive in her childhood home. The nightmare began when Kelly suffered amnesia after sustaining a head injury at age nine. Hoping to unravel the nightmare's meaning, Kelly pitches a term project idea to Peter, the graduate assistant in her psychology seminar, about it. Peter agrees to perform a sleep study on Kelly, but her mother, Frances, subsequently forbids it. Meanwhile, at a psychiatric hospital miles away, several patients escape, and a nurse is murdered. Frances is notified of this incident by phone, and informs Kelly's father, Dwight.

Kelly prepares to partake in her sorority's initiation ritual which entails her and a group of other pledges breaking into her father's multilevel department store after hours and stealing the night porter 's uniform. Kelly, her friend Marcia, and roommates Alison and Beth are the four main pledges. On the night of the initiation, Dwight departs for a business trip, but is brutally stabbed outside his car with a hand rake before being decapitated. The murderer leaves in Dwight's car with his corpse in the trunk.

Just before Kelly and the other pledges arrive at the department store, the night porter is murdered while doing rounds. Beth decides to quit, leaving Kelly, Marcia, and Alison alone. The three split up, and Kelly heads to the lounge upstairs to retrieve one of the spare uniforms. Meanwhile, head sorority sister Megan lets coeds Chad, Ralph, and Andy break into the store to scare the pledges. Shortly after, Andy is killed with a hatchet and Megan is shot to death with a bow and arrow. Ralph and Chad successfully scare Kelly and Marcia by hiding in a dressing room. After uniting with Alison, all five attempt to leave the store, but are locked inside.

At the university, Peter and his colleague, Heidi, comes across newspaper clippings detailing the fire Kelly described in her dream; the articles reveal the burning man's identity as Jason Randall, a floor manager at the Fairchild department store who was at one time married to Frances. Peter suspects that Jason is in fact Kelly's biological father, and that her nightmare is a memory of him being burned in an altercation with Frances' lover Dwight, who subsequently raised Kelly as his own daughter. A recent article on the inmates' revolt at the hospital reveals Jason is a groundskeeper there, and that he was among the prisoners who escaped. Peter drives to the Fairchild residence to notify Frances of his discoveries.

Alison and Chad wander around the store together. While Chad is in the bathroom, Alison discovers the night porter's body, followed by Chad's corpse in a bathroom stall. A traumatized Alison locates Kelly, who instructs her to hide at a security desk on the ground floor. Kelly enters the bathroom and sees Chad's body, as well as her name written in blood on a mirror. Meanwhile, Alison is attacked at the security desk and viciously stabbed to death.

Ralph and Marcia have sex in a retail display bed before Ralph is shot dead with a harpoon gun. Marcia flees through the store and is met by Kelly. They seek safety inside a freight elevator, but it is soon infiltrated by the killer who drags Marcia into the elevator shaft. Kelly escapes and flees into the store's boiler room, where she encounters Jason, whom she assumes to be the killer. He pursues her to the roof where she bludgeons him with a pipe, causing him to fall to the ground below.

Peter and Frances arrive at the store and find Jason lying on the ground, clinging to life. Inside, Peter sees whom he believes to be Kelly standing in the store foyer and embraces her before she stabs him in the stomach. Kelly stumbles upon the scene and is faced with a reflection of herself: Her disturbed twin sister Terry, who has been institutionalized since childhood when Frances left their father and married Dwight, and of whom Kelly has no memory. Just as Terry is about to murder Kelly, she is shot to death by Frances. The film ends as a wounded Peter is taken away in an ambulance while Kelly stares at her mother in disbelief.

## Cast

- Daphne Zuniga as Kelly Fairchild / Terry Randall

- Vera Miles as Frances Fairchild

- Clu Gulager as Dwight Fairchild

- James Read as Peter Adams

- Marilyn Kagan as Marcia

- Robert Dowdell as Jason Randall

- Patti Heider as Nurse Higgins

- Frances Peterson as Megan

- Hunter Tylo as Alison

- Paula Knowles as Beth

- Trey Stroud as Ralph

- Peter Malof as Andy

- Christopher Bradley as Chad

- Joy Jones as Heidi

- Mary Davis Duncan as Gwen

## Production

### Development

Screenwriter Charles Pratt Jr. wrote the script for the film after being asked to produce a low-budget horror film for executive producers Jock Gaynor and Bruce Lansbury, and producer Scott Winant for New World Pictures. While writing the screenplay, Pratt deliberately incorporated " soap opera " elements in the subplots involving the Fairchild family's history, as he was inspired by the genre at the time.

According to Pratt, he initially cobbled together the concept of the sorority initiation pledge taking place within a department store, but the concept had to be reworked when the film scouts were unable to find a suitable location in Dallas available for shooting. British director Peter Crane signed on to direct the project.

### Casting

Lead actress Daphne Zuniga was cast in the film following her minor role in the horror film The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982), and was a student at the University of California, Los Angeles at the time of being cast. Recalling the experience, she said: "It was a great part. I got to play twins: a good sister and an evil sister. I got shot in the back on-screen. It was pretty heavy for a first role." The majority of the supporting cast were local actors from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including Hunter Tylo and Joy Jones, both of whom were students at Brookhaven College.

Vera Miles, best known for her portrayal of Lila Crane in Alfred Hitchcock 's Psycho (1960), was cast as the mother of Zuniga's character. Miles, though not impressed by the film's screenplay, agreed to appear in the film after having met the director, Peter Crane, with whom she had a quick rapport.

### Filming

The Initiation was filmed on location in Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas, over an approximately 30-day period in the summer of 1983. Filming commenced with director Crane at the helm. After several days of filming, however, the shooting schedule had already fallen behind, leading to Crane being fired and replaced with Larry Stewart, who completed the rest of the film. The difference in technique and style between the two directors accounts for slight aesthetic differences in some of the film's sequences. According to writer Charles Pratt Jr., Crane was employing more experimental camera techniques, close-ups, and point-of-view shots, whereas Stewart, primarily a television director, used a more conventional style akin to that medium. Many of the early point-of-view shots featured in the film, as well as the sequences set at the psychiatric hospital, were all shot by Crane.

The multilevel World Trade Center building of the Dallas Market Center served as the location for the Fairchild department store, and the crew shot the film during evenings while the building was closed. The campus scenes were filmed at Southern Methodist University, while the dream-lab sequences were shot in an abandoned Holiday Inn hotel, where the production design had refitted a maid's closet to appear as the laboratory.

## Release

The Initiation first screened in the United States in the spring of 1984, with showings beginning in Lexington, Kentucky during the weekend of April 6, and in Philadelphia beginning April 28, 1984. It subsequently opened in Silver Spring, Maryland, beginning on May 12, 1984. In some midwestern cities, such as Bloomington, Illinois, it was paired as a drive-in double-feature with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). It was released several months later in Baltimore on September 7, 1984. The Los Angeles Times reported a tentative autumn release of the film in Los Angeles. In several southern U.S. cities, such as Shreveport, Pensacola, and Jackson, the film opened on December 7, 1984.

The film was largely overshadowed at the U.S. box office by Wes Craven 's A Nightmare on Elm Street, also released in the fall of 1984. It screened sporadically throughout the country, playing in one- or two-week runs. Although it passed the MPAA 's restrictions without being cut, the British Board of Film Classification cut nearly a minute of gore from the film, specifically from Hunter Tylo's gratiutous murder scene.

### Critical response and legacy

Joe Baltake of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote that the film was "convoluted, contemporary, and evil... This is a Freudian slip -of-a-horror-film, far more complex than truly frightening." Rick Lyman of The Philadelphia Inquirer likened the film to its contemporary "sorority girl slasher movies," concluding: "All of this is tied up in a surprise denouement that's about as surprising as, well, a knock-knock joke." The Baltimore Evening Sun ' s Lou Cedrone wrote that the film was "not so gory as most of the slice-and-dice genre," comparing it to Friday the 13th (1980) and Sleepaway Camp (1983), but added: " The Initiation may be a little better than similar features, if only because it is a little less bloody." In a subsequent review, Cedrone characterized the film as a " Friday the 13th clone," and added: "Vera Miles and Clu Gulager are performers caught in this hapless mess." Candice Russell of the South Florida Sun Sentinel awarded the film one-and-a-half out of four stars, referring to it as "an uncomfortable pastiche of scenes we've seen before," and likened elements of it to Brian De Palma 's Sisters (1973).

Following the film's first DVD release in 2002, Film Threat gave it an unfavorable review, writing, " The Initiation is the latest forgotten horror film to receive the Anchor Bay DVD treatment, and I'd be at a loss to tell you why." Film School Rejects, however, said the film "has all the hallmarks of being an awful movie without being an awful movie... it’s fun, and that should count for something." Eric Snider, writing for Film.com in 2012, gave the film a negative review, calling it "a bad movie with bad ideas that are badly executed," while TV Guide summarized the film as "boring slasher stuff," noting that "Top-billed Miles and Gulager barely appear in the film, which would make a terrifically dreadful double bill with the similar The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1983), also featuring Zuniga."

Brian Collins, writing for the Alamo Drafthouse 's film journal, Birth.Movies.Death., noted that the film "might be worth a look for slasher aficionados—it's far from a perfect film, but there are some unusual elements to it that give it enough personality to overcome its somewhat sluggish pace and TV movie-esque production." Dread Central ' s Anthony Arrigo observed in a 2016 review "a surprising amount of character depth on display here, more so than similar pictures of the era."

In Legacy of Blood: A Comprehensive Guide to Slasher Movie, writer Jim Harper called the film a "lackluster effort that never quite lives up to the abilities of its cast," further noting: "Even with the soap opera ending, the film isn't entirely successful, mostly because of the terrible script. There's a wealth of unnecessary jargon and cheap dialogue, not to mention some notable inconsistencies. Zuniga does her best to rise above the bad material and turns in a great performance, but Gulager and Miles sleepwalk through their parts." Horror film scholar Adam Rockoff alternately notes in his book Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, that, "despite its proclivity for laughable dialogue and silly plot twists, manages to be a fairly entertaining and occasionally frightening film."

Irrespective of the film's critical reception, it has garnered a contemporary cult following.

### Home media

The film was released on VHS by Thorn EMI in the 1980s. It was released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2002, and was later reissued in 2011 by Image Entertainment 's "Midnight Madness" Series.

In August 2016, it was revealed that Arrow Films would be releasing the film for the first time on Blu-ray in both the United States and the United Kingdom. It was released in the United States on November 8, 2016.