Patricia Mulligan, age 8, of Utica, New York, for her question;

Then did people begin using last names?

Firecrackers and spaghetti, compasses and paper and dozens of other handy gadgets were invented by the ancient Chinese. So far as we know, the Chinese also invented family names. Around 2852 B.C., history records that the Chinese Emperor Fushi issued a decree. This royal order said that his people must have family names and they were given 438 different names to choose from. These first family names were words taken from a sacred Chinese poem. The people put their family names first, instead of last as we do.

The idea of a family name is a good one. People of other countries thought of it for themselves, long after the Chinese had been using them. The Romans thought of putting the family name last. An important person, living 2,000 years ago in ancient Rome, most likely had two given names followed by a family name. The people of English added family names about 1,000 years ago. Each person had a given name, such as John. If his family happened to be in the bakery business, he was named John Baker. John Weaver was a weaver and John Smith had a blacksmith shop.