My lecturer jokes that people with common surnames should be embarassed of themselves. But the not-so-funny thing is that many take this very seriously, and change their surname to a less common one, to cover up their so-called peasant, inferior predecessors.
Thus a (black)Smith becomes a doctor or a wise man.
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I have a very, very common surname. I always tell people that some common ancestor of ours was obviously quite a virile fellow and why the hell should I be ashamed of that?
I often wonder if every one who shares my last name is actually somehow related to me. My uncle has made a fmaily tree so from his point of view that doesn't seem to be the case.
I still wonder, however, how there can be so many common surnames out there. I have come across very few that are truly unique.
I do note though, that it's true that there are far less Smiths and other common names as distinguished achievers in amongst, say, the British as a whole.
In fact, in most cultures, the common name seems to contain less high achievers than would be expected given the frequency of the surname
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