family name
family name — noun
1. the part of a person's full name that is shared with close relatives and shows t
the part of a person's full name that is shared with close relatives and shows the family they come from, especially on official forms
Selim printed his family name in capitals on the visa form.
collocation: print + family name on a form
The teacher asked Yasmin to say her family name before her given name.
contrast: family name vs given name
On the clinic form, Nila wrote Patel in the box marked 'family name'.
After the wedding, Felipe decided to keep his family name at work.
Romi and her brother have the same family name but different first names.
- surname
the closest neutral synonym and often used in formal contexts
- last name
more common in American English and focuses on the name's position in Western order
- maiden name
not a full synonym; it means a married woman's family name before marriage
- given name
the personal name chosen for someone, not the shared family name
- first name
the personal name that usually comes before the family name in English naming order
用法筆記
Family name is especially common in British English and in official writing. In American English, people often say 'last name,' but that term is less exact in cultures where the family name comes first.