Native American Surnames

Native American surnames reflect the diversity of hundreds of distinct tribes. Each had its own geography, language, historical experiences and culture. Native American history and the recording of their way of life was based on oral tradition. This makes it difficult to get a truly accurate picture of Native American surnames. Nevertheless some common themes in the development and evolution of names can be identified.

As Native Americans navigate contemporary society, many are also finding ways to adapt their traditional names to modern contexts. This may involve using both an English and tribal name or finding creative ways to incorporate ancestral names into a modern idiom. The goal is to maintain and honour Indigenous heritage while also being able to function in a world that typically expects Western-style naming conventions.

Researching surnames to identify possible Native American connections can provide valuable insights into an individual's ancestral background and cultural heritage.

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Native American nations/tribes

There are over 570 federally recognised Indian nations or tribes in the United States. Almost half of these are located in Alaska. The reminder are spread across 35 other American states. There are also other tribes located throughout the USA which are recognised by their respective state governments.

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The history of Native American surnames

Indian Land Areas Judicially Established 1978 and American Indian Reservations

Native Americans are the original inhabitants of North America, their history stretching back tens of thousands of years before the first Europeans arrived in the late 15^th century. Each tribe, such as the Navajo, Cherokee, Apache and Sioux, developed its own naming conventions and cultural practices. But there was some common themes in how surnames developed across these tribes. Names often reflected personal attributes, occupations, significant life events or elements of the world around them. This anchored an individual's identity to their community and environment.

• Native American surnames were sometimes derived from nature, such as indigenous plants and animals. These names symbolised desirable traits associated with these elements. For example, names like Eagleman or Running Deer highlighted the significance of these animals in Native American culture and celebrated desirable characteristics, like strength and agility. Their use as a surname demonstrated the individual's spiritual connections to the natural world.
• Traditional Native American surnames could also be linked to specific geographic locations, reflecting natural features of their ancestral lands. Examples include Swiftwater and Blackrock.
• Another inspiration for Native American surnames was clan or tribal affiliation. These operated as indicators of identity and lineage. For instance the Cherokee tribe was divided into seven clans, each with its own set of names and roles within the tribe. The Wolf Clan might use surnames like Waya, meaning "wolf" while the Buffalo Clan might use Yansa, their word for this animal.
• Other surnames were derived from significant historical events or personal traits, capturing stories or attributes of ancestors. Names like Warcloud or Bravebird probably reflected an individual's notable actions or achievements in a particular battle.

How Native American surnames were inherited

Red Thunder, Blackfeet Sioux

Traditional gender roles among Native American peoples tend to vary greatly by region and community. Many Native American cultures favoured a kind of division of labor between the sexes that assigned different decision making powers to each of the genders. As a result the inheritance and transmission of Native American surnames through generations reflected the different matrilineal and patrilineal traditions in various Native American tribes.

• In matrilineal Native American tribes, children would generally inherit their clan membership and surname from their mother's line, regardless of the father's clan or surname. Examples of matrilineal tribes include the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee), Navajo, Osage and Hopi. In such Native American communities, surnames were also more likely to remain consistent over time, staying with the original clan.
• In patrilineal Native American tribes, children inherited their clan membership and surname from their father's side. Patrilineal tribes include the Kalapuya, Ponca, Sioux and Omaha. With some tribes if a woman who carried their mother's name married a man from another clan their offspring would take the name of their father's clan.
• While almost all tribes followed either a matrilineal or patrilineal-driven approach to the transmission of names there were some specific tribal practices that allowed a limited amount of flexibility for offspring to honour both their parents clans and surnames. One example was the Zuni tribe of New Mexico. Some tribes also allowed for clan membership to be assigned through adoption.

The impact of colonisation on Native American surnames

Navajo leaders on the "Long walk of the Navajos"

The evolution of Native American surnames has also been shaped by the impact of European colonisation and Western naming conventions. As European settlers arrived in North America, they imposed their own naming systems on Indigenous peoples, disregarding the fluidity and complexity of Indigenous naming systems. European surnames were imposed on Native Americans. But these were frequently mispronounced or poorly translated, severing the individual's ties to their traditional name and cultural heritage.

In other cases Native Americans were compelled to adopt surnames for the purpose of legal documentation, further erasing their original names and identities. This assimilation was part of a broader strategy to diminish Indigenous cultures and languages, leaving many descendants unaware of their ancestral lineage and the meanings behind their original names.

Common Native American surnames

Because of the impact of colonisation, described above, only two of the 12 most popular surnames of individuals who identified as Native Americans or Alaskan Native in the US 2010 census are what we would think of as "traditional". These are Begay and Yazzie, both of Navajo origin:

Smith	Johnson	Begay	Locklear
Jones	Yazzie	Williams	Brown
David	Williams	Thompson	Thomas

Popular more traditional Native American surnames, along with their presumed origins, are:

• Warcloud - Combination of "war" and "cloud"
• Tsosie - From an American English altered form of a Navajo name composed of the suffix -tsʼósí , meaning "slender, slim, skinny"
• Thunderhawk - The power of thunder, combined with the word "hawk"
• Swiftwater - Lives near swift water
• Summerhill - Lives on a hill
• Bravebird - Trait of a bird
• Blackrock - From the black rock region
• Arrow - Hunter

See also

• American surnames
• Native American ethnicity
• Native American genealogy
• Apache surnames
• Cherokee surnames
• Choctaw surnames
• Navajo surnames
• Ojibwe surnames
• Sioux surnames
• Mesoamerican and Andean surnames
• Dawes Rolls

Explore more about Native American surnames

MyHeritage collections include over 11,000 records directly referencing Native Americans. These include nearly 7,000 historical newspaper articles, almost 100 family tree profiles and over 4,500 Immigration, military and other records.

The LegacyFamilyTree Library contains a number of online webinars which will assist you in exploring Native American heritage, including:

• Trail of Tears to Indian Territory
• Cherokee, Choctaw & Chickasaw Freedmen Records and Family Stories
• 10 Ways to Find Your Native American Ancestor Using Y, Mitochondrial and Autosomal DNA
• Osiyo to Cherokee Ancestry
• Finding Indian Ancestors in African American Families
• Was Great Grandmother Really Native American?
• Native American Research: Things You May Not Know
• The Genetic Ancestry of Native Americans
• Documenting Native American Families in 19th and 20th Century Records

Tribal records and genealogy resources can offer valuable information on the origins and meanings of specific surnames. The National Archives includes information relating to American Indians and Alaska Natives from as early as 1774 through the mid-1990s, both online and at National Archives locations throughout the United States. This includes Bureau of Indian Affairs rolls, which were created as a result of allotments, legislation, removals, treaties, and other activities related to Native Americans. Note however that most of these records have not yet been digitised.

The National Indian Child Welfare Association provides a useful online guide for people seeking to confirm their Native American heritage.

References

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