These names tend to be attached to them after the fact. I imagine there were a few Leonardos or Johannesses roaming about at their time so much like Alexander became The Great to set him apart from all other Alexanders, these names are scribes’ and historians’ shorthand to make clear which Leo or Joe you were talking about. And a few centuries of historical telephone later they seem to fit perfectly in our first name/last name system. Which in western Europe really only became officially standardized with the Code Civil from our friend Napoleon.
Pretty sure you get these if you move. These names are common in my part of the world and they’re never common in the place the name refers to. At some point an ancestor moved and it stuck to their kids.
Recently learned that Caravaggio’s name was in fact Michelangelo Merisi. He was born in Milan, but his father worked as administrator to the nearby town of, wouldn’t you know it, Caravaggio — and the family soon moved to said town to escape the plague. He seems to have taken the name Caravaggio upon starting his career in Rome, seeing as there was already another famous Michelangelo.
Or where they were from: da Vinci, Gutenberg. The Bible also doesn’t have a lot of action in China where last names were a thing before Jesus.
Did people only get those if they moved, or was everyone from Vinci named da Vinci? (Similar to the Texas Pete premise)
These names tend to be attached to them after the fact. I imagine there were a few Leonardos or Johannesses roaming about at their time so much like Alexander became The Great to set him apart from all other Alexanders, these names are scribes’ and historians’ shorthand to make clear which Leo or Joe you were talking about. And a few centuries of historical telephone later they seem to fit perfectly in our first name/last name system. Which in western Europe really only became officially standardized with the Code Civil from our friend Napoleon.
His full name was Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, so presumably he’d be known locally as Leonardo di ser Piero.
Pretty sure you get these if you move. These names are common in my part of the world and they’re never common in the place the name refers to. At some point an ancestor moved and it stuck to their kids.
Recently learned that Caravaggio’s name was in fact Michelangelo Merisi. He was born in Milan, but his father worked as administrator to the nearby town of, wouldn’t you know it, Caravaggio — and the family soon moved to said town to escape the plague. He seems to have taken the name Caravaggio upon starting his career in Rome, seeing as there was already another famous Michelangelo.