News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Little Snitch: PayPal has restricted our business account, threatens to close. Parent comment

Re:Little Snitch: PayPal has restricted our business account... by Karellen on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @10:46AM (#35341989)
> Surnames often don't mean anything.

That depends on where you're from. Often in the English-speaking world, they do.

To take the another commenter's example, "Smith" comes from a word meaning, roughly, "craftsperson", as in "blacksmith". The ancestor that the surname comes from was likely either a blacksmith, or some other type of crafter whose profession can be described as "smithing".

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smith

Likewise, the surname "Wright" comes from a word with a similar meaning, as in "playwright", "wheelwright" or "cartwright".

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Little Snitch: PayPal has restricted our business account... by frumper on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @10:51AM (#35342055)
It's more fair to say those names meant something at some point. Now they just mean you are descended from someone with that surname.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Little Snitch: PayPal has restricted our business account... by JohnFen on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @12:10PM (#35343338)
They haven't lost those meanings at all. They may not have any special significance for you, but the meanings of the names remain nonetheless.

When I meet a "Johnson", my mind immediately goes to "John's son" even though "John" is probably a distant ancestor of the person, not their father. The name's meaning has not changed.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Little Snitch: PayPal has restricted our business account... by anonymouskimmer on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @01:05PM (#35344326)
"Johnson", and similar names in other languages, can also indicate connection with the early Christian church, not a literal connection with a person named John. "Johnson" in this sense means someone who is a 'son' of John the Baptist (aka, a Christian). Or so I've read.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Little Snitch: PayPal has restricted our business account... by JohnFen on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @02:27PM (#35345654)
I wasn't aware of the John the Baptist connection. Very interesting! Thank you.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Little Snitch: PayPal has restricted our business account... by anonymouskimmer on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @01:03PM (#35344279)
> Now they just mean you are descended from someone with that surname.

Adoption exists. I'm the first in my patriline to be born with my surname. So yes, technically I am descended from a person with that surname, but my father wasn't.

Also, changing a name on marriage happens.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Little Snitch: PayPal has restricted our business account... by frumper on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @01:24PM (#35344645)
You're right. Those events just move you further away from any past meanings of the surname.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Little Snitch: PayPal has restricted our business account... by lxgr on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @11:02AM (#35342205)
Sure, but I hope an etymological dictionary would be within the budgetary means of a bank's compliance department so that they don't have to lean on their customers for it.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Little Snitch: PayPal has restricted our business account... by sva_ on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @10:54AM (#35342087)
Where does the name Dickinson come from?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Little Snitch: PayPal has restricted our business account... by jodrellblank on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @11:04AM (#35342233)
"son of Richard"

https://www.houseofnames.com/dickinson-family-crest

[ Parent | on HN ]