My little theory is simply that The Hobbit (that revolved mainly about Bilbo and the dwarves) was written earlier, thus Tolkien hadn't decided how to use last names yet. Bilbo Baggins appear in the beginning of the Hobbit, and when Tolkien began writing the Lord of the Rings, the 'Baggins' hung around, seeing as the Hobbit had already been published.
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Bilbo Baggins actually lives at Bag End, Merry Brandybuck comes from Buckland, and so forth; whereas today we have no reason to suspect that, for example, someone with the last name "Littleton" actually comes from the town of Little.
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I have a small example that "proves" the opposite. Helge Fauskanger (the maker of the
Ardalambion website) actually lives in 'Lille Fauskanger' (little Fauskanger), where his ancestors settled some hundred years ago. This, of course, is an exception - though something I felt like adding. My own last name is just a -son name (Swedish for saying "son of", in the same way as the scots use "Mac" and arabs "ben"), that our family got from my great grandfather. Many last names today are taken, for example 'Smith', which was from the beginning merely a profession. I think something similar might have happened in the Shire - though these are merely my random thoughts.
[ June 10, 2003: Message edited by: Gayahithwen ]