Last names in Middle-earth

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Galin

Isn't Legolas' last name Greenleaf?

.

No it is simply a translation of his name.

[Mithalwen]

Even in the Shire family names have not become "fixed" as can be best seen in Sam's family tree . His uncle Andy has the surname Roper from his profession his son Frodo is Gardner, Elanor married Fastred of Greenholm and their descendents are Fairbairns.

they do illustrate the normal origins of surnames... appearance, profession, location (other than relationship to others).

[Galin]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

EDIT: isn't 'Greenleaf' just the translation of laeg + gwa-lass?

Yes, it's a Silvan dialectal form of Sindarin laeg (Woodland leg) + golas, -olas 'collection of leaves'.

I had thought that the rest of my post on Elvish naming customs was enough to point to my question (on whether Greenleaves was Legolas' 'last name') being in jest...

... but anyway

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Galin

Yes, it's a Silvan dialectal form of Sindarin laeg (Woodland leg) + golas, -olas 'collection of leaves'.

amusingly (to me at least) it could also be sharp ears... laigo lhas....

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Even in the Shire family names have not become "fixed" as can be best seen in Sam's family tree . His uncle Andy has the surname Roper from his profession his son Frodo is Gardner, Elanor married Fastred of Greenholm and their descendents are Fairbairns.

they do illustrate the normal origins of surnames... appearance, profession, location (other than relationship to others).

Appendix F in ROTK touches upon the differences between Hobbit-names and those of other races.

In the case of persons, however, Hobbit-names in the Shire and in Bree were for those days peculiar, notably in the habit that had grown up, some centuries before this time, of having inheirited names for families. Most of these surnames had obvious meanings (in the current language being derived from jesting nicknames, or from place-names, or--especially in Bree--from the names of plants and trees.)

I would add that since surnames were a fairly new custom to the Hobbits, it would be likely that the more well-known and notable families would probably latch onto it more quickly than others. That would explain why the Gamgee family might still have been more associated with a profession.