18.The Way That Some Last Names Started (姓氏的起源)
You have a first name to tell who you are. You have a last name to tell which family you are from.
But a long long time ago people didn't have last names. Later they had to invent (发明 )last names because there were too many Charlies, too many Roberts and too many Helens. People started to ask which Charlie? Which Robert? Which Helen?
So if a Charlie was a carpenter (木匠 ), he became Charlie Carpenter. For example, there were some names that were called David Smith (铁匠), Linda Cook, Mary Baker (面包师) and so on. If a Peter was a son of Robert, he became Robert Peterson. If a Helen lived near the woods (森林), she became Helen Woods. So, there were names like Gina Lake, Jenny Hill and Alan Field.
This is the way that some last names started long long ago.