> people were less attached to their last names More like people didn't have las... | Hacker News

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selcuka on Jan 3, 2025 | parent | context | favorite | on: Zildjian, a 400-year-old cymbal-making company in ...

> people were less attached to their last names

More like people didn't have last names in the Ottoman empire, so they were usually called by their fathers' names, or nicknames. Surnames were officially started to be enforced in 1934, long after the Ottoman empire collapsed and the Rebublic of Turkey was founded.

ChrisMarshallNY on Jan 3, 2025 | [–]

I suspect that many surnames came from vocations, like "Smith," or "Zuckerman" ("Sugar-Man" -probably a candy-maker).

thfuran on Jan 3, 2025 | [–]

That's only like a decade after the Ottoman empire was dissolved.

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