History
In many areas around the world, patronyms predate the use of family names. Family names in many Celtic, English, Iberian, Scandinavian, Armenian and Slavic surnames originate from patronyms, e.g. Wilson (son of William), Powell (from "ap Hywel"), Fernández (son of Fernando), Rodríguez (son of Rodrigo), Carlsson (son of Carl), Ilyin (of Ilya), Petrov (of Peter), Stefanović (son of Stefan, little Stefan) and O'Connor (from "Ó Conchobhair", meaning grandson/descendant of Conchobhar). Other cultures which formerly used patronyms have switched to the more widespread style of passing the father's last name to the children (and wife) as their own.
Patronymics are still commonly used as middle names in Russia. In Iceland family names are unusual; Icelandic law favours the use of patronyms (or more recently, matronyms) over family names.
In biological taxonomy, a patronym is the second part of a binomial name which is derived from a Latinized surname. These often honor associates of the biologist who named the organism rather than the biologist himself. Examples include Gopherus agassizii, named by James Graham Cooper after Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, and Acacia greggii, named by botanist Asa Gray after explorer Josiah Gregg.
Read more about this topic: Patronymic
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