The index behind the drawer
Data &
Methodology
The Surname Index maintains this dataset for one narrow purpose: helping writers and players explore surnames for fictional characters and sample projects.
The current records are source-backed and automatically screened. They have not been individually verified as genealogy, etymology, or proof of cultural identity.
Who
Maintained by The Surname Index
The Surname Index selects the public filters, runs the automated data checks, and decides which claims are safe to show in the generator. No individual author or human language expert has reviewed every record in this dataset batch.
Why
Built for creative name exploration
The dataset supports quick comparison, filtering, saving, and copying. It is not designed to determine a real person’s ancestry, ethnicity, nationality, family history, or the definitive origin of a surname.
How records enter the index
Source first, then automatic screening
- Collect. Query Wikidata for items classified as family names and tagged with a matching “language of work or name” value.
- Screen. Reject missing labels, exposed QIDs, placeholders, unsupported symbols, implausible lengths, and descriptions that do not identify the item as a family name or surname.
- Normalize. Create stable IDs and search keys while retaining the source-backed display spelling. Duplicate source entities are not published twice.
- Check. Fail the data build when records are unsourced, duplicated, malformed, or when a public filter has too few active candidates.
Read the label carefully
What “language / tradition” means
Spanish, Irish, Japanese, and French are broad navigation categories derived from Wikidata’s language tagging for a family-name item. A name may appear in more than one category.
These labels do not prove that a surname began in one country, that every bearer belongs to a particular culture, or that the category describes a person’s identity. Check a specialist source before making a historical or cultural claim.
Deliberate omissions
What this dataset does not claim
- No surname meanings or etymologies.
- No pronunciation guidance.
- No popularity, rarity, or geographic distribution claims.
- No guarantee that a generated name is unique or free of associations.
- No guarantee that a name is appropriate for every period or setting.
Source record
Wikidata
Data is drawn from Wikidata, published by the Wikimedia Foundation under the CC0 Public Domain Dedication.
The collection query uses the Wikidata Query Service and family-name entities associated with the selected language values. Source data was accessed on July 30, 2026.