And furthermore how does language play a part – I know red (rojas/rossi) is a Spanish and Italian surname but not English
In: 2480
Not the conclusive reason but way back in some countries they decided to give you your last name based on occupation. Which is why you see a lot of Bakers, Coopers, Hindmans, etc. However, the colors were from different smith’s.
Blacksmiths were of course iron and steel.
Brownsmiths worked with copper and more brass
Greensmiths worked more with copper
Whitesmiths worked with tin
And then one half or the other was dropped at some point. Which is also why “Smith” is one of the most common names in the US. It was a popular profession and every town basically needed one when they started settling the country.
And this isn’t the only reason for the color last names but a large part of it for the US at least.
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