why are some colours commonly found as surnames (white, brown, green) but not others (red, blue, yellow)

Question

And furthermore how does language play a part – I know red (rojas/rossi) is a Spanish and Italian surname but not English

In: 2480

Answer 1

Some names were job related. Mr Black was the Blacksmith. Green was the farmer or grocer, White was the Chemist/Doctor, etc. Not sure what Brown would be…