Australian surnames reflect the multicultural society of Australia, which is populated by citizens with ancestries from many lands. A perusal of a list of Members of Parliament in Australia who have surnames from Albanese to Zappia gives an indication of the diversity of surnames or family names in the current population.
History of Australian surnames
For the first 60,000 years before British Colonization, the indigenous peoples of Australia had their own naming conventions that did not mirror systems of today.
With the arrival of the First Fleet in New South Wales in 1788, the British use of surnames to identify people was adopted. All official records from that time on use surnames to identify and differentiate between individuals.[1]
After colonization, Indigenous Australians were known by Anglicized surnames or had been assigned a surname by their European employers. In some cases individuals were given the surname of their employer, while other surnames were derived from occupations or places of residence.[2]
The first foreigners to Australia came from Britain and Ireland, with a few convicts from Hong Kong, India, the Caribbean, and Canada. In the 1790s free settlers from Britain started arriving in New South Wales, and by the early 1800s, there were assistance schemes to encourage emigrants to the colony. Women were encouraged to emigrate to address a gender imbalance.
Several waves of migration added new surnames to the mix. In 1838 German winegrowers immigrated to South Australia. The Gold Rush of the 1850s brought 500,000 immigrants including Chinese and Americans. Pacific Islanders came to work on sugar plantations beginning in 1860, and more than 300,000 Irish settlers emigrated to Australia between 1840 and 1914.[3]
The Immigration Restriction Act of 1901, also known as the White Australia Policy, in the hopes of keeping Australia British. This restricted immigration by non-white (particularly Asian) people.[4]
Before and after World War II, there were several waves of European migration. In 1936 it was Jewish refugees, and in 1947 a displaced persons scheme brought other Europeans. In the 1950s and 1960s immigrants arrived from countries including Italy, Greece, Malta, The Netherlands, and Turkey.[5]
Since the Immigration Restriction Act was repealed in 1973,[6] migrants from several Asian countries have chosen Australia for their homes. These included “Boat People”.[7]
Australian surnames today
According to the 2021 Census of Australia, 27.6% of current Australians were born overseas, with the top 5 countries of birth outside Australia being England, India, China, New Zealand, and the Philippines. These recent migrants brought new surnames to Australia.[8]
In a 2018 survey the Australian White Pages researched Australian surnames and found the list dominated by UK surnames.[9] The top 10 were:
The Vietnamese surname Nguyen came in at number 14. In Victoria, both Nguyen and Singh held spots in the top 10 surnames.
The Australian ‘first name’ ‘last name’ convention creates difficulties for those migrants who have patronymic surnames.[10] Citizens without a family or surname who fulfill certain conditions may apply for an Australian passport or a MyGov ID.[11][12]
Most Australian women still take their husband's surname after marriage, but there has been a recent trend towards women retaining maiden surnames or couples creating new double-barreled surnames for themselves and their children.[13]
Legislation
In Australia, the rules relating to naming conventions are outlined in the Births, Deaths and Marriage Registration Acts of each State or Territory.[14] All births must be registered in the state of birth and while the applications all ask for a surname, the rules vary slightly between states.
Surname changes
People in Australia can be known by a different surname regardless of what is noted on their birth certificate. However, when conducting business like applying for a bank account or driver’s license one must use the name on one’s birth certificate.
Formerly deed polls were used for changing names in Australia.[15] Name changes are now administered by the Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in each state or territory.
Historically some migrants from non-British countries changed their names on arrival. A survey by Greek-Australian journalist, Phil Kafcaloudes in 2023 found three main reasons for this: convenience (pronunciation, spelling), acceptance by fellow citizens and racism.[16]
Famous Australian surnames
Researching Australian surnames
Researchers should be mindful of circumstances that may have affected record keeping and search in the appropriate place. Be aware that there are three tiers of government in Australia: federal, state and local; all create and maintain records for their different areas of responsibility. Until Federation in 1901, state and territory borders went through changes that also affected record keeping.
The National Library of Australia offers access to a free collection of searchable digitized newspapers, journals, images, books and websites as well as guidance in accessing this collection.[18] More recent newspapers can be accessed via subscription or through Australian libraries. The National Library of Australia’s website has additional resources to aid in your research.
Be sure to investigate all variants of the surnames you research, as some have several, e.g. Pusill, Pusell, Pusile, Pusil, Pusel, Pussel.
Surname studies
See also: One-Name studies
Some researchers undertake Surname or One-Name studies where they research all people bearing a particular surname in a given area. While some people work independently others find it beneficial to join a group dedicated to the discipline, e.g.: The Surname Society or The Guild of One Name Studies.
Groups for prominent surnames, e.g. Clan Cameron in Australia or the Hassall Family History Association encourage members to collaborate and share information on those surnames in their ancestry. Australian surnames reflect the multicultural society of Australia, which is populated by citizens with ancestries from many lands.
See also
Explore more about Australian surnames
- Australian record collections at MyHeritage
- Australian vital records search at MyHeritage
- What’s in a Surname: The History of Surnames and How They Help in Family History Research at MyHeritage Knowledge Base
- Last Name Directory at MyHeritage
- Trove at the National Library of Australia
- The Australian Cemetery Index
- The National Archives of Australia
References
This article was adapted from Searching for Surnames Downunder, a webinar presented by Jill Ball on Mar 29, 2016. Watch the full webinar on Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
- ↑ https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/first_fleet
- ↑ https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/australias-first-peoples
- ↑ https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/gold-rushes
- ↑ https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C1901A00017
- ↑ https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/immigration-and-citizenship/migrant-stories/refugees/refugees-displaced-world-war-ii#:~:text=Under%20the%20Displaced%20Persons%20Program,the%20history%20of%20Australian%20migration.
- ↑ https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/white-australia-policy
- ↑ https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/parliamentary_departments/parliamentary_library/pubs/rp/rp1314/boatarrivals
- ↑ https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/cultural-diversity-census/2021
- ↑ https://stories.whitepages.com.au/article/australian-surnames-in-2018/
- ↑ https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/culture/article/2021/04/20/many-migrants-our-surnames-are-not-simple-you-think
- ↑ https://www.passports.gov.au/getting-passport-how-it-works/documents-you-need/names-and-name-change#only%20one%20name
- ↑ https://www.mygovid.gov.au/
- ↑ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-31/most-australian-women-still-take-husbands-name-after-marriage/7287022
- ↑ https://www.nla.gov.au/research-guides/australian-birth-death-and-marriage-records?
- ↑ https://lawpath.com.au/blog/how-does-a-deed-poll-work
- ↑ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-20/anglicised-greek-australian-surnames/101852472
- ↑ https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/v1293
- ↑ http://trove.nla.gov.au