Definition of family name Family name
fam•i•ly name
We found 3 definitions of family name from 3 different sources.
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What does family name mean?
WordNet
Wiktionary 
- family name (Noun)
A surname.
Wikipedia 
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A family name is a name shared by people in the same family. Children have the same family name as one or both of their parents. When a women gets married, she may change her family name to be the same as her husband.
For example, Mary Brown married John Smith and she changed her name to Mary Smith. They had two children, David Smith and Kate Smith. Smith is the family name shared by the parents Mary and John, and their children David and Kate.
Each culture has a different order for a person's family name and given name. In English, the family name is always at the end, so it is also called a last name.
A family name is also called a surname.
