Did the people in the Bible have last names?

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Question: "Did the people in the Bible have last names?"

Answer: People in Bible times did not really have last names like we do today. People frequently went by something similar to “Simon, son of Jonah” (Matthew 16:17). The phrase “son of Jonah” identified Simon as a different Simon than all the other Simons. This functioned very closely to a last name. Others used their occupation as a functional last name “Simon the tanner” (Acts 10:6). Jesus was sometimes called “Jesus of Nazareth” identifying where He was from (Matthew 26:71; John 18:5). The name “Jesus Christ” refers to “Jesus, who is the Christ / Messiah.”