This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: jrrobins1 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.robinson/10282.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: You're going to have to research your own family to find out. There isn't one single answer. Every family, and in some cases, every individual, had a different story. But-- By and large, your last name probably comes from a slave-owning white family. But it is not necessarily the case that this last name was the name of the last slave-owner of your ancestor before emancipation. Many African-American families had last names long before the end of the Civil War, and these names were held onto in spite of many changes in ownership over generations. Just how a family chose a name to stick with is not really known. I think it may be the case that in families brought to the Southern frontier in Mississippi, Alabama, etc. from the older colonial South, that these families had been living on the same farms with the same families for many, many generations and they brought their last names with them from the "Old Country," regardless of the sometimes new owners who brought them West. You can also read in interviews with former slaves that some of them chose their own last names after emancipation, sometimes choosing names different from their parents, adopting the name of someone they admired, or went to work for, or just a name they liked, etc. So, I think you'll have to look into your own family to find the real answer. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.