I read somewhere that under an English law passed sometime in the 1400s, people were required to adopt surnames. The reason was that this made it easier for the tax collector to find them. I have not verified this, but would be interested in knowing whether this is a true story, particularly since I have one of those English surnames. Phil Crowther, The book states this: "Two events gave a boost to the adaption of surnames in England. The first was the introduction of a poll (head) tax in 1379, which led the government to collect the name of every person in the country aged sixteen or over, and the second was the enactment of the Statute of Additions in 1413, which required that all legal documents contain not just the person's given name, but also his or her occupation and place of abode. These two pieces of medieval bureaucracy meant that virtually everyone had to settle on a definite and fixed surname." -eddie