 A family name is typically a part of a person's personal name which, according to law or custom, is passed or given to children from one or both of their parents' family names.The use of family names is common in most cultures around the world, with each culture having its own rules as to how these names are formed, passed and used.However, the style of having both a family name (surname) and a given name (forename) is far from universal (see §History below).