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The Custom of using last names was introduced by Napoleon, who made it obligatory for all residents of his 'empire'.
At a certain point every citizen had to register his last name, since most of the population had no interest or clue on what their last name should be, they often took their occupation or family as a reference for the last name.
Some of the population were actually quite clever and thought up something original that sounded nice in their ears or made them sound important.
Others (like a lot of the Dutch apparently) defied the rule and came up with very funny names at the registration office ... little did they know the custom would be used for generations and become very common ...
So most names are pretty common since a lot of people had similar occupations at that point.
others are hilarious or even embarassing in their own language. (I know several people who's last name is the equivalent of Cunt or Dick)
The nordics already had this tradition and had been using them since long before it became obligatory.
Usually they use 'Son of <Fathersname>' resulting in : Johanson (sweden & norway) or Johanssen (denmark)
In Iceland and Finland, they use Daughter of <mothersname> resulting commonly in 'Ser' at the end of the name (not 100% sure of this)
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