Bible Dictionaries
Surname

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

"to put a name upon" (epi, "upon," kaleo, "to call"), "to surname," is used in this sense in the Passive Voice, in some texts in Matthew 10:3 (it is absent in the best); in Luke 22:3 , in some texts (the best have kaleo, "to call"); Acts 1:23; 4:36; 10:5,18,32; 11:13; 12:12,25; in some texts, Acts 15:22 (the best have kaleo).

Notes: (1) In Mark 3:16,17 , "He surnamed" is a translation of epitithemi, "to put upon, to add to," with anoma, "a name," as the object. (2) In Acts 15:37 , AV, kaleo, "to call" (RV, "called"), is rendered "whose surname was." (3) The verb eponomazo, translated "bearest the name" in Romans 2:17 , RV, finds a literal correspondence in the word "surname" (epi, "upon," == sur), and had this significance in Classical Greek.