I took my grandmothers maiden name. It made sense to me, and fits with how i am. Maybe you could find a family member who you had actual connection and familial love for and take their maiden name? Alternatively, pick up a census and start reading? Idk not sure thats helpful but its what i got 😅.
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it would be weird of me to pick a last name based in a culture that I'm not from
So you've already ruled out Stalin and Kim then?
Historically, surnames have come from parents' names (double points to Alicia O'Shea Petersen), trades (Cooper, Sawyer, Shepherd, etc), places (Newton, da Vinci), and seemingly random things (Green, Rose, Windlass).
If you also like puns, you could be "Miss Wright", a "worker" trades surname that may also reflect how you feel about yourself. Children have often taken the names of adoptive parents, so you might also adopt a name from someone inspiring that you'd like to feel more connected to. Or you could start an entirely new family name and just make something up.
Lmao my very first thought of what to go with was Marx but that would be way too weird of me to go with lol.
Idk about picking the last name of someone I know, I don't really have a role model or anything like that. I look up to my friends but that would be way way to weird to steal one of their last names and I definitely don't want to do that.
Thank you for the lists though! I'll look through them to see if any one of them stands out to me.
I was thinking more historical figure or fictional character (Austen novels are full of Miss Morland, Miss Fairfax, etc) rather than someone you know personally for existing names to adopt. I agree it'd be weird to use one of those unless it was offered to you.
I've known a "Marks", which you might be able to pass off as coincidence should the similarity to "Marx" arise, at least with people who don't know you've changed your name.
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