I have had an idea
Thought: Everyone is going to end up with the same surname in several thousand years.

Reasoning: Generally, women change their surname when they get married. The majority of women get married (sorry guys, you're not really a factor here). While there are those who do not change their name, or they go to a double barrelled name, or may change their name if they get divorced, most of those will have children with the surname.

This takes the maternal surname out of circulation. Many families only have female children. Those children will have the fathers surname and not the mothers original surname. The mothers surname will therefore not be carried through, so when the grandparents die that surname dies out in that branch of the family and will not be carried forward to future generations. Therefore, the number of surnames will slowly decrease over time by current customs.

Your thoughts?
(Potty Jag har smör i min rumpspringa, Tue 14 Apr 2009, 14:22, 10 replies, latest was 17 years ago)

it doesn't work like that in all cultures
does it?

an interesting point but unlikely.

what are your thoughts on what that surname might be?

Based on a quick poll of my memories, the surnames that I have encountered most frequently (other than my own at family gatherings) are Eaton, Charles and Miller
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 14 Apr 2009, 14:29, Reply)

Single mothers
who surname their kids after themselves?

97% of women get married? My thoughts on this - COMPLETE FABRICATION!

Edit: 'scuse me... I'm in a shitty mood today :(
( Noeli overtheshoulderboulderholderthingstraplatchboobs, Tue 14 Apr 2009, 14:34, Reply)

Maybe
given the number of indecisive twats hyphenating their children's names, in a thousand years time we'll all be known by a single dash.
(MrOli is ugly, but in the morning you will be sober, Tue 14 Apr 2009, 14:43, Reply)

97%
That was an old statistic I remembered from some time ago. In my rush to type it out I didn't check it. I've changed it now to something slightly more ambiguous.

I believe this would only work in predominatly christian cultures, where the changing of the surname is the norm. It's more the ramblings of me after taking my mercury though.
(Potty Jag har smör i min rumpspringa, Tue 14 Apr 2009, 14:46, Reply)

Immigration
provides a constant influx of new surnames. Emigration may remove some but they're likely to be duplicated elsewhere in Britain.

And the maternal surname is only taken out of circulation if the mother doesn't have a brother, who would reproduce under that name.
(Land of Green Ginger It's dreamy weather, Tue 14 Apr 2009, 15:07, Reply)

Nah
But '@' will become the new 'Mc' one day.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Tue 14 Apr 2009, 15:10, Reply)

Not sure about this

But, we will all end up a light brown colour as modern transport enables more and more interbreeding between races.

A bit like plastercine.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Tue 14 Apr 2009, 15:14, Reply)

hmmm well
I only just discovered that *my* maiden name (yes I was a bastard child) was Easdown - and then my Grand mother's name was Furlong. Said Grandmother lived in Lancashire . So now I have no idea if I have family there in the UK still or not and I don't have the foggiest clue on how to find out if anyone is still alive!

So yes - seeing as how I and my Mum and my Nanna have all lost our names due to marriage (My mum changed my last name when I was wee when she married my dad) I would tentatively agree that in *some* cases that would be true.
(Poppet some assembly required., Tue 14 Apr 2009, 15:23, Reply)

I for one
welcome our new plasticine overlords
(Land of Green Ginger It's dreamy weather, Tue 14 Apr 2009, 15:31, Reply)

I'm going to be pedantic
and say that changing of surnames to male's surname is not "Christian" but "Anglo-saxon" culture. Many other places and cultures in the world do not do this.

Highly religious Christian / Catholic examples where surnames are not taken include Italy and Spain. In Spain, at least, children are named with both surnames, hence everybody having two and kids not having the same surnames as their parents.

Exhibit A:
if my surname is Wilson-Jones
and my husband is Rodriguez-Martín

My child's surnames will be
Rodriguez-Jones, or Rodriguez-Wilson. Get it?

So no, it certainly won't happen everywhere...
(The Apeface Cherub is not a cunty-uber-cunt, Tue 14 Apr 2009, 17:43, Reply)