‎‎I want to know your opinion, how do these surnames sound to you? Which are the best-sounding, unique and which are the worst-sounding or weird or funny.

Here's the list:

Alston
Bellamy
Rochelle
Bryat
Carter
Nash
Sawyer
Sanchez
Einar
Kami
Enger
Bailey
Aife
Aloise
Amell
Alanza
Cillian
Ethan
Malou

I'm planning to change my last name (not first name) and am in the selection phase for now. It should be consonant with my name as well (Alex).

Question

‎‎I want to know your opinion, how do these surnames sound to you? Which are the best-sounding, unique and which are the worst-sounding or weird or funny.

Here's the list:

Alston
Bellamy
Rochelle
Bryat
Carter
Nash
Sawyer
Sanchez
Einar
Kami
Enger
Bailey
Aife
Aloise
Amell
Alanza
Cillian
Ethan
Malou

I'm planning to change my last name (not first name) and am in the selection phase for now. It should be consonant with my name as well (Alex).

Savant99 · Accepted Answer

Don't worry too much about how they verbally *sound* to English speakers. The impression it will make is the same whether people hear it or read it.  I'll give you my thoughts...

First off, the name 'Alex' is considered to be a unisex or gender-neutral name.  However, it is a name that is becoming more used by females with each passing year.  As such, it would be wise to avoid a surname that sounds 'feminine', so that people don't make assumptions about your gender.  As for the surnames, here are the thoughts that went through my mind when I read each name:

Alston: solid male name, with British/Scottish origins, easy to pronounce
Bellamy: Brings to mind the author Edward Bellamy, who some consider controversial. 
Rochelle: A common female first name, may lead to confusion as a last name
Bryat: people may mistake the name as Bryant, since Kobe Bryant is a famous name. 
Carter: Generic. 'Jimmy Carter' was a famous Democratic party American president.
Nash: Generic last name that would be common in the United States and Australia. Easy to pronounce.
Sawyer: Makes me think of the book character "Tom Sawyer" from a book written by Mark Twain, who many accuse of being racist.
Sanchez: A popular Spanish name, which could lead people to mistakenly think you are Spanish. 
Einar: Foreign-sounding name, may be hard to pronounce for those who don't know it.
Kami: A common Japanese girl name. Unwise choice for a male.
Enger: Sounds northern-European, but people may not know how to pronounce it. (some may say eng-er, others may say en-ger)
Bailey: A popular girls name, but also the last name of a comic character (Beetle Bailey) who was always goofing off.
Aife: A girl's name, and famous woman from Irish mythology.
Aloise: A girls name, sounds feminine, and the name of a movie about woman who goes insane and is put in an institution.
Amell: A male name, but with Arabic/Muslim connections, and may cause people to think you are Muslim.
Alanza: A girls name, it is the Spanish feminine form of Alonzo.  Same issues as with 'Sanchez" above.
Cillian: Most in English would pronounce this as silly-ann, which could lead to jokes.
Ethan: A common male first name, so some may think it is your middle name, and not your last name.
Malou: A common first name for girls (French), the name of a popular female musician, and the name of a movie about a woman.

If you asked me to give you my top four, I would say, Alston, Nash, Carter, and Ethan. They all sound 'generic' and are easy to pronounce in English.

Savant99 · Answer

My suggestion? If you have not done so, take your first name, and add it to each last name on the list.  Then do a google search for the term using quotes.  Example, "Alex Alston"

I'll give you a hand... (don't click, you will need to copy/paste)
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Alston"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Bellamy"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Rochelle"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Bryat"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Nash"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Sawyer"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Sanchez"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Einar"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Kami"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Enger"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Bailey"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Aife"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Aloise"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Amell"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Alanza"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Cillian"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Ethan"
https://www.google.com/search?q="Alex+Malou"

When you search, look at the people.  Are there any criminals in the list?  Or is it a name that is overly popular?  Perhaps it is a name used more by women?  Or by people from a different race?

I suggest you look for names that aren't common, so that there is less chance people will confuse you with someone else.  Also, an uncommon name is easier to use if you want to get a domain name using your name.

Anyway, check out all the names and shorten your list. That should make it easier. 🙂

Savant99 · Answer

@AlexElj In American English, it would sound more like all-stin. With British English, it would sound more like ole-stin.

Savant99 · Answer

Let's be clear, surnames are not male or female, but the *name* of the surname can sound male or female.  For example, let's look at the male first name James, and the female first name Daisy.  If we use them as last names, it becomes...

Mr. James
Mr. Daisy

See what I mean?  Do you want to be Mr. Daisy?

As for the others, here are my impressions...

Aarons = this is a well-known Hebrew/Jewish surname, and could lead people to believe you are Jewish.
Vero = this is usually a girl's first name (twice as many girls have this as a first name than boys do) it is also a name with Italian origins/sounds Italian.
Channing = For Americans, this name will remind them of a couple popular actresses, Carol Channing (deceased in 2019) and Stockard Channing (from the movie Grease)
Aetos = used as a first name for boys, and has Greek origins/sounds Greek.
Andino = used as a first name for boys, and has Italian origins/sounds Italian.
Lozano = not used as a first name very much, but it sounds Spanish, and is used as a surname by many in Spain/Mexico

Perhaps this will help...
https://www.thoughtco.com/most-common-us-surnames-1422656

This will show you the top 100 most common American surnames, and includes the origin.  You'll notice there are a lot of Spanish names on the list, and I suggest you avoid those names unless you have a Spanish background. (To avoid people thinking you are Spanish when you are not.)

If you want to dig deeper, here is a list of the top 5000 most common American last names.
https://namecensus.com/last-names/

This list is handy since it has a column that has "White %" to show you what percentage of people who are white that have that last name.  If you are white, avoid last names that are below 50% white to avoid confusion. The list also shows which names are used more by those who are Black, Hispanic, or API (Asian/Pacific Islands). AIAN are for American Indian/Native names.

It should help you narrow your choices. 🙂

Savant99 · Answer

@AlexElj There are two trains of thought on this.  Unique is nice if you want to stand out, but sometimes you want to blend in. However, it also depends on what you want to achieve with your name change.  If your hope is that people will see your name/picture and think you are 'just an average white person' then there is nothing wrong with using a name that is common.

However, the lists can also help you to see what names are popular from a standpoint of how long they are, and how many syllables they have. For example, many of the most popular English names (that don't have foreign origins) are between 4-7 letters long and have 1-2 syllables.  But you can go deep down the list of surnames to find names that are unique too.

Or, you can take a surname that is known, and tweak it. For example, let's use the last name Wallace, which is #123 on the big list.  If I change it to Walluce, it becomes a rare name.  A search for "Alex Walluce" only came up with *one* hit on Google. The last name Gibson is #130, but if you search for "Alex Gibsen" on Google you will only get 5 hits.  Instead of Goodman (#451), a search for "Alex Goodmen" comes back with only 21 hits. Instead of Goodwin(#454), a search for "Alex Goodwyn" comes up with only 11 Google hits. See what I mean? 🙂

I write books, and so when I need to name characters I want them to be unique so that no one complains about their name being in a book.  There are last name generators for writers, but there is no reason anyone can't use it for themselves. 
https://www.name-generator.org.uk/last/
https://generatorfun.com/unique-surname-generator

Perhaps this may help.

@AlexElj In American English, it would sound more like all-stin. With British English, it would sound more like ole-stin.

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