When did last names become a thing?

by teknight_xtrm

I know the Romans had last names, and a bureaucracy to take those into account. But did other (later) cultures start using last names? When did John the Blacksmith become John Smith? How did that come about?

Thanks in advance.

lord_mayor_of_reddit

This question gets asked on this sub with some frequency. You may be interested in this previous answer of mine. /u/knoperope also collected several other previous answers to this question in this sub, including an older answer of mine. That same thread has a link to this answer by /u/aldusmanutius, who addresses the question as it relates to Italy in the Middle Ages.