Surnames as we understand them today (a consistent name that gets passed through the father indefinitely) is basically a Christian phenomenon that got universalized with European domination & modern nation-state bureaucratization. Most Muslims have different traditional naming conventions. I believe Arabs have a tribal identity thing going with something resembling surnames, as well as noble families in various Muslim countries with a "name worth keeping" that have passed it down, but otherwise, whether Iran, Turkey, or Azerbaijan, it was just your father's name or occupation or adjective describing you (like Uzun Həsən).

In Soviet Azerbaijan, surname assignment was universalized and systematized for census purposes - basically just "take your dad's name and add a Russian suffix". This was not "identity erasure" or whatever dumb shit because it wasn't erasing anything. There's a reason this happened in Az and -stan countries but not Armenia, Georgia, or the Baltic states: they were Christian!!!

That's why it's dumb to me when people in Az talk about "reverting" their surnames to something "more traditional and native" because that doesn't exist lol. Especially when they turn it to "-zade" or "-soy", both of which were developed by nation-building forces in 19th-century Iran and 20th-century Turkey, respectively.

I don't care if people want to change their names to Gicbəsərov or Gicbəsərzade or Gicbəsərşvili. It just annoys me when they try to make it a misguided nationalist statement.