The People have family names that
they tend to translate back into common as nicknames, so that
there are families of Strongbows or Starglows in the world. Such
family names are important in that elven siblings can be hundreds
of years apart in age. Half-elves take elven or human naming
fashions, depending on where they were raised, and may change
back and forth several times in the human fashion.
* Source:
Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb. "Forgotten Realms: A Grand Tour of the Realms."
Lake Geneva, W.I.: TSR, 1993, 23.