Starting from the time of the Reformation, a common naming practice among the clergy was to use the Latinized form of their birthplace (e.g. Laurentius Petri Gothus, from Östergötland). Later merchants and other social groups discarded the formerly used family names (such as patronymic surnames). Instead they adopted high-sounding Latin surnames. Another subsequent practice was the use of the Greek language, with the ending of -"ander" (the Greek word for "man"). The use of surnames was still quite uncommon in the 17th century among the nobility and the educated class. Furthermore, the concept of hereditary surnames was also limited to a few families.