How to clarify that supervisor writing a reference is not related to me even though we have the same last name? By chance, I have the same last name as one of the supervisors of a project I worked on. If I ask him to write me a recommendation letter, will the admission committee misconstrue that we are related and how do I provide proof that we are not? By the way, I am Chinese, so there is perhaps more overlap in last names.
There is a very easy solution. Your supervisor can simply write something like


  To whom it may concern,
  
  It is a pleasure to write in recommendation of John Smith (no relation). John is...etc., etc.
  
  Sincerely,
  Professor Tom Smith