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ORIGIN OF ENGLISH SURNAMES.

§ 367. SURNAME, derived from the Latin supra nomen, through the French surnom, is a name superadded to the first or Christian name, to indicate the Family to which the individual bearing it belongs; as, George Washington, John Milton.

In the early ages of the world a simple name was sufficient for each individual; as, Adam, Moses. The first approach to the modern system of nomenclature is the addition of the name of one's sire to his own name; as, Caleb, the son of Nun; Icarus, the son of Dadalus. Another species of surname was some significant Epithet; as, Alfred the Great; Harold Harefoot, which betokened swiftness of foot. The Romans regularly had three names; as, Publius Cornelius Scipio. Publius, the prænomen, corresponded to our Christian name; as, John; Cornelius, the nomen, was the generic name or term of clanship; Scipio, the cognomen, indicated the particular family to which one belonged.

Modern nations have adopted various methods of distinguishing families. The Highlanders of Scotland employed the sire name with Mac (son), and hence the MacDonalds and MacGregors, respectively the son of Donald and the son of Gregor.

The Irish had the practice of prefixing oy or o, signifying grandson; as, O'Hara, O'Neale. Many of the Irish use the word Mac as the Highlanders do.

The Old Normans prefixed to their names the word Fitz, a corruption of fils, derived from the Latin filius; as, FitzWilliam, the son of William.

The peasantry of Russia employ the termination -witz, and the Poles -sky, in the same sense; as, Peter Paulowitz Peter, the son of Paul; James Petrosky James, the son of Peter.

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In Wales, until a late period, no surnames were used beyond ap or son; as, Ap Howel, ap Richard, now corrupted into Powel, Prichard. It was not uncommon, a century back, to hear of such combinations as Evan ap Griffith, ap David, ap Jenkin, and so on to the seventh or eighth genera

tion.

To ridicule this species of nomenclature, some wag describes cheese as being

"Adam's own cousin-german by its birth:

Ap curds, ap milk, ap cow, ap grass, ap earth.”

The ancient Britons generally used one name only; but very rarely they added another; as, Uther Pendragon.

The Saxons had a peculiar kind of surname, the termination ing signifying offspring; as, Dearing, Browing, Whiting, meaning respectively dear, dark or tawny, white or fair offspring. More commonly this termination was added to the father's name; as, Ceolwald Cuthing-Ceolwald, the son of Cuth.

The Saxons bestowed honorable appellations on those who had signalized themselves by a gallant exploit. To kill a wolf was to destroy a dangerous enemy, and to confer a benefit on society. Hence several Saxon proper names end in ulph or wolf; as, Biddulph, the wolf-killer.

The fore-names of the Anglo-Saxons are characterized by a beautiful simplicity; as, Alfred, all peace; Bede, he that prayeth; Cuthbert, bright in knowledge; Edmund, truthmouth, or the speaker of truth; Edward, truth-keeper, a faithful man; Goddard, honored of God; Leofwin, win-love; Richard, richly honored. "William was a name not given anciently to children, but was a title of dignity imposed upon men from a regard to merit. When a German had killed a Roman, the golden helmet of the Roman was placed upon his head, and the soldier was honored with the title Gildhelm, or golden helmet. With the French the title was Guildhaume, and since Guillaume, Latin Gulielmus."-Verstegan. In the twelfth century it was considered a mark of disgrace to be without a surname. A distinguished lady is represented as saying, in respect to her suitor, who had but

one name,

"It were to me great shame,

To have a lord withouten his twa name."

The king, to satisfy the lady, gave him the name of Filz-
Roy.

The practice of bearing a double among the miners of Staffordshire.

set of names prevails

The best are used on

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important occasions, like their Sunday clothes, while, for every-day purposes, the nick names are used; as, Nosey, Soaker. An apothecary in the collieries, who, as a matter of decorum, put the real names of his patients on his books for ornament, put in the sobriquet for use; as, for instance, Thomas Williams vulgo dict. OLD PUFF.

LOCAL SURNAMES.

Under the general term LOCAL SURNAMES are included all such family names as were borrowed from places. These are divided into two classes: first, the specific, composing such as are derived from the proper names of places; as, York, Winchester; and, second, the generic, being all those taken from common names expressive of situation; as, Wood, Hill, Green.

NAMES FROM NORMANDY AND VICINITY.

From the GREAT ROLL OF Battel Abbey, which contains a list of the principal commanders and companions in arms of William the Conqueror, we are prepared to admit the statement of Camden, that there is not a single village in Normandy that has not surnamed some family in England. The French names introduced by the Conquest may generally be known by the prefixes DE, DU, DES, DE LA, ST.; and by the suffixes FONT, ERS, FANT, BEAU, AGE, MONT, ARD, AUX, BOIS, LY, EUX, ET, VAL, COURT, VAUX, LAY, FORT, OT, CHAMP, and VILLE, most of which are the component parts of the proper names of places. From Normandy: DE MORtimer, Devereux, ST. MAURE (SEYMOUR), TRACY, MONTfort, &c. From Bretagne: ST. AUBIN, LASCELLES, BLUET, &c. From other parts of France: BOLEYN, CHAWORTH, BEAUMONT, ВоHUN, GORGES, &c. Besides the names thus introduced at the Norman Conquest, other French names have been introduced in the eight centuries which have since intervened. Other names have also been introduced from other countries; as, DANE or DENIS, from Denmark; GAEL or GALE, from Scotland; WALES, WALLIS, or WALSH, from Wales; FRENCH, from France.

Surnames from COUNTIES in the British dominions; as,

KENT, ESSEX, DORSET, &c. From CITIES and Towns; as,
WINCHESTER, BEDFORD, BUCKINGHAM, CLAYTON.

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Such COMMON NAMES as Hurst Wood and Field, Den and Wick, and Cote, Croft, Worth, Wade, Cliff, Hood, Marsh, &c., have furnished surnames; or the terminations of surnames; as, BATHURST, HARTFIELD, COWDEN, HARWOOD. So BECK, a brook; BANK, BARNES, BARROW, a hilly place; BENT, a rush; Bois, a wood; BRIDGE=Briggs or Bridges; Bus, BOTTOM= low ground; CAMP, CAVE, CHASE=a forest; COBB =a harbor; FELL=barren, stony hills; GRAVE, GREENE, HEATH, HILL, MARCH a limit or frontier; MEAD, and many others, have furnished surnames. In some cases the termination ER or MAN is attached to them; as, TOWNERr, Weller, PITMAN, MILLMAN, HOUSEMAN.

SURNAMES DERIVED FROM OCCUPATION.

The name SMITH is a well-known example belonging to this class. The root of this word is the Saxon smitan, to smite, and was originally applied to artificers in wood as well as to those in metal, as wheel-wrights, carpenters, masons, and smiters in general. Hence the frequency of the name is easily accounted for. Besides the Smiths, we have the MASONS, the CARPENTERS, the BAKERS, the BUTCHERS, the GOLDSMITHS, the THATCHERS, the COOPERS, the GLOVERS, the SHERMANS Shearman, the JENNERS Joiners, the TUCKERS= Fullers, the BARKERS = Tanners, the SKINNERS, the ROPERS.

The termination ER generally denotes some employment, and is equivalent to the word man: HARPER is harp-man; SALTER is salt-man, and MILLER, mill-man. These terminations, er and man, are often used interchangeably; as, Carter and Cart-man. STER is the feminine termination. TAPSTER is the feminine of Tapper, BREWSTER of Brewer, WEBSTER of Webber (Weaver), SANGSTER of Sanger.

Many surnames are derived from FIELD SPORTS; as, HUNTER, FISHER, FOWLER, FALCONER, WARRENER; and some were derived from MILITARY PURSUITS; as, HOOKMAN, BILLMAN, SPEARMAN, BOWMAN.

SURNAMES DERIVED FROM OFFICE.

EMPEROR, KING, PRINCE, DUKE, EARL, BAron, Knight, SQUIRE, GENTLEMAN, YEOMAN; POPE, CARDINAL, BISHOP, PRIOR, DEAN, ARCHDEACON, PARSONS, VICAR, VICKERS, PRIEST, DEACON, CLERK, CLOCK, CHAPLAIN, FRIAR, MONK, NUN, PROCTOR, SEXTON. Besides these, the following also have lent their designations as the names of families: STEWART, STEWARD, CONSTABLE, MARSHAL, CHANCELLOR, CHAMBERLAIN, SHERIFF, SERGEANT, MAYOR, WARDEN, BURGESS, PORTER, CHAMPION, BEADLE, PAGE, REEVE, RANGER, BAILEY, BAILIFF, PARKER, FORESTER, FOSTER, a nourisher.

SURNAMES DERIVED FROM PERSONAL

QUALITIES.

OR MENTAL

From this obvious source were derived such names as BLACK OF BLACKMAN, BROWN, WHITE, RUFUS, RUSSELL (red), PINK, REDMAN, TAWNY, WHITESIDES, HOARE, GRAY, WHITEHEAD, LONG, SHORT, LONGFELLOW, SMALL, STRONG, SWIFT, SPEED, LIGHTFOOT, HEAVYSIDE. Some are of Celtic origin; as, Rox (red), DUFF, DOVE, GRIMM (strong), GOUGH (red). Besides these there are the HARDYS, the CoWARDS, the MARKS, the MOODYS, the WILDS, the SOBERS, the BLYTHES, the GODMANS, the WISEMANS, the THANKFULS, the BLUNTS, the SWEETS, the TRUELOVES, the DOOLITTLES, the TOOGOODS.

SURNAMES DERIVED FROM CHRISTIAN NAMES.

From ADAM are derived Adams, Adamson, Addison, Addiscot. From ALEXANDER are derived Sanders, Sanderson, Allix, Alley. From DENNIS, Dennison, Jennison. From HENRY, Henrison, Harry, Harris, Harrison, Hal, Halket, Hawes, Halse, Hawkins, Herries. From JOHN, Johns, Jones, Johnson, Jonson, Jennings, Jenks, Jenkins, Jenkinson, Jack, Jackson, Hanson, Hankinson, Jockins. A great number of surnames are, in like manner, derived from Christian

names.

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