Dictionary
definition of Surnames
Surname definition -
Middle English, partial translation of Old French
'surnom' - sur + nomme. The word, surname, has been sometimes written sirname, as if it signified sire-name, or the name derived from one's father.
A name shared in common to identify the members of a family, as distinguished from each member's given,
or first, name. Also called family name, last name and cognomen.
(A cognomen not only means a surname but is also used to
describe the last of the three names of a person among the ancient Romans, denoting his house or
family). They were originally designated occupation, estate, place of residence, or some particular thing or event that related to the
person.
History of Surnames
Going
back in time, before the 10th century, takes us to an era where
people were usually only referred to by their first names. The
Romans, and their society, were the exceptions and this is
further explained by the above definition of a cognomen. The vast
majority of people did not travel a great deal and lived in
small communities where their first name distinguished them from
each other. First names were not duplicated within a village so
there was no confusion.
Increases in population, travel and different cultures
influenced this custom and second names
were slowly introduced. The oldest surname recorded anywhere in
Europe can be found in Irish historical records dating back to
the year 916. According to Friar Woulfe, an authority on
the Irish surname, the first recorded fixed surname is O'Clery (Ó
Cleirigh) detailing the death of Tigherneach Ua Cleirigh, lord of Aidhne in
County Galway.
The
introduction of Surnames An
illustration of why these names were introduced can be taken from
what happened in England. In the 13th century almost one third
of the men in England were called either John, Richard or
William. This obviously started to cause considerable confusion
when people started to move away from their own villages. To
ease the situation people were referred to as William the son of
Robert which lead to the surname of Robertson. Alternatively
William could also be distinguished by his occupation for
example William the baker leading to the surname of Baker or
Richard the Gardner leading to the surname of Gardiner.
Spellings
of surnames Our last names date back hundreds of
years. Many of
our ancestors would have been illiterate! How were names
recorded in the past? Many administrators spelled names
incorrectly - so many official documents have resulted in
different name spellings leading to minefield when researching
last names! This
can be illustrated by looking at a name that is known throughout
the World - William Shakespeare. The name Shakespeare was spelt in an astonishing variety of ways including Shakspere,
Shakespere, Shakkespere, Shaxpere, Shakstaff, Sakspere,
Shagspere, Shakeshafte and even Chacsper. The name of
William Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, occurs 166 times in the Council Book of the Stratford corporation, and appears to take 16 different
forms! Our thanks go to www.william-shakespeare.info
for this information. The confusion in relation to the
spellings, or mis-spellings account for many derivatives
of one particular name.
Meanings &
Origins
Meanings are derived from ideas conveyed by something, such as a word, action, gesture, or situation.
Whereas
origins of surnames are the point at which
they originate, their inception, source or root. For ease of
reference the information on this page is a combination of both meanings and origins of surnames.
These are derived from
several main categories:
Surname
meanings or origins that relate to a
place
Sur-names
that are adopted or transferred
Surname
meanings or origins that describe a profession,
trade or status
Surname
meanings or origins that are connected to Nationalities
Surname
meanings or origins that are descriptive
reflecting a physical or
characteristic attribute or have been derived from nicknames
Perfect
examples of descriptive English Surname origins
Most people are familiar with the legend of Robin Hood and the
names used in this story. Here's a reminder of some of them:
Robin
Hood
A
descriptive name from 'Robin in the hood'
Little
John
A
descriptive name describing a physical characteristic
Maid
Marion
A
descriptive name describing a characteristic i.e. Maid
Alan
a Dale
First
name combined with a place name
Friar
Tuck
Name
reflecting a status i.e. Friar
Much
the Miller's son
Family
name combined with a trade name
Will
Scarlet
A
descriptive name
Place
Surnames (Toponymic names - a name derived from a place or a
region)
The
most common surname
origins are derived from actual place names. This is
particularly relevant to English sur-names. People were given
surnames that indicated a specific place name such as
London, Ireland, England, Eaton, York or Washington.
Another
type of place surname described an actual residence,
location or workplace such as Hall, Smith, Heath, Bridges,
Brook, Castle or Woods
Nationality
of Surnames
Last names
are often derivatives of Nationalities such as English, Welsh,
Scott or French.
Trades,
Professions or status related English Surnames
Last names derived from Trades,
Crafts, Professions or Official
and other forms of status are legion
but many of their origins have been lost in time. Here are some
examples of common ones and their often forgotten origins:
Archer
A
professional Archer
Bailey
A
bailiff
Carter
A
cart maker
Carver
A
sculptor
Chaplin
A
chaplain
Chandler
A
candle maker
Cooper
A
barrel maker
Day
A
dairy worker
Fletcher
An
arrow maker
Frobisher
Polished
armour and swords
Gardner
A
gardener
Hooper
Fitted
hoops on barrels
Kellogg
A
killer of hogs
Leach
A
doctor
Machin
A
stone worker
Naylor
A
nail maker
Proctor
A
steward
Redman
A
thatcher (reed man)
Sawyer
A
wood sawer
Trinder
A
wheel maker
Ward
A
watchman
Descriptive
Surnames
Last Names
are often derived from physical or
characteristic attributes. The origins of many of these
descriptive names have also been lost over the years:
Armstrong
A
strong arm
Brown
A
brown haired man
Crippen
Curly
hair
Grant
A
tall man
Moore
Dark
complexion like a Moor
Russell
A
red haired man
Shakespeare
A
soldier, who carried, or shook, a spear
Turnbull
A
strong man
Surnames
with family connections!
The last name often comes from family connections such as Johnson (John's
son) Robertson and even Nixon (Nick's son). Similar names in
this category are those names beginning with Mc, Mac or Fitz
such as McDonald or Fitzpatrick. There were also the first names
such as William, Phillip, Edward, and Hugh which were changed to
create the surnames Williams, Phillips, Edwards, and Hughes. ( From,
for example, William's son or Edward's son). Adopting such names
was extremely important as they provided permanent proof of verifiable ties of
blood, family and kin. Therefore the history connected to a
powerful ancestor could be passed down the generations. Gaelic
ones beginning with Ó or Mac immediately identify
significant family ties and the heritage of a specific
nationality such as Irish or Scottish.
The
Invaders!
Surnames
were changed and foreign names were adopted when a country was
invaded or conquered. British history has been strongly influenced by such events. The Roman invasion, the
Danes and the Norwegians and Norman invasion being prime
examples and these events have all influenced British naming
traditions.
Add this to the differences in the meanings and origins of
English, Welsh, Irish and Scottish surnames explain the
complexity of the area and subject. These names, with vastly
different meanings and origins, have found their way to many
other countries in the World and in particular to America.
Adopted
/ Invented Surnames - Voluntary Immigrants
Many of
our ancestors left their homelands for the chance of better
opportunities in different countries. The USA welcomed many such
people. However officials were unable to understand the many
different languages and so surnames were registered in a phonetic
fashion by using the closet spellings that sounded similar to
the original name.
Transferred
Surnames
Many of
our ancestors, however, had no choice in their lives due to the
practice of buying and selling people into slavery. One of the
most famous books relating to the forced slavery of an African
in America was 'Roots' by Alex Haley. According to research
into genealogy compiled by Alex Haley his ancestor was a man
called Kunta Kinte who was an African from the Gambian town of
Jufferee. A vital element in the story of Kunta Kinte is that he
desperately wanted to keep his own name rather than take on the
adopted or transferred name of his owner.
Scottish
Surnames
Scottish
last names divide into two categories. Scottish ones from the
highlands and Scottish names from the lowlands of Scotland.
The Scottish Gaelic surnames from the highlands were heavily
influenced by the Clans. Highlanders gave their allegiance to
Clans and adopted the surname used by that clan. These names
included names like Mackintosh, Macgregor, Maclachlan, Macdonnell, Macdonald, Macduff,
Buchanan, Drummond, Munro, Campbell, Stewart, Cameron and Ross. Scottish
sur-names from the lowlands of Scotland tended to be influenced
by English names. Many Scottish names such as Stewart,
Cameron and Ross
are now commonly used as First or middle names.
Welsh
Surnames
Welsh Traditions -It has been estimated that about nine-tenths of the Welsh population answer to a total of just one hundred names.
Examples of Welsh these are Bennett, Beynon, Davis, Ellis, Evans,
Griffiths, Jones, Lewis, Llewelyn, Lloyd, Owen, Pritchard, Pugh,
Powell, Price, Meredith, Thomas, Trewent, Yorath and Williams.
Welsh naming traditions make use of patronymics as opposed to fixed
names.
Patronymics are of , relating to, or derived from the name of one's father or a paternal ancestor.
The Welsh patronymics system used the prefixes ab or ap (meaning son of)
such as ap Rhys (for son of Rhys) or ab Owen (for son of Owen).
This lead to many a Welsh surname beginning with the letters B
and P. The letter A was dropped from ap and ab. The name ap
Howell was thus shortened to Phowell and gradually this then
lead to the surname Powell.
Bowen
from 'ab Owen' son of Owen
Price
from 'ap Rhys' for son of Rhys
Pritchard from
'ap Richard' son of Richard
Irish
Surnames
The oldest surname recorded anywhere in
Europe can be found in Irish historical records dating back to
the year 916. According to Friar Woulfe, an authority on
the Irish surname, the first recorded fixed surname is O'Clery (Ó
Cleirigh) detailing the death of Tigherneach Ua Cleirigh, lord of Aidhne in
County Galway.
Patronymics are of , relating to, or derived from the name of one's father or a paternal
ancestor and this system of naming people played a part in the
meanings and origins of Irish surnames. The term 'Ua', as in the
above Irish surname Tigherneach Ua Cleirigh, was an early form
of "O" meaning grandson (Tigherneach was therefore the
grandson of Cleirigh). The prefix "Mac", meaning son of, was
also used, although these names were not
always hereditary and could change according to a given name. The oldest Irish
surname's were taken from occupations, tribal
names and from pre-Christian Gods. Unlike their English
counterparts, very
few Irish surnames were derived from locations. Irish names tended to reflect ancestors or important historical
figures.
The influence of the Christian church from the 10th century then
played a role in the origins and meanings of Irish surnames and
these have survived the test of time. Irish ones beginning
with 'Kil' or 'Gil' derive from the Irish word 'Giolla', meaning
follower or devotee. Irish surnames beginning with 'Mul' derive
from the Irish word Maol meaning bald (this referred to the
tonsure of monks)
Celtic
Surnames
Celtic is
the language of the Celts. The remains of the old Celtic language are found in the Gaelic, the Erse or Irish, the Manx, and the Welsh and its cognate dialects Cornish and Bas Breton.
Erse is a modification of Irish, OE. Irishe.] A name sometimes given to that dialect of the Celtic which is spoken in the Highlands of
Scotland called, by the Highlanders, Gaelic. Celtic surnames and
their derivatives are detailed under the sections Scottish, Welsh and Irish
surnames.
Gaelic
Surnames
Gaelic is
the language of the Gaels and refers to the Celtic Highlanders of Scotland.
Gaelic surnames and their derivatives are detailed under the
section Scottish surnames.
American
Surnames
They
are are complicated! The meanings and origins of British surnames
have been described and are certainly not without complications.
These British traditions were taken to America and became American
surnames. Now add to this the other name types that derive from
many other countries in the World and we have a vast amount of
possible derivations of American surnames! Many American types have retained the form that they had in other
countries. But the origins of many other American surnames were
changed so that English speakers would find them easier to
pronounce and spell. And, of course, Native American surname's
can also be added to increase the complexities of the American
surname. The American examples embody all the surnames of the world.
Tracing American surnames is a difficult task. Please refer to Genealogy
for helpful information regarding how to trace ancestors and
gain more information into tracing the meanings and origins of
the American Surname.
Surnames
"A Name isn't just for a
Birth Day -
it's for Life!"
