pain you might say something like ‘bodily discomfort.’ But if the word is French rather than English, then its meaning is ‘bread.’ The situation is further complicated in the case of surname, since we need to ask, what did this word mean, in such and such a language, in the Middle Ages. As it happens, pain in Middle English often meant ‘judicial punishment,’ a meaning which has become obsolete other than in one or two fossilized phrases. For a good example of how the original language of a surname can affect its meaning, see the entry at Belcher.
The fact that surnames began life in different languages helped to confuse still further the spelling situation. If an English-speaking clerk was trying to write down something he was hearing from a speaker of Welsh, for instance, he would be completely baffled by Welsh sounds that do not exist in English. French-speaking clerks had equal difficulty with English names; Scottish and Irish Gaelic created difficulties for those who did not speak those languages. One recalls the stories of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island and being given ‘American’ names by officials who could not understand what was said to them. When asked by other officials what his new name was, one man is said to have replied: Ich hab vergessen, ‘I’ve forgotten.’ He was registered as Ichabod Fergusson. Another version of this story turns Schön vergessen ‘already forgotten’ into Sean Fergusson.
TRACING THE ORIGIN OF A SURNAME
Given these various complications, how then do we go about tracing the original meaning of a surname. A first step is to consult dictionaries such as this. No single dictionary is able to deal with the huge number of names that exist, and one should always consult as many as possible. The list that follows mentions reference works that have acted as sources for the present dictionary work and give an idea of what exists in print.
A Dictionary of Surnames, Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges, Oxford University Press, 1988. This is especially strong on the main European as well as British names. Jewish names are also very well covered thanks to an important contribution from David L. Gold.
The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames, Basil Cottle, Penguin Books, 1967 and later editions. Written in a very condensed style and often assuming that the ordinary reader has the same specialist knowledge as the author. Quirky remarks on many names, and well worth reading.
A Dictionary of British Surnames, P.H.Reaney, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1958 and later editions. Still available in many reference libraries, and acknowledged as a work of major importance in the field.
The Origin of English Surnames, P.H.Reaney, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967. A scholarly discursive work, essential to serious students of the subject.
A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, Charles Wareing Bardsley, reprinted from the original 1901 edition by Genealogical Publishing Co, Inc., 1967. The author spent a lifetime studying the subject and did much pioneering work.
English Surnames, their Sources and Significations, Charles Wareing Bardsley, reprinted from the 1873 edition by David and Charles, 1969. Still highly readable.
Romance of the London Directory, Charles Wareing Bardsley, Hand and Heart Publishing, reprinted by Gryphon, 1971. Entertaining.
A History of Surnames of the British Isles, C. L’Estrange Ewen, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1931. An undervalued discursive work, with much to offer.
Homes of Family Names in Great Britain, Henry Brougham Guppy, Harrison & Sons, 1890. Uniquely concerned with the distribution of surnames by county. R.A.McKinley has shown, however, that the names in Norfolk in the 16th century were not necessarily those which still predominated in the 19th century. In other words, Guppy’s counts - treated with reverence by eg Basil Cottle - must be treated with some caution. See also Appendix 2 of this book.
English Ancestral Names, J.R.Dolan, Clarkson N. Potter, 1972. This work focuses on ‘the evolution of the surname from medieval occupations,’ an excellent idea in itself, but a great many names which have other possible explanations have been included.
Family Names J. N. Hook, MacMillan, 1982. Especially concerned with European names in the USA.
New Dictionary of American Family Names, Elsdon C.Smith, Harper and Row, 1956, 1973. This is a collation from the author’s vast personal collection of works on the subject. It suffers from accepting rather too easily the explanations of others, but can be very useful as a starting point.
American Surnames, Elsdon C.Smith, Chilton Book Company, 1969. A discursive work.
Surnames, Ernest Weekley, John Albemarle, 1916. A scholarly discursive work, written in a very condensed style. Any serious student of the subject will need to consult it.
Words and Names, Ernest Weekley, John Murray, 1932.
The Romance of Names, Ernest Weekley, John Murray, 1914.
English Surnames, C. M. Matthews, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1966. A discursive work in non technical language.
How You Got Your Name, James Pennethorne Hughes, J. M. Dent 1959. A paperback introduction to the subject.
Is Thy Name Wart? James Pennethorne Hughes, J. M. Dent 1965. A paperback dealing with some ‘odd’ surnames.
An Essay on Family Nomenclature, Mark Antony Lower, John Russell Smith, 1875. Entertaining.
Patronymica Britannica, Mark Antony Lower, John Russell Smith, 1860. A dictionary, still interesting though later scholarship disproved many of the explanations.
British Family Names, Henry Barber, Eliot Stock, 1902. Useful lists of Old Norse and Norman names.
Family Names and their Story, S. Baring-Gold, Seeley & Co, 1910. Discursive.
The Surnames of Scotland, George F. Black, The New York Public Library, 1946. A standard work.
Scottish Surnames, David Dorward, HarperCollins, 1995. An updated work.
Welsh Surnames, T.J. Morgan and Prys Morgan, University of Wales Press, 1985. ‘The primary aim of this work is not to explain the “meanings” of Welsh names,’ says the Preface. A highly technical work, not easy to read.
The Surnames of Ireland, Edward MacLysaght, Irish University Press, 1969. Fairly technical, a great many names left unexplained.
Irish Family Names, Patrick Kelly, republished by Gale Research, 1976.
A Handbook of Cornish Surnames, G.Pawley White, published by the author, 1972. A useful booklet.
Norfolk Surnames in the 16th Century, R.A.McKinley, Leicester University Press, 1969. Of specialist interest.
English Surnames Series, Yorkshire West Riding, George Redmonds, Phillimore, 1973.
Suffolk Surnames, N.I. Bowditch, Trübner & Co, 2nd edition 1861. An immensely long list of surnames from Boston and its vicinity, without explanations but often useful to check whether a surname has survived.
The Personal Names of the Isle of Man, J.J.Kneen, Oxford University Press, 1937. A scholarly dictionary.
South African Surnames,
