tion>Ernest Weekley
The Romance of Names
Published by Good Press, 2019
EAN 4057664612496
Table of Contents
CHAPTER I OF SURNAMES IN GENERAL
CHAPTER III SPELLING AND SOUND
CHAPTER IV BROWN, JONES, AND ROBINSON
CHAPTER V THE ABSORPTION OF FOREIGN NAMES
CHAPTER VI TOM, DICK AND HARRY
CHAPTER VII GODERIC AND GODIVA
CHAPTER VIII PALADINS AND HEROES
CHAPTER XIII THE HAUNTS OF MAN
CHAPTER XV OF OCCUPATIVE NAMES
CHAPTER XVI A SPECIMEN PROBLEM : RUTTER
CHAPTER XVII THE CANTERBURY PILGRIMS
CHAPTER XIX HODGE AND HIS FRIENDS
CHAPTER XXII ADJECTIVAL NICKNAMES
CHAPTER XXIII BIRDS, BEASTS, AND FISHES
AN ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF MODERN ENGLISH
THE HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE MOTHER TONGUE
MURRAY'S ENGLISH LITERATURE SERIES
Popular Editions of Mr. Murray's Standard Works
CHAPTER I OF SURNAMES IN GENERAL
"The French and we termed them Surnames, not because they are the names of the Sire, or the father, but because they are super-added to Christian names."
(CAMDEN, Remains concerning Britain.)
The study of the origin of family names is at the same time quite simple and very difficult. Its simplicity consists in the fact that surnames can only come into existence in certain well-understood ways. Its difficulty is due to the extraordinary perversions which names undergo in common speech, to the orthographic uncertainty of our ancestors, to the frequent coalescence of two or more names of quite different Origin, and to the multitudinous forms which one single name can assume, such forms being due to local pronunciation, accidents of spelling, date of adoption, and many minor causes. It must always remembered that the majority of our surnames from the various dialects of Middle English, i.e. of a language very different from our own in spelling and sound, full of words that are now obsolete, and of others which have completely changed their form and meaning.
If we take any medieval roll of names, we see almost at a glance that four such individuals as—
John filius Simon William de la Moor Richard le Spicer Robert le Long
exhaust the possibilities of English name-making—i.e. that every surname must be (i) personal, from a sire or ancestor, (ii) local, from place of residence, [Footnote: This is by far the largest class, counting by names, not individuals, and many names for which I give another explanation have also a local origin. Thus, when I say that Ely is Old Fr. Élie, i.e. Elias, I assume that the reader will know without being told that it has an alternative explanation from Ely in Cambridgeshire.] (iii) occupative, from trade or office, (iv) a nickname, from bodily attributes, character, etc.
This can easily be illustrated from any list of names taken at random. The Rugby team chosen to represent the East Midlands against Kent (January 22, 1913) consisted of the following fifteen names: Hancock; Mobbs, Poulton, Hudson, Cook; Watson, Earl; Bull, Muddiman, Collins, Tebbitt, Lacey, Hall, Osborne, Manton. Some of these are simple, but others require a little knowledge for their explanation.
PERSONAL
