where surnames come from (from bill bryson’s “mother tongue”) alan d. desantis
TRANSCRIPT
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Where Surnames Come From
(From Bill Bryson’s “Mother Tongue”)
Alan D. DeSantis
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No Last Name Needed
• For most of history, there was no need for surnames/last names
• Two “Peters” living in the same town would be given second names to distinguish them
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Bureaucracy Changes Everything!
• Two events in England led to the creation and use of last names:– 1)– 2)
• These two pieces of medieval bureaucracy meant
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Four Sources
• British surnames (family names) have four main sources: –1)
–2)
–3)
–4)
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I. Many were identified by their occupations
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I. Occupations• Name Meaning• Archer • Barber• Brewer• Bowman• Bishop • Butcher • Baker• Carpenter • Fletcher • Clark
• Wright –
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I. Occupations• Name Meaning• Hall• Forrester• Fuller • Miller • Shepherd • Smith • Taylor• Turner• King
• Bush-
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What about Church names?
• Keeping in mind that Catholic priests took pledges of celibacy, how did names like Bishop, Monk, Priest, Pope, or Prior survive?
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The Same Throughout Europe
• Tracing non-English names is not so easy, but with a little translation, they too make sense.
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II. Others were named for where they lived or a
geographical landmark identified with them
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II. Places• Name Meaning• Devon
• Allen
• Atwater
• French
• Lincoln
• Kent
• Preston
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II. Places
• Name Meaning• Scott • Underwood• Moore• Wood• Ash or Oak• Walsh • Street or Lane
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Why not more Londons?(or Farmers)
• If everyone from London was known as “London,” surnames would be useless
• Consequently, only people who left London were named for the city – “Peter from London” or Peter London
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III. Some were named after a distinguishing characteristic
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Nicknames• Name Meaning• Armstrong • Boyd• Campbell • Goldwater • Cox• Brown• Kennedy • Morgan • Russell • Whistler • Whitehead
• Tolstoy• Machiavelli• Cicero
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IV. Finally, many were identified by their family
relationships
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Relations
• Name Meaning• Johnson • Robinson • MacDonald • O'Connor • Thompson• Young• Johansson • Jackson• Brothers
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First Names as Last Names
• If you have a first name as a last name, the “son” has probably been dropped.
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V. Difficulties in identifying some last names and their origins
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A. What About Tracing African American Names?
• Question:– How do African Americans trace their African names?
• Answer:– They can’t! – African slaves were stripped of their surnames
• Last names come from 4 different sources:1)
2)
3)
4)
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B. What About Non-English Names?
• All of our accentors were immigrants– Except full-blooded native Americans, of course
• Many (non-English) immigrants’ names were changed & simplified at their Port of Entries– Pfoersching to Pershing– Wistinghausen to Westinghouse– Pappadimitracoupolos to Pappas– Niewhuis to Newhouse– Kuiper to Cooper– Krankheit to Cronkite
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C. Creative Spelling of Names• Until the late 1600s, there were no codified rules for
spelling• Spelling was individualized, idiosyncratic, and creative
• Consequently, “Hill” was spelled “Hull,” “Hall,” & “Holl” depending on one’s dialect and pronunciation