The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1877-05-15
WHAT'S IN A NAME9
-O---~
WHENCE THE PEOPLE DERIVE
THEIR PAIRONYMICS.

doW the increase Of population createc
| denland for surnames--The changes
| OF f1anguage--Strangem motamorphosol
and freaks Of fancy.
IM,pers' Bazaar.
There might be much amusement
in tracing tho origin of family
names. Long ago-say about Six
or sovon hundred years since--therc
were no family names at all. Such
at present is the oaso in Turkey,
where the old Eastern practice OF
using but single name continues
to be followed. Surnames wore not
introduced into England until aftor
the Conquest. The fashion of using
two names came to us from Franco
but for time was confined to fami-
lies of distinction, and extended
slowly over the country. Ono thing
is said to have promoted it's use.
Young ladies of aspiring tastos de-
clined to marry gentlemen who had
only Christian name, such as John
OF Thomas, for they would noccssari-
ly have still to bo called by their
own name, Mary, Elizabeth, or what
cvor it was. Spinsters accordingly
thought it to be n grand thing to
form IN alliance with person pos
scssing the distinction of family
name. by which they should ever
after be called.
Curiously enough, 50 difficult is it
to alter old usages, that until very
lately surnames were scarcely used
among the humber classes Of people
in some parts of Great Britain re-
mote from centres Of civilization.
In these places, creditor would
enter the name of his dobtor in his
books rs John, tho son of Thomas,
just as is seen in genoalogies in tho
Old Testament. Only now, from
improved communication with the
outer world, have practices of this
kind gone out of use. We can
easily understand how the names
ending in son, as johnson, Thom-
son, Afanso,, <abLroviatio,a Of Mag
nusson) originated; and it is
equally easy to conjecture how
names from professions, such rs
Smith, Miller or Cooper, came into
existence. It is equally obvious
that many family names are derived
from the nature of the complexion
of individuals, as Black, Brown and
White. At first sight, there is q
mystery as regards the different
ways III which certain names are
spelled. Smith is sometimes writ
ton Smyth and in some instances
Brown has an at the end of it.
Rcid is spelled Reade, Reed and
Redo. We SEQ Long, Lang and
Laing, all variations of one name !;
Strong, Strang and Strange Little
and Liddle; Home and Hume !;
Chambers and Chalmers and SO on
with host of surnames in daily
use. This is explained by the in-
different scholarship which prevailed
until even tho middle of the
eighteenth century. Names in old
legal documents and in the inscrip-
tions on the blank leaves of family
Bibles are written in all sorts of
ways. A man seldom wrote his
name twice in succession the same
way. Each member of q family fol-
lowed the spelling suggested by his
own fPncy, and added to or altered
letters in his name with perfect in
difference. Eccentricities of this
kind are still far from uncommon in
the signatures of imperfectly edu.
Gated persons. There is, in fact, a
constant growth of new names,
springing from ignorance and care
lessness, though also in some cases
from q sense of refinement.
Perhaps there is still moro
vigorous growth of names from
foundlings. Driven to their wits
end to invent names for the anony-
nous infants thrown on their
bounty, parish authorities are apt
to cut tho matter short by con-
ferring names that are suggested by
the localities where the poor chill
dren were picked up. A child
found at door will be callod Door,
and 50 on with Street, Place, Steps,
Basket, Turnstile, or anything elso.
II,,o ,J,oI1o ,f I,>I1 ,,,,,,n,, 900 ,os,1 l. -