The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1877-08-08

There might be much amusement in
tracing the origin of family names.
Long ago-say about six or seven hun
/ dred years since-there were no family
names at all. People had christian
names and nothing more, and, of course,
there was often considerable difficulty in
distinguishing individuals. Such az
present is the case ia Turkey, where the
Old Eastern practice Of using but a sin
gle name continues to be followed. Sur
names were not introduced into England
until after the Conquest. The fashion
OF using two names came to US from
France, but for time was confined to
families Of distinction, and extended
slowly over the country One thing Is
said to have promoted it use. Young
ladies Of aspiring tastes declined to mar
~ gentlemen who had only a Christian
name, such as John or Thomas, for they
would necessarily have still to be called
by their own name, Mary, Elizabeth, or
whatever it was. Spinsters accordingly
thought it to be grand thing to form
an alliance with a person possessing the
distinction Of a family name, by which
they should ever after be called.
Curiously enough, so 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 remote from centers of
civilization. In these places a creditor
would enter the name of his debtor in
his books as John the son of Thomas,
just as you see genealogies in the 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
name ending i'll son. as johnson, Thorn
son, Manson (abbreviation of Magnussen),
originated; and it is equally easy to con
lecture how names from professions, such
as Smith, Miller or Cooper, came into
existence. 1t 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 mystery as re-
CARDS the different ways in which certain
names are spelled. Smith is sometimes
written Smyth and in some instances
Brown has at the end of it, We see
the name Reid spelled as Reade, Reed
and Rede. We see Long, and Langand
Laing, all variations of one name. The
same thing can be said Of Strong, Strang.
and Strange; of Little & LiddIe; of Home
and Hume; of Chambers and Chalmers,
and so on with host of surnames in dali
ly use. The mystery which hangs over
various spellings is cleared up on a con-
sideration of the Indifferent scholarship
which prevailed until even the middle of
the eighteenth century. Names in the
old legal documents and in the inscrip-
tons on the blank leaves of family BIZ
bles, are written in all sorts of ways A
man seldom writes his name twice in sue
cession the same way. Each member of
a family followed the spelling suggested
by his own fancy, and added to or alter
ed letters in his name with perfect in
difference. Eccentricities of this kind
are still far from uncommon in the sigma
lures of imperfectly educated persons.
There is, in fact, a constant growth of
new names, springing from carelessness,
though also, In some cases, from a sense
of refinement.