Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-01-31
Mems Names.
Now YORK r,Ines

The study of mons names - rs cnfl-
GUS as it is interesting. Arbitrary Ms
they seem to-day, they all had their
source evidently in some fitting fact.
Many English surnames express the
county, estate or residence of their
original bearers, NJ, Burgoyne, from
Burgundy; Cornell or CORVALLIS, from
Bornwall; Fleming, from Flanders;
Gaskin and Gascoync, from Cascony;
lIanwny, from Hainault; Pollock, from
Poland; Welsh, Walsh, ard Wallace,
from Wales; Goombs, Compton, Clay
ton, Sutton, Preston, Washington, from
towns in the county of Sussex, England.
Camden, the antiquary, says every
village III Normandy has surnamod
some English family. Dale, Forest, Hill,
Wood, and the like, are derived from
the character Of the situation 81 those
who first bore the names. The prefex
attic or 1t, soitencd to II or an, has
helped to form number OF names.
Thus, if II man lived on IL moor he
would call himself Afternoon or Atmoor;
if near gato,' Attcgate. or Agate.
John Attic the Oaks was in due time
shortened into John Noaks; Peter
mt the Seven Oaks into Peter Snooks.
BY field, by ford, Undcrhill and
Underwood indicated residence origin
ally. Ia old English applegarth meant
orchard; whence Apologize and Apple
ton; chase, forest; olive, n cliff; clough,
n ravine; cobb, II harbor; whence these
names. The root of the ubiquitous
Smith is the Anglo-SaXon smltan, to
smite. 1t was applied primarily to
blacksmiths, wheelrights, carpenters,
masons, and smiters, or to strikers III
general. Baker, Taylor, Butler, Cole
man, Goodman, Draper, Cowper, (coop-
cr,) Cutler, Miller, and the rest plainly
denote occupations. Latimer is from
htmer, II writer of Latin; Lorimer is II
maker of spurs and bridle-bits; Ark
wright, II maker of chests; Lander, con-
tracted from lavandier, u washerwoman;
Banister, the keeper of u BATH kidder,
u huckster; Wait, II minstrel; Crookor,
II potter. Such names ms Baxter and
Bugster ARE the feminine Of baker,
Webster of wcbbor or weaver, which
shows that these trades were first fol-
lowed 10y women, and that when men
bNHui w UNIV tllChi wy bii1l ipi
some timo kept the feminine names
Steward, Stewart or Stuart, Abbot,
Knight, Lord, Bishop, Prier, Chamber
lAin. Faleoner, Leggett (legate,l either
signiied what the person so styled
were, or they were gwen them in jest
Or derision, like the names KING,
Prince, and Pope The termination
tNrd indicates n keeper, rs Durward,
doorkeeper; HOWARD keeper of the
town cattle; Woodward forest keeper,
Road, Reed or Reid is an old form of
spelling red, and were bestowed, ms,
White, Brown, and Black were to de-
note the color worn or the complexion
had. Hogarth, from the Dutch, means
generous, highnatured; Rush il subtle;
Bovine, ready; Bonner, kind, gracious,
Eldrdge, wild, CHASTITY. Many Welsh
names, naturalized i'll English, are
from personal traits, rs More, great;
Dun, black; Vaughan, little; Lame,
slender; Mole, bald; Cough, red. Sur
names, now apparently meaningless, had
meaning in old English and provincial
dialects. Brock, for instance, signifies
badger; Talbot, mastiil; Todd, fox;
Culver, pigeon; Hcnshaw, young heron;
Coke, cook