The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-10-11
ORIGIN OF NAMES.
How the smiths, Browns, Joneses ana
Robtnsons Came to Be So Called.

OHIGIN Of NAMGSs
| HOW the Smiths, Browns, Joneses and
Robinsons Came to Be So Called
There are In existence about Az, 700
| English surnames, but that allows only
one name to 500 persons. Of course
some names have less and some many
more. If | were to ask which two
have most, | think every one would
saw at once Jones and Smith. These
illustrate two of the most common
ways of acquisition, and are examples
each of class. Take Jones first, IL
Illustrating the first class-that OF rela-
tionship. We all know what COM
mon name John is and has been al
| ways. When the John of long ago
gave his son his own name people con-
fused the two. so John junior comes to
be called John Johns son, or John
Johns, with the son omitted. This
Johns son is soon run into one word,
johnson, the Johns changed to a
word rather easier to say, Jones. You
can find among the names of your
friends many ending in son that were
acquired in this way. There is Jack
son, Robertson, Dixon, Anderson,
| (Andrew's sony. Wilson. Tompson.
Richardson, Harrison, and many
others. Often the son is omitted, and
we find our Christian names used as
surnames, with the addition of an s,
originally possessive, as in the case of
Adams, Rogers. Williams, Walters,
Edwards, Harris, Phillips. Frequently
we find surnames which are Christian
names, as Thomas. James, Moses,
Henry, Arthur, David, Daniel, George,
Lewis. This relationship of father
and son was expressed also by the
prefxes Fitz, filius. son; Mac in
Scotland and Ireland, and APP in Wales.
The Irish o. denotes grandson.
| Now for the name of Smith, belong
ing to the second class. This word
comes from the AnglO-Saxon smitan,
to smite, and could be applied to any
one who dealt blows in lawful craft.
1t is seen in blacksmith, lOcksmith,
goldsmith, silversmith. The second
class, of which Smith is an example, is
class of names which are names of
occupations, Offices or professions. 1t
is as natural to say John the shepherd
as to say John Stevens son, and you
will probably find more surnames de-
rived in this than in any other way. l
can mention only a few: Hunter,
Fisher. Brewer, Farmer, Cooke, But
Ter, Baker, Mason, King, Page, Mar
shall, Bishop. Dean. In this class we
find the names which c;A'ry us back to
long-ago times, and bring before our
minds almost forgotten customs.
There is Archer. reminding us of the
manner of ancient warfare, and of a
tine when there was no gunpOwder or
dynamite, no guns, pistols, or cannon;
Clarke. from the word clerk, carrying
us back to Chaucer's stories, and re-
minding us that the word meant
originally a clergyman, afterwards a
scholar. Words ending in ster, be-
longing to this class. were originally
feminine, as Webster female weaver;
Baxter. a woman baker; Brewster, q
woman who brews.
The third class of which l wish to
speak includes those names which
were derived from the location. posi-
ton or natural features of the country,
or from the name of the country itself,
as in the names English, French, Scott,
German or German, Fleming. To this
class belong those names that end in
ford, ham, lea, field and ton, and when
we see such we naturally suppose that
their first possessor dwelt near such a
| ford or in such a field, ham, lea,
or town. Besides these. we find
in this class North, East. West,
Sterling Ga corruption of Easterling, "a
man from the East,) Hill, Field,
Brooke, Clay, Stone, Lake Woods.
Sands. John living near a marsh was
spoken of as John at the marsh, to dis
tinguish him from other Johns; then,
in course of time, as John Marsh.
Sometimes the proposition is retained
in such names, as Underhill, Atwood,
| Atwell, Nash (atten ash.)
| The next class includes those names
which are nicknames, or adjectives
indicating some moral quality or some
popularity of mind or body. 1t is
rather amusing to notice how compli-
mentary most of these are: Goode,
Christian, Bright. Wise. Strong, Manly,
Fleet, Goodman, Truhart, Young, Old,
Armstrong. Among those describing
personal appearance are the colors
White. Black, Gray, Green, Red,
Brown, derived from the color of eyes,
hair, beard or complexion; Little,
Long, Longfellow, Small, Stout, White
head.
The fifth and last class 1 wish to
mention includes the names of many
animals. Did you ever think it strange
that men should have such names as
Lamb. Lyon, Hart, Drake, Jay, Fox,
Martin, Wren, Roe? These were taken
from signs, and not these only. but
such as Bell, Locke. Key, Ball, Moon.
Starr. In olden times not onl v shops
and taverns, but private residences.
had signs. not such signs as those we
see plainly painted over shop doors,
but representations of beasts and birds,
and figures painted in the brightest
colors.-Harper's Young People.
The Shah's Experiment.