Morris tribune., 1899-03-25
ORIGIN OF SURNAMES
.PREFIxEs or. VARIOUS KINDS. AND
WHAT: THEY. MEAN.

Some of the Local, Designations of
Ancient Times From Which Have
Descended the PERSONAL. KOmencla-
ture of the Present Day.
In nearly every country where per-
sonal nomenclature has assumed sure
and settled basis-that is, where a SEQ
ond or surname has become a heredi-
tary possession in the,famiIy--we shall
find that that portion of it which is Of
local origin bears by far the largest pro
portion to the whole. Prefixes of vari.
Gus kinds were at first freely used to
declare more particularly whence the
nominee was sprung. Thus if he were
come from some town or city he would
be William of York or John of Bolton,
Familiarity pronounced William York
or John a Bolton. This, of course, iE
met in France by de, as it was also or
English soil during early Norman times.
If, on the other hand, the situation
only Of the abode gave the personality
of the nominee, the connecting link was
varied according to the humor or Ca :
price of the speaker or relative aspect
of the site itself. Thus we find such
entries as John Above-breok or Adelina
Above-to town or Thomas Behind water,
or John Beneath hetown. The word
Lane is found attached to the personal
name in the following ways: Cecilia in
the Lane, Emma la Lane, John de la
Lane, John de Lane, Marietta en- lie
Lane, Philippa ate Lane and Thomas
super Lane. -
Of the definite terms used some are
purely Norman, some purely Latin, a
few an admixture of the two, and the
rest are Saxon, atte being the chief one.
This atte was cat the," answering to
the Norman de la, del or du, and was
Familiarity contracted by our forefathers
into the other forms Of ate and att, or,
for the sake of euphony, when a vowel
preceded the name proper, extended to
"atten.'' This attic or att was occasion,
ally incorporated with the sobriquet Of
locality and thus became a recognized
part of the surname itself. Thus such a
name as John ate Wood, or Gilbert
ate Wood, has bequeathed us not mere.
~ the familiar Wood, but Atwood and
Atwood also. In a like manner attic.
Ridge has become Attridge atte-Field,
Atfield, while such other designations
as atte-Town, atte-Hill, atte- Worth,
atte-T Tree and atte-Cliffe are nowadays
Alton, Athill, Atworth, Attree and At
cliffe.
Such name as De la Dene or Atte
Den, of frequent occurrence formerly,
and as Dean or Den, equally familiar
now, is worthy of PARTICULARLY. A den
was sunken and wooded vale, where
cattle might find alike covert and pas
ture. We have reme1n brance of the
brock in Brockton, the wolf in Wolfen
den, the fox in Fozden, the ram in
Ramsden, the hare in Harden and the
deer in Dearden, Buckden or Bugden,
haydn and Roden, or RoWden. The
more domesticated animals abide with
us in Horsden. Oxenden, Cowden, Bor;5
den and Sugden, or Sowden, Swinden,
Eversden and Ogden, at first written de
Eogedene.
The lee afforded sheaer to all manner
of domestic live stock and some few OF
the wilder quarry. The equine species
has given US Hershey, the bovine Cow
ley, Knlee' and Oxlee Or Oxley; the
deer, Hartley, Rowley, Buckley and
Hindley; the hare, Harley, and the
sheep, Shipley. Characteristic of the
trees which inclesed it we get Ashley,
ElmsIey, Oakley, Lindley or Berkeley.
Our Hargreayes hail from the grove
where the hares are plentiful, and our
Congreaves represent the same. in the
coney. Our Cloug4ls represent the mar
row assures between the hills. To the
same root we owe our Olives, Cliffes,
Cleves and Gloves; besides endless Cliff
fords, Clevelands, Tqrniclihes, SUIT
cliffes, Ratcliffs, Faircloughs, etc. r..
Another branch of local surnames
throws light upon the migratory hab-
it's and rowing tendencies of our forefa- |
theirs. Thus such a name as Peter lie
Newe or Gilbert re Newcomer or Wal
ter lie Newenan declares to us at once
it's origin. Then there ~ no village or
hamlet in England which has not sub
gcribed in this manner to our nomen-
clature, as Ralph de Debenham or Miles
de Ashford. A passing from one part of
the British empire to another has been
a prolific source of names. Thus we
find Henry de Ir]aund, Adam de Lrland,
Roger lie Escot and Maurice lie Scot.
Other countries also furnished many |
names. The Arters, once registered de |
Artoys, came from Artois, the Gaskins |
and Gascoignes, from Gascony, while
to Champagne we are indebted for the
Champneys. To Lombardy and the
Jews we owe the Lombards, Loumhards |
and Lubbards. From lie Aleman or de
AImania or le Alemaund have sprung
cur Alemans. Almaines and Allmans
and through the French probably our
Dalmans and Dolmans.
A class of surnalnes which occupies
no mean place is that bequeathed by the +
and officers of medieval
times T'h0sn include king DrieSt ahbot /