The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-11-16
SOME BRITISH sURNAMEs.
Gradual Development From the
Signs Used by Clans

Suruames are a comparatively modern
invention There is no trace Of the ex-
lstence Of such "A thing in England fur
Their back than the tenth century. they
were by no means general. even among
noble families. before the fourteenth cen
fury, and their hereditary transmission
did not become "A settled custom among
our middle and lower classes before the
period OF the Reformation. Our Saxon
forefathers used 20 distinguish the son
from the father by the suffix ing" Cut
WIGS son became Cuthwinning: Eoppa s.
son, Topping; or WarTa's son. Warning
The Normans frequently prenxed ritz
Ga corruption OF fills }. and this form is
stlll represented ia our FItzgeraIdS FlrZ-
georges and Fitzwilliams At later
date the pOpulace adopted the suHlN
SON ana the offspring Of John and
ILchard became known as Johnson and
richardson. Until comparatively recent
times the u elSh were content with their
ap This was originally SO carried on
iIcm generation 10 generatiOn-as Jeu-
kus-ap- trifiith-ap-Rehi an William
"p-keyS-ap- Eyan-that man name was
also his pedigree According 10 this sys-
ten of nomenclature, Wit described
Welsh cheese as
Adams own eousiu-GeIuau hy its birth;
Ap-Culcs-Jp-Nl lk-ap-I oN-ap t.r4ss-aI Earth.
Eut David-ap-H Howell and Johu-ap-Rlch-
ara nave long since been contracted into
David Powell and John PritChard Their
equivalent for The Saxon use Of son was
simply 10 put the paternaI name in the
Senluve- John s son David was called
David John s. William s son Richard
became Richard Williams and thus
arose the two most widely dinUsed of
Welsh SuTnamCs The IighIaud1rs 81
Scotland very commonly prohxed Mac.
ana 94 thelr knsf0lk, the irish. prefxed both
Mac and 20 to the Daterual name.
L4lhpukh- according 30 an old f0lk-rhyme
the latter nation apparently wished u
make an exclusive appropriation of both
theSe greuNes.
By Mac and o. you'll surely know
True irishmen, they say.
For n they lack both o. and Mac
No HlSamen "a. they
1T first these distinguishing names were
not hereditary but by the eleventh OF
twelfth century ID became exceedingly
dii5lrtt 60 mafbILafn persons ideutity
without some such help and acCOrdIug-y
the Or.gina! significant and strictly U.r-
s'Hdl SoprlQuet showed a tendency To- de
seend, along with mans other and more
Tangible property, 10 his p0SJerity-
Many gentle aud lauaa7 fsnI. les .fdoDrad
the names OF their own estates as sur
names and MANY uuSeutvImeu." as the
bohg or saint Adams calls them. took
the liberty Of borrowing tho same names.
Hence, as the old adaEe says
IN Ford. ID Ham. ia i-eg. m Ton.
The most " English ,UH5mes run.
or these, Ford is NOT obsolete. Ham
means town Ley. or Lea is "a pasture,
and Ton is an enclosed piece OF ground
with property IN land frequ-ntIv made
themselves name. or had ono bestowed
upon them by thlir usiRhho-~ I'm accord
ance with the situation Of their DWELLING
place Thus Th1m@S. living ON "a hill
would be called Thomas atts IFsTI % or
Richard. living uu moor. differentiated
as Richard att- Moore" The r4I.ffrz-
ana gentry were usually described az De
llhN OF Su'h place compare tho de
lh rance ana the Won in Germauyb
but the plcbsiau was only at or .bv.-
OF under such "a place and became
known as "AttWater. .ByneId." OF '.T-u-
dtT"""i, as the case might he- Th0-e
VINO wandered from one place 10 ru.rrr
iH search Of work or fortune vy.r. ann
10 De- dubbed with name which denoted
their place OF origin. ANY CaIrd0riarl
coming south would pr0bab ly be called
scot Just as EugIiSlmau who
crossed the border northyvard VS. c7Tl,-4
"lnglis- Thus the D'Almaius. Dalraaus
ana AlnanS among uS were OrIeIQafIy
from mot 10 say made in GERMANY
the BrctouS. BTIrtuuS. and Erlrre ar.
from Brittany, Dennis Is Danish IN,
Gales CALLS are Scottish thu. FTerufrr-e
are from Flanders and the I.ubbocks HsiI
from Lubbock.
mans occupation would fre1uerrI,-
most readily distinguish him from MS
fellows. and II Is Therefore By no ro.ar.
wonderful that very large prop0rtiau of
fASliSh SuTudTnes are derived from 1rg5r-
pauonS- The one which occurs u1gef o..
quentIy IS. OF course smith canon g.
ley estimated the number al ESr,,ri.J,
Smiths al about three hundred th1fIss,rI
ANA the reason Is that their nam. y-a-
'iLi'It\ apphed To a great variety Of
Saxon "Smitan." 10 rmitr- .rJ a.,
gwen 10 carpenters. maSous and other
"oThtTs IN wood and stone. as well as To
workers On metaL-London Chronicle.