Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1906-08-02
WHENCE NAMES COME
THE SURPRISING ]: CHANGES THAT
TINE. HAS WROUGHT

Who Would Think. For Instance,
That the Name Thomas Whitehorse
Originally JnuIcnfed .ta'raonlas at
the Sign Of the white Horse.''
Considering, the surprising. changes
that many names have. undergone. says
Miss Laura Alton PaySSle in the. 4ndes
pendent the almost uilMersai LACK of
Knowledge concerning their origin. us
not to be wondered at: Wharf IL. tAere
in Peter snooks' t!9 suggesI te the
uninitiated that. originally it was. Pc.
ter at the. Seven Oaks2n Though
Thomas Whitellorses. suggests the
American indian custom. in w mines,
originally it was THOMAS .at tIsM,hliite
Horse" or Thomas 1t the siaN Of The
White Horse, "a tavern) Sidney IS. a
corruption Of ST. Denys. Sinclnir Of St.
lair seymour Of st. Maur, jaNewa,
of Genoa, Curtis Of courteous Armi-
tage of hermitage Spark of Sparrow
hawk. Emerson and America had the,
same origin Allneric, an old Norman
name, Amerigo being the 1talianize,l.! !.
form.
Names, like things, are not always
what they seem Beers and. Berry are
not beers and berry but ii; corrup
ton OF borough often;@written
bury and "bery."
In the beginning a single personal
name sutficcd. For awhile no two, per
sons bore the same name, but as o
stock of names accumulated repet
tions became common. and as the pop,
ulation of the world increased .dstinc
tive names became necessary; hence
we read of John the Baptist and John
the Disciple, Darius Hystaspis and AL
eXander the Great. Joshua, son Of Nun.
and Simon Barjonas-" Simon. Son of
Jonas"
Sllrnames were first used in France
becoming general there during the lat
ter part of the tenth or the fore part of
the eleventh century. They We're used
hereditarily to some extent, however
prior to that time. They We're intro;
duced into England at the Norman
conquest in the year 1865, but it re,
quired two or three centuries to est;tb-
lish the body of our nomenclature on
a Fixed basis. During that time sur
names became general throughout the
British isles except in Wales, in some
parts of which they are unknown to
this day
Surnames are now general. in all
civilized countries | believe, except
Turkey. In England alone there are
from 10000 to $4,000 existing sur
names.
Surnames have been drawn FROM CIV,
cry available source -persohal names.
location, occupation, deeds'3of prowwess.
mental, moral and physical attributes,
terms of relationship, the human Body,
farm and household articles; buildings,
foods and drinks, modes of travel, ma.
tons and laws, customs and religions,
geographical terms, weather and sea:
sons, months and days, measures and
values, the joys and ills of life, the
animal, mineral and vegetable king
dom and even from the Kingdom of
heaven. The use of nicknames and
compound terms gave an almost in
exhaustible source. Even oaths be,
came embodied, as in Pardoe, from par
Dieu
In most countries it is customary
for the wife to take her husbands
name, but in some European countries
it is not unusual for the husband to
append the wifess name, particularly
when it is more honorable. tlian his
own. Hyphenated names and the
wife's retention of her. maiden name
for a middle name are customs grpW-
ing in favor in the United States and
Great Britain -.
Among the earliest names introduced
by the conquest were found Serl, Drew.
Bryce, Harvey Arnold Germ eagle,
ALFRED mow known as Albert and All I
bright AlmeIic, Ingelram. Ebrardns
tE.yerard). Warm stlerin, now War
rem, Ivo, HalaoH lIIammond), and
Payn Originally Pagana. After, their.
adoption as surnames tile most OF these
became obsolete as personal names.
The most POPULAR personal names
since the Domesday Book recaraess
them have been John and Miiliam, but.
their derivatives. ale ale too 10
mention here Roger Robert and Rich
ard took double ,nicllaame in land
thence Hodg;en and Dodge. Hobbs
and Dobbs, Hicks and DicksA.aviit the
rougher forms of the. Jas II Iigsggs and !
5Diggs, and even. HITCH 81 wing rise to
Dickens Hitchcock I'D Higg iAson: !,
Diminutive and other afiixes. served
an important partsin the origin OF sur
names from personal names. The Ans.
'glo-S Saxon kin and cock and /. ne,
are represented in Jenkins, little
John I, Hitchcock, ..little Richard,
and Browning. little Brown: the
Norman and s'et Z In Eliot little
Elias. and Emmett aittle Emma,
lsometimes lot and .let;,',,.s Hamlet,
little Hamon' the French SON and 4
zen IN Marion and Dick
Many prefxes We're used. The feIsic
g Nae or s f''S Of the, Scotch Of I
the Irish; Of OIL Of the
Welsh, and the Norman Isitz', (Latin
fils). signify SON sor sson of =. = and the
Irish SO. &, snranssisoan az :, go g \