The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-07-12
Surnames1 Of The Southland;
Their Origin and Meaning

and itself became surname, e. 6. Sir
Humphrey Davy.
Tho Welsh prefer Davies and so FREE
quent is this form in Wales that 1t
holds the fifth place In the point of
numbers among tho surnames OF Eng
land and Wales Davis occupies the
.thirtIeth place in the list. Should we
add these two and also the contingents
that spell their name Divass and
Dawes, mere variants of the one name,
they would hold the third place among
English surnames.
The farther Davies penetrates into
England the more 1t tends to become
Davis. The name is, however. rare in
the north OF England. and on the
eastern coast, and is not frequent on
the southern coast, nor in the south
western shires. The main stream of
migration has flowed steadily towards
London.
prior to the Conquest, but was al
ready at home in Scotland and Wales,
especially In the latter.
The name early became popular in
the Eastern Church. II is still .one OF
the frequent names among the Rus
SLAMS. Armenfans and Georsians. The
influence OF Eastern Christianity led
to Its early adoption In the Celtic
Church. st. David's has been the prin-
cipal Welsh see since the sixth CEN
fury. The Feast of st. David makes
March LIST the national holiday Of
Wales. The princely saint OF Menevia
is counted among the seven champions
of Christendom. He made the name so
frequent in Wales that Taffy, cor
ruption of Dafod or Dawfydd, has be-
come the national sobriquet.
The same st. David made the name
popular also in Scotland. and after 1t
was borne by the third son Of MALCOLM
Ceanmohr, whom the Scots remember
as the best sovereign Scotia ever pos
sessed, 1t had such an accession of
numbers that the Lowlands teemed
with Davids.
Davidson is the prevailing form OF
the patronynlic in Scotland, where 1t
holds the thirty-second place in num-
bers.
The name David Is due. of course.
to the great king of Israel, the only
David Of the Bible. The name Is sup-
posed to be contraction OF Dodavahu.
beloved Of Yahveh" (Jehovah). Sayce
OF the sum god. The form Dudu has
been found in the Tel-E1-Amarna tab
! lets OF the fifteenth century. B. c.
Others make the name signify "be-
loved" and compare the Assyrian .dadu
of that meaning. Dodayah. found in
the Authorized Version, and Dodavahu,
in the Revised Version, in II. Chroni-
cles- M. 50; Dodai. In It. Chronicles,
xvii, a, and Dodo. In III Samuel, Kill.
.. are considered authorizations of Dod-
avahu,l and so equivalent to the name
OF Israel's king.
Stcphens-Stephen. the personal
name, from which this. patronymic
name was formed, is from the Creek
stephanos. "a CROWN Stephanos early
! became a personal name among the
Greeks. One conjecture Is that tho
teXrlting family, whose father had just
returned from one OF the great games
wearing the victor's crown, named an
Infant thus in honor Of the victory.
first infant to whom the name was
given was metaphorically the coveted
crown OF his fond parents.
The earliest now known to have
borne the name was aaason of Thucy-s
dides. the great historian. Plato men-
tions him as an Instance Of the son
Aof q great man. ono educated with the
| greatest care by his father. yet failing
Ito attain excellence. Others bore the
name also, but 1t was reserved for
| 1.-THE young Christian deacon. who first
tof all achieved the greatest OF all
victories and Won the martyrs imper-
| ishable CROWN to make the name I'M
mortal. n
Seven other saints afterward bore
the name. Among them was he who In
1000 was crowned first King of Hun
gary and by his reign endearcd tho
name to his people, tits usually said
that the name was unknown In eng
,ahd until after the Domesday, but this
1 4 {,,e II
| ,Stephanus was an abbot OF Strcanes-
halch about $40. 4 I
/ Stephanus was an abbot of Nhuts-
! celle In q At least two other eccle-
i sla sstlcs bore the namei In Saxon DAYS. a
tenant and an undertenant bear the
\ namo the Domesday record III 5wn :
! however, Stephen, son of the Count ~
Rllois, and grandson OF the ConGueror
that became. King OF England, ant
4 made the name popular in the hercdi.
tary surname period. 3
STEPHENS and Stevens are now found
4 mainly In The south OF England, ant
1 particularly in Cornwall, Sussex, Soutl
4 Wales and Hereford. Stephenson ant
and In the lowlands OF Scotland.
! Tho 5s Greek Stephanos, Grown
wreath is 'front.' tho verb stephein, "te
surround. en- circle, crown Its estab.
Elished cognat es are few. and confined
ito the Baltic branch OF the Ind o-Enro-
peans, The lithuanian stebule. ''hut
OF "a wheel, ~ lie ttish stabs, "pil lar, col.
|Humn,'Ds and Prussl Ian n abs, round
gstone,,' will suf1ic Sas exan1p lies,
AIncdonnld-rhis Isl an Ans lo- elic
gsurnlme from the Gael icS pa ronynlio
MacD oml, 80 onahna ~ pro-
i nounced Don all sss ssffs. M 5sS8
Dom pRl In Ia a irish TAI n al df Gael 10
is Donna II. N b sd sill ~ pInn llal,
NJ ny l,Sss s4Al these repre-
lSssnt . prot eltle z Dunn lasA.