Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1914-04-09
CHANGES IN NAMES
Many Originally Honorable, Have
Been Corrupted in Time.
People should Not Be Ashamed Of
Such Names as Shocks and Gum
boiI--smlth Is More Ancient
Than AnaIo-sason.


some of the most distressing con-
cain a wealth of meaning.
Take. for example the surname
with which many people think they
are cursed--Snooks. This by no
means seems to be an imposing cog
nomen; but, as a matter of fact. 1t is
name of great antiquity. and one Of
which nobody should be ashamed In
reality. 1t is a contraction of Seven.
oaks" Il was first corrupted to
Sennocc, which, In turn, was corrupt
ed to Shocks OF today.
The original bearer OF the name Of
Legles was so called merely because
he was lawyer Originally, the name
was spelled "LeagIess." the expression
signifying learned In the law"
Strangely enough, Lawless is derived
from exactly the same source. and
signifies exactly opposite to its ap,,
parent meaning.
Take a case of the surname Heart.
1t is really a corruption of Hard,
which was a name given to show that
the owner was a man of firm charac-
ter and resolute bearing.
One must extend pity to the poor
individual burdened with such a name
as Gumboil. Yet those who possess
the name may be interested to know
that it, too, has nothing at all to do
with any part of the anatomy. 1t de-
notes that its first bearer was a man
of considerable Importance and great
power in the state.
It is derived from the Morse word
"gunbald," which itself has nothing to
do with any affiiction, but means bold
in war"
1t is quite wrong to assume that the
name of Smith is derived from the
fact that the original bearers were
workers In metal In reality, Smith is
a very old name, far more ancient
than Anglo-Saxon. The oldest known
bearers of the name were brewers,
and 1t was in use many thousands of
years ago in mighty Egypt
Such names as Swearing and Gamb-
ling show how the original meaning
had become corrupted. Swears and
Sweor, which comes from the Anglo
Saxon word meaning honorable"
Gambling comes from Canning. which
comes from o Morse word signifying
"old descent"
The ending ling" to surname sim
ply means son Of" Thus Browning
means son. of Brown" and Dunning
'Dunns SON."
Apparently very ignoble surname
is Tremble, name which might
make one imagine that the ancestor
of Mr.. Tremble was a craven-hearted
creature. Still, the exact opposite is
the case, for the name is only cor
ruption Of the ancient word "trum-
bald" which signifies "steadfast and
bold"
Any individual rejoicing in the
name of Mr.. Earwig may be proud in
the fact that originally the name
meant the boar of battle"
The surname Mouse denoted at first
man of great courage, while Mr..
RAFT gets his name from the fact that
the first bearer OF the name was
wise person, who gave counsel to
the king. 49,
Goose, Gosling and Jocelyn are cor
ruptions of a word which originally
denoted the "Goths." The first Mr..
Camden was an individual called "the
wolf" while the original Mr.. Duck
was doughty" man.
No; surnames are not what they
seem. For instance, Lind is derived
from a Teutonic word meaning a
SNAKE" The apparently quiet and
harmless surname Wren comes from
word which denotes "rapine." Fish,
though such an innocent name in ap-
pearance, originally meant 'impetu
ols STRAY Stories