The Local Surnames In English Language
The local surnames are the most popular ones among Englishmen. They derived from names of places, where people were from or lived actually. For example, Richard de Tonebrige, a Norman lord, was so called from his castle of Tonbridge, but he was also called Richard de Clara from the Suffolk Clare which became his chief seat and gave the family its definitive surname.
The most part of local surnames refers to English, Scottish and French names of different geographical locations. They were commonly created with usage of following prepositions:– de– at– by– in. After 1066, when the Norman Conquest occurred, the preposition “de” became the most popular for place-names. It led to creation such names as Dash, Daysh, Delafield, Delamere, which were used later for representation of one or another noble man.
The Conquest brought also a lot of surnames with French origin. Most of them are connected to places in Normandy. Merchants, workmen and aristocrats were constantly moving through the English Channel, bringing new surnames of French origin to England. Nowadays many modern ones of people from the British Isles can indicate that their faraway ancestors were emigrants from the northern part of modern France. There are three main principles of surnames’ formation, appeared during the 11th – 12th centuries. They were derived: – from the manor house (Adam de Cokefeld); – from the place of residence (Ralph de Nordstrate, Goduy ad Westmere, William Attebroc); – from the place of origin (Brihtmarus de Haverhell’).
After the emergence of personal emblems, better known as coats of arms, some surnames appeared, which were connected to painted symbols from them. Such cases (atte Lamb, atte Raven) are quite rare and less common, moreover, a lot of these signs referred again to place-names.A common and easy formula of local surnames’ creation is usage of adjectives or nouns, which denote nationality, country, town, county, etc. from which their owners came. The Domesday Book contained already in the 11th century such surnames as English, Scott and Breton. Such a tendency progressed and Irish, Welsh, Wallas, Gall, Norman, Brabazon, Cornwallis Western and Westridge were known already in the 12th century.
About 200 years later local surnames, based on the common geographical names, evolved. In Sussex they got -er to topographical terms, for example Bridger. In the neighbor counties like Kent or Essex they were also found, but didn’t spread so widely. Interesting survivals of Scandinavian formations are the local surnames Sotherby, Westoby, from ON ‘south or west in the village’, and the anglicized Dunnaby, Easterby.
There is a group among English local surnames, which occupies a special place. They derived from small places or nature, surrounding a place of residence. Different woods, rivers, flowing nearby, growth of oaks, ash or elms led to creation of such surnames as Oak, Ash and so on. Middle English variants, having used prepositions, lost them later. For example surname with a part like “atte ashe”, which means “at the ash”, became later Tash. The preposition was dropped. Such surnames as Noke, Nash, Rook and Rash were created in this way. This preposition’s absence is not arbitrary. Owners of such local surnames were probably regarded in this way and it showed that a former short description of some remarkable geographical place had become hereditary. The preposition began to disappear much earlier than has been thought. Ekwall remarks that the preposition begins to be dropped shortly after 1300.
The main problem of surnames, based on the geographical names, is an exact tracing of them. A general meaning can survive, but it is difficult to find a place connected to it. For example, a surname “Held”, whose first owner probably had a residence near a slope, or he lived near a place called Held. That’s why trying to denote the exact origin of surname many researches seek help from the English Place-Name Society, which was established in 1923. It collects necessary information and publishes it. To date, the English Place-Name Society has published 91 volumes with place-names and their history from almost all English counties. Taking into account the above we consider, that English surnames, derived from place-names, even with occurred changes in pronunciation or form, are usually straightforward. They are the most commonly used because of their simplicity and high functionality.
