HOW WE GOT OUR NAMES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 205, 18 January 1913, Page 1 (Supplement)

HOW WE GOT OUR NAMES

OXE XAME USED FOR CEXTURTES. In the course of a recent lecture at Leeds on '"Our Personal Names and the Story they Tell," Professor Moorman, of the local university, said that for many centuries Englishmen got along very comfortably with a single name, corresponding to our Christian name, and many of these were still preserved, and it was • not until the fourteenth century that surnames came into general use. By far the majority of the early Christian J names were of Teutonic origin, which i pointed, of course, to the fact that during what were not altogether rightly i called the Dark Ages, the Teutonic nations were the dominant forces of Europe. As a matter of fact, the English people were very slow in adopting names from the Bible, John of Beverley, per- 5 haps, being the first to bear the name I •John, which, like Peter, .Tames, Mark j and Thomas, were culled from tne Bible. I The slowness was really an early indi- I cation of the inherent conservatism of ' the English people, for although they 1 had accepted Christianity, they still clung ; to the old Pagan names. As the centuries went by the thousands of old English names gradually disappeared, until by the time the fourteenth century was reached there was only a mere handful, and in their place were to be found names drawn from the Bible, and particularly names originating-in the Norman Conquest. Such names as William, Rich- j ard, Oeoffrey, Henry, Robert, Agnes, Ma- I tihla and Margaret were all Xor man names, and did not appear until after the Conquest. Tt was about the fourteenth century that men found they could not go through life without surnames, but they were established in a very haphazard way. For instance, many of the early English Christian names were brought into use. Godwin (meaning a friend of Cod), and Baldwin (a bold friend) were common enough I surnames to-day. but they were simply j early English names. Again, in the old English times, a man with swarthy complexion would be named Brown, and one with fair hair would be named White, /t was only necessary to add the suffix ■'ing," find then they got Mich common ; present-day surnames as Browning and Whiting. Many surnames were simply made by adding "s" to a Christian name. | Most Welsh names were obtained in this manner, John Roberts, For instance, really meaning John, the son oF his father, Robert. Ellis, Edwards and Richards, and a host more originated in a similar manner. Other surnames were created by a man taking the nifme of his trade. Hence arose such names as Smith, Baker, Butcher, Wr|ght and Walker; although a man did not become Walker because he was a walker, but simply because he was engaged in business as a fuller, walking being the old name indicating a fuller. Calvert was nothing more than a corruption of calfherd, and Clark was the name given to a scribe or scholar. Kuncinian, remarked the professor, facetiously, was not an inappropriate name for a Minister of Agriculture, seeing that it simply meant a man who looked after horses. Occasionally one came across a nickname being converted into a surname. Imagine a bailiff going before a Magistrate and waving his wand of office in a rather officious manner; lie wagged his stall' and beciMiie Mr. WagstafTe. Or, again, they could realise lmw a sergeant-at-iinns with si. spear at his stall' of office became William Shakespeare, Other mini named themselves after birds/and animals. Thus they got Lamb, Hogg, Kox, ilawke

and Speight,, the last-named being (he old Knglisn name for (lie woodpecker. Some people possessed surnames which were really place names. In the old Knglish villages there would lie lanilit'iirkri such as (he well, and (he man who lived near it would he known as John-al,-I,lie-well, which became .lolin Attewell; in the same way the man who lived near llif wood ultimately became John A wood,