Chapter 3

Hundred Rolls

Modern Form

Robertusfilius Gillelmi.

Wilson.

For other possible names to be derived from a father named William, see Chapter VI.

Williamfilius Radolfi.

Rawson.

A very common medieval name, Anglo-Sax. Raedwulf, the origin of ourRalph,Relf,Rolfe,Roff, and of Fr.Raoul. Some of its derivatives, e.g.Rolls, have got mixed with those of Roland. To be distinguished from Randolf orRandall, of which the shorter form isRanorRand, whenceRankin,Rands,Rance, etc.

STEEPLE CLAYDON COTTAGERS

Hundred Rolls

Modern Form

AndrewColle

Collins, Colley

For Nicolas (Chapter V).

WilliamNeuman

Newman, Newcomb.

A man recently settled in the village (Chapter XII).

Adamate Dene

Dean, Denne, Adeane.

The separateatsurvives inA'CourtandA'Beckett, at the beck head; cf. Allana'Dale(Chapter XII).

RalphMydevynter.

Midwinter.

An old name for Christmas (Chapter IX).

WilliamateHull.

Athill, Hill, Hull.

The formhulforhiloccurs in Mid. English (Chapter XII).

Hundred Rolls

Modern Form

GilbertSutor.

Sutor, Soutar.

On the poor representation of the shoemaker see Chapter XV.

WalterMaraud.

It is easy to understand the disappearance of this name—

"A rogue, beggar, vagabond; a varlet, rascall, scoundrell, base knave"(Cotgrave);

"A rogue, beggar, vagabond; a varlet, rascall, scoundrell, base knave"

(Cotgrave);

but it may be represented byMarratt,Marrott, unless these are from Mary (Chapter X).

Nicholasle P.ker.

This may be expanded intoParker, a park-keeper,Packer, a wool-packer, or the medievalPorker, a swine-herd, now lost inParker.

JohnStegand

Stigand, Stiggins.

Anglo-Saxon names survived chiefly among the peasantry (Chapter I).

RogerMercator.

Marchant, Chapman.

The restored modern spellingmerchanthas affected the pronunciation of the common noun (Chapter III). The more usual termChapmanis cognate withcheap,chaffer,Chipping,Copenhagen, Ger.kaufen, to buy, etc.

AdamHoppe.

Hobbs, Hobson, Hopkins.

An example of the interchange ofbandP(Chapter III). Hob is usually regarded as one of the rimed forms from Robert (Chapter VI).

RogerCrom.

Crum, Crump.

Lit. crooked, cognate with Ger.krumm. The final -pofCrumpis excrescent (Chapter III).

StephenCornevaleis

Cornwallis, Cornish.

A name which would begin in Devonshire (Chapter XI).

Hundred Rolls

Modern Form

WalterdeIbernia

Ireland

A much more common name thanScotland, which has been squeezed out byScott(Chapter XI).

Matildafilia Matildae

Mawson(for Maud-son), Till, Tilley, Tillett, Tillotson, etc.

One of the favourite girl-names during the surname period (Chapter X).

RalphVouler.

Fowler

A West-country pronunciation; cf.VowleforFowell,VokesforFoakes(Chapter VI),VennforFenn, etc.

Johnfilius Thomae.

Thompson, Tompkins, Tomlin,etc.

One of the largest surname families. It includesToulmin, a metathesis ofTomlin. InTownsonandTonsonit coalesces with Tony, Anthony.

HenryBolle.

Bull.

In this case evidently a nickname (Chapter I).

RogerGyle.

Gill.

For names inGil- see Chapter VI. The form in the roll may, however, represent an uncomplimentary nickname, "guile."

WalterMolendarius.

Miller, Mellen, Milner.

InMilne,Milner, we have the oldest form, representing Vulgar Lat.molina, mill cf.Kilner, from kiln, Lat.culina, kitchen.Millard(Chapter XIX) is perhaps sometimes the same name with excrescent -d.

ThomasBerker.

Barker.

A man who stripped bark, also a tanner. But as a surname reinforced by the Norman form of Fr.berger, a shepherd (Chapter XV).

Hundred Rolls

Modern Form

MatthewHedde.

Head.

Sometimes local, at the head, but here a nickname; cf.Tate,Tail, sometimes from Fr. tête(Chapter XIII).

RichardJoyet.

Jowett, Jewett.

A diminutive either of Joy or of Julian, Juliana. But it is possible that Joy itself is not the abstract noun, but a shortened form of Julian.

AdamKyg.

Ketch, Beach

An obsolete adjective meaning lively (Chapter XXII).

Simonfilius Johannis Nigelli.

Johnson, Jones, Jennings, etc.

The derivatives of John are numerous and not to be distinguished from those of Joan, Jane (Chapter X).

The above lists illustrate all the simpler ways in which surnames could be formed. At the time of compilation they were not hereditary. Thus the last man on the list is SimonJohnson, but his father was JohnNeilson, orNelson(Chapter X), and his son would be —Simpson,Sims, etc. This would go on until, at a period varying with the locality, the wealth and importance of the individual, one name in the line would become accidentally petrified and persist to the present day. The chain could, of course, be broken at any time by the assumption of a name from one of the other three classes (Chapter I).

CHAPTER IIISPELLING AND SOUND

"Do you spell it with a V or a W?" inquired the judge."That depends upon the taste and fancy of the speller, my lord," replied Sam. "I never had occasion to spell it more than once or twice in my life,but I spells it with a V."

"Do you spell it with a V or a W?" inquired the judge.

"That depends upon the taste and fancy of the speller, my lord," replied Sam. "I never had occasion to spell it more than once or twice in my life,but I spells it with a V."

(Pickwick, ch. xxxiv.)

Many people are particular about the spelling of their names. I am myself, although, as a student of philology, I ought to know better. The greatest of Englishmen was so careless in the matter as to sign himselfShakspe, a fact usually emphasized by Baconian when speaking of the illiterate clown of Stratford-on-Avon. Equally illiterate must have been the learned Dr. Crown, who, in the various books he published in the latter half of the seventeenth century, spelt his name, indifferently Cron, Croon, Croun, Crone, Croone, Croune. The modern spelling of any particular name Is a pure accident. Before the Elementary Education Act of 1870 a considerable proportion of English people did not spell their names at all. They trusted to the parson and the clerk, who did their best with unfamiliar names. Even now old people in rural districts may find half a dozen orthographic variants of their own names among the sparse documentary records of their lives. Dugdale the antiquary is said to have found more than 130 variants ofMainwaringamong the parchments of that family. Bardsley quotes, under the nameBlenkinsop—

"On April 2 3, 1470, ElizabethBlynkkynesoppye,ofBlynkkynsoppe, widow of ThomasBlynkyensope,ofBlynkkensope, received a general pardon"—

four variants in one sentence. In the List of Foreign Protestants and Aliens in England (1618) we have AndrianMedlorand EllinMedlerhis wife, JohanCosenand AbrahamCozen, brethren. The death of SarahInward, daughter of RichardInwood, was registered in 1685.

VARIANT SPELLINGS

Medieval spelling was roughly phonetic,i.e. it attempted to reproduce the sound of the period and region, and even men of learning, as late as the eighteenth century, were very uncertain in matters of orthography. The spelling of the language is now practically normalized, although in conformity with no sort of principle; but the family name, as a private possession, has kept its freedom. Thus, if we wish to speak poetically of a meadow, I suppose we should call it alea, but the same word is represented by the family namesLea,Lee,Ley,Leigh,Legh,Legge,Lay,Lye, perhaps the largest group of local surnames we possess.

In matters of spelling we observe various tendencies. One is the retention of an archaic form, which does not necessarily affect pronunciation. Late Mid. English was fond ofyfori, of double consonants, and of final -e. All these appear in the namesThynne(thin) andWyllie(wily). Therefore we should not deride the man who writes himselfSmythe. But in some cases the pronunciation suffers, e.g. the nameFryrepresents Mid. Eng.fri, one of the forms of the adjective that is now writtenfree.Burtrepresents Anglo-Sax.beorht, the normal result of which isBright. We now writesubtleandperfect, artificial words, in the second of which the pronunciation has been changed in accordance with the restored spelling; but the older forms surviveinthe namesSuttleandParfitt—

"He wasaverrayparfit, gentil knyght."(A, 72.)

"He wasaverrayparfit, gentil knyght."

(A, 72.)

The usual English pronunciation of names likeMackenzie,Menzies,Dalziel, is due to the substitution by the printer of azfor an obsolete letter that represented a soft palatal sound more likey.[Footnote:This substitution has led one writer on surnames, who apparently confuses bells with beans, to derive the rare surnameBilliter, whence Billiter's Lane in the City, from "Belzetter,i.e., theBell-setter."The Mid. Eng. "bellezeter, campanarius"(Prompt.Parv.), was a bell-founder, from a verb related togeysir,ingot, and Ger.giessen,to pour. Robert lebellegeterwas a freeman of York in 1279.]

We have an archaic plural ending inKnollys(Knowles), the plural of knoll, and inSandys, and an archaic spellinginSclaterforSlaterorSlatter, for both slat and slate come from Old Fr.esclat(éclat), a splinter. WithKnollysandSandyswe may putPepys, for the existence of the dims.Pipkin,Peppitt, andPeppiattpoints to the medieval name Pipun, corresponding to the royal Pepin.Streatfeildpreserves variant spellings of street and field. InGardinerwe have the Old Northern French word which now, as a common noun, gardener, is assimilated to garden, the normal French form of which appears inJardine.

Such orthographic variants asiandy,Simons,Symons,Phandf,Jephcott,Jeffcott,sandc,Pearce,Pearce,Rees,Reece,Sellars(cellars),ksandx,Dickson,Dixon, are a matter of taste or accident. Initial letters which became mute often disappeared in spelling, e.g.Wray, a corner (Chapter XIII), has become hopelessly confused withRay, a roe,Knott, from Cnut,i.e. Canute, or from dialectknot, a hillock, withNoll, crop-haired.Knowlsonis the son ofNowell(Chapter IX) or of Noll,i.e. Oliver.

Therefore, when Mr. X. asserts that his name has always been spelt in such and such a way, he is talking nonsense. If his great-grandfather's will is accessible, he will probably find two or three variants in that alone. The great Duke of Wellington, as a younger man, signed himself Arthur Wesley—

"He was colonel of Dad's regiment, the Thirty-third foot, after Dad left the army, and then he changedhis name fromWesleytoWellesley, or else the other way about"(KIPLING,MarklakeWitches);

"He was colonel of Dad's regiment, the Thirty-third foot, after Dad left the army, and then he changedhis name fromWesleytoWellesley, or else the other way about"

(KIPLING,MarklakeWitches);

and I know two families the members of which disagree as to the orthography of their names. We have a curious affectation in such spellings asffrench,ffoulkes, etc., where theffis merely the method of indicating the capital letter in early documents.

The telescoping of long names is a familiar phenomenon. Well-known examples are Cholmondeley,Chumley, Marjoribanks,Marchbanks, Mainwaring,Mannering. Less familiar are Auchinleck,Affleck, Boutevilain,Butlin, Postlethwaite,Posnett, Sudeley,Sully, Wolstenholme,Woosnam.Ensoris from the local Edensor, Cavendish was regularlyCandishfor the Elizabethans, while Cavenham in Suffolk has given the surnameCanham. Daventry has becomeDaintree,Dentry, and probably the imitativeDainty, whileStepsonis for Stevenson. It is this tendency which makes the connection between surnames and village names so difficult to establish in many cases, for the artificial name as it occurs in the gazetteer often gives little clue to the local pronunciation. It is easy to recognize Bickenhall or Bickenhill inBicknelland Puttenham inPutnam,but the identity ofWyndhamwith Wymondham is only clear when we know the local Pronunciation of the latter name.MiltonandMeltonareoften telescoped forms ofMiddleton.

DIALECTIC VARIANTS

Dialectic variants must also be taken into account. Briggs and Rigg represent the Northern forms of Bridges and Ridge, and Philbrick is a disguised Fellbrigg. In Egg we have rather the survival of the Mid. English spelling of Edge. Braid, Lang, Strang, are Northern variants of Broad, Long, Strong. Auld is for Old whileTamsonis for Thompson andDabbsfor Dobbs (Robert). We have the same change of vowel in Raper, for Roper. Venner generally means hunter, Fr.veneur, but sometimes represents the West-country form of Fenner, the fen-dweller; cf. Vidler for fiddler, and Vanner for Fanner, the winnower.

We all the difficulty we have in catching a new and unfamiliar name, and the subterfuges we employ to find out what it really is. In such cases we do not get the help from association and analogy which serves us in dealing with language in general, but find ourselves in the position of a foreigner or child hearing unfamiliar word for the first time. We realize how many imperceptible shades there are between a shortiand a shorte, or between a fully voicedgand a voicelessk, examples suggested to me by my having lately understood a Mr. Riggs to be a Mr. Rex.

We find occurring in surnames examples of those consonantal changes which do not violate the great Phonetic law that such changes can only occur regularly within the same group,i.e. that a labial cannot alternate with a palatal, or a dental with either. It is thus that we findbalternating withp,HobbsandHopps(Robert),BollingerandPullinger, Fr.boulanger;gwithk,CutlackandGoodlake(Anglo-Sax. Guthlac),DiggsandDix(Richard),GippsandKipps(Gilbert),CatlinandGalling(Catherine);jwithch,JubborJuppandChubb(Job);dwitht,ProudandProut(Chapter XXII),DysonandTyson(Dionisia), and also withth,CarrodusandCarruthers(a hamlet in Dumfries). The alternation ofcandchorgandjin names of French origin is dialectic, thecandgrepresenting the Norman-Picard pronunciation, e.g.CampionforChampion,GoslingforJoslin. In some cases we have shown a definite preference for one form, e.g.ChancellorandChappell, butCarpenterandCamp. In English namescis northern,chsouthern, e.g.Carlton,Charlton,Kirk,Church.

There are also a few very common vowel changes. The sounderusuallybecamear, as inBarclay(Berkeley),Clark,Darby,Garrard(Gerard),Jarrold(Gerald),Harbord(Herbert),Jarvis(Gervase),Marchant,Sargent, etc., whileLarned, our great-grandfathers' pronunciation of "learned," corresponds to Fr.Littri. ThusParkinsisthe same name asPerkins. (Peter), and these also giveParksandPerks, the former of which is usually not connected withPark.ToPeter, or rather to Fr. Pierre, belong alsoParr,ParryandPerry, thoughParryisgenerally Welsh (Chapter VI). The dims.Parrott,Perrott, etc., were sometimes nicknames, the etymology being the same, for our wordparrotis from Fr.pierrot.Tothe freedom with which this sound is spelt, e.g.inHerd,Heard,Hird,Hurd, we also owePurkissforPerkins;cf.appurtenanceforappartenance.

The letterlseems also to exercise a demoralizing influence on the adjacent vowel. Juliana became Gillian, and from this, or from the masculine form Julian, we getJalland,Jolland, and the shortenedGell,Gill(Chapter VI), andJull.Gallon, which Bardsley groups with these, is more often a French name, from the Old German Walo, or a corruption of the still commoner French nameGalland, likewise of Germanic origin.

We find also such irregular vowel changes asFlindersfor Flanders, and converselyPackardforPicard.Pottinger(see below) sometimes becomesPettingeras Portugal givesPettingall. The general tendency is towards that thinning of the vowel that we get inmisterformasterand Miss Miggs'smimforma'am.LittimerforLattimerisan example of this. But inRoylefor the localRylewe find the same broadening which has givenboil, a swelling, for earlierbile.

APHESIS

Among phonetic changes which occur with more or less regularity are those called aphesis, epenthesis, epithesis, assimilation, dissimilation, and metathesis, convenient terms which are less learned than they appear. Aphesis is the loss of the unaccented first syllable, as in'baccyand'later. It occurs almost regularly in words of French origin, e.g.squireandesquire,Prenticeandapprentice. When such double forms exist, the surname invariably assumes the popular form, e.g.Prentice,Squire. Other examples areBonner,i.e. debonair,Jenner,Jenoure, for Mid. Eng.engenour, engineer,Cator,Chaytor, Old Fr.acatour(acheteur), a buyer—

"A gentil maunciple was they of a temple,Of whichachatoursmighte take exemple" (A. 567),

Spencer, dispenser, a spender, Stacey for Eustace, Vick and Veck for Levick, i.e. l'évêque, the bishop, Pottinger for the obsolete potigar, an apothecary, etc.

The institution now known as the "orspittle" was called by our unlettered forefathers the "spital," hence the namesSpittleandSpittlehouse. A well-known amateur goal-keeper has the appropriate nameFender, for defender.

Many names beginning withnare due to aphesis, e.g.Nashforattenash,Nalder,Nelms,Nock,attenoak,Nokes,Nye,atteney, at the island,Nangle,attenangle,NindorNend,attenindorend. With these we may compareTwells,atwells, and the numerous cases in which the first part of a personal name is dropped, e.g.Tolley, Bartholomew,Munn, Edmund,Pott, Philpot, dim. of Philip (see p.87), and the less commonFacey, from Boniface, andLoney, from Apollonia, the latter of which has also givenApplin.

When a name compounded with Saint begins with a vowel, we get such forms asTedman, St. Edmund,Tobin, St. Aubyn,Toosey, St. Osith,Toomey, St. Omer,Tooley, St. Olave; cf.TooleySt.for St. Olave St. andtawdryfrom St. Audrey. When the saint's name begins with a consonant, we get, instead of aphesis, a telescoped pronunciation, e.g.Selinger, St. Leger,Seymour, St. Maur,Sinclair, St. Clair,Semark, St. Mark,Semple, St. Paul,Simper, St. Pierre,Sidney, probably for St. Denis, with which we may compare the educated pronunciation ofSt. John. These names are all of local origin, from chapelries in Normandy or England.

Epenthesis is the insertion of a sound which facilitates pronunciation, such as that ofbin Fr.chambre, from Lat.camera. The intrusive sound may be a vowel or a consonant, as in the namesHenery,Hendry, perversions ofHenry.[Footnote:On the usual fate of this name in English, see below.]

ToHendrywe owe the northernHenderson, which has often coalesced withAnderson, from Andrew. These are contracted intoHensonandAnson, the latter also from Ann and Agnes (Chapter IX). Intrusion of a vowel is seen inGreenaway,Hathaway, heath way,Treadaway, trade (i.e. trodden) way, etc., also inHorniman,Alabone, Alban,Minister, minster,etc. But epenthesis of a consonant is more common, especiallyborpafterm, anddaftern. Examples areGamblefor the Anglo-Saxon name Gamel,HamblinforHamlin, a double diminutive of Hamo,Simpson,Thompson, etc., andGrindrod, green royd (see p. III). There is also the special case ofnbeforegin such names asFirminger(Chapter XV),Massinger(Chapter XX),Pottinger(Chapter XVIII), etc.

EPITHESIS AND ASSIMILATION

Epithesis, or the addition of a final consonant, is common in uneducated speech, e.g.scholard,gownd,garding, etc. I say "uneducated," but many such forms have been adapted by the language, e.g.sound, Fr.son, and we have the nameKitchingfor kitchen. The usual additions are -d, -t, or -gaftern, e.g.Simmonds, Simon,Hammond,Hammant, Fr. Hamon,Hind, a farm labourer, of which the older form isHine(Chapter XVII),Collingsfor Collins,Jennings, Fr. Jeannin, dim. of Jean,Avelingfrom the female name Avelina or Evelyn.NeillisforNeil, Nigel. We have epithetic -binPlumb, the man who lived by the plum-tree and epithetic -pinCrump(Chapter II).

Assimilation is the tendency of a sound to imitate its neighbour. Thus thedofHud(Chapter I) sometimes becomestin contact with the sharps, henceHutson;Tomkinstends to becomeTonkin, whenceTonks, if themandkare not separated by the epentheticp,Tompkins. InHoppsandHopkinswe have thebof Hob assimilated to the sharpsandk, while inHobbswe pronounce a final -z. It is perhaps under the influence of the initial labial thatMilson, son of Miles or Michael, sometimes becomesMilsom, andBranson, son of Brand, appears asBransom.

The same group of names is affected by dissimilation,i.e.the instinct to avoid the recurrence of the same sound. ThusRanson, son of Ranolf or Randolf, becomesRansom[Footnote:So also Fr,rançongives Eng.ransom. The French surnameRançonisprobably aphetic forLaurançon.]by dissimilation of onen, andHanson, son of Han (Chapter I), becomesHansom. InSansomwe have Samson assimilated toSamsonand then dissimilated. Dissimilation especially affects the soundsl,n,r.Bullivantisfound earlier asbonenfaunt(Goodchild), just as a braggart Burgundian was called by Tudor dramatists aburgullian.BellingerisforBarringer, an Old French name of Teutonic origin.[Footnote:"When was Bobadil here, your captain? that rogue, that foist, that fencingburgullian"(Jonson,EveryManinhisHumour, iv. 2).]Those people calledSalisburywho do not hail from Salesbury in Lancashire must have had an ancestordeSares-bury, for such was the earlier name of Salisbury (Sarum). A number of occupative names have lost the last syllable by dissimilation, e.g.Pepperfor pepperer,Armourfor armourer. For further examples see Chapter XV.

It may be noted here that, apart from dissimilation, the soundsl,n,r, have a general tendency to become confused, e.g.Phillimoreisfor Finamour(Dearlove), which also appears asFinnemoreandFenimore, the latter also to be explained from fen and moor.Catlinisfrom Catherine.Balestier, a cross-bow man, givesBannister, andHamnetandHamletboth occur as the name of one of Shakespeare's sons. Janico or Jenico, Fr. Janicot may be the origin ofJellicoe.

We also get the change ofrtolin Hal, for Harry, whenceHallett,Hawkins(Halkins), and the CornishHockin, Mal or Mol for Mary, whenceMalleson,Mollison, etc., andPellfor Peregrine. This confusion is common in infantile speech, e.g. I have heard a small child express great satisfaction at the presence on the table of "blackbelly dam."

METATHESIS

Metathesis, or the transposition of sound, chieflyaffectslandr, especially the latter. Our word cress is from Mid. Eng.kers, which appears inKarslake,ToulminisforTomlin, a double dim., -el-in, of Tom,GrundyisforGundry, from Anglo-Sax. Gundred, and JoeGargerydescended from aGregory.Burnellis forBrunel, dim. of Fr.brun, brown, andThruppisforThorp, a village (Chapter XIII).Stricklandwas formerly Stirkland,Crippsisthe same asCrisp, from Mid. Eng.crisp, curly. Prentis Jankin had—

Back to Index Next