In England, people have been assigned a surname at birth from around the mid-13th century onwards. Prior to this people were known by only one name. This became confusing for administrative reasons and so surnames were added to differentiate between two people of the same name. The surname that was allocated or chosen was dependent on various factors. For example, if there were two John's in a parish with different occupations they could thus be known as John Carpenter and John Butcher. If the John's originated from different parishes their surname may be the name of their birth parish. The different types of English surname are described in more detail below. There are some surnames with unknown origins, whilst others are now extinct.
Traditionally in England surnames are passed from husband to wife, and then from father to child. Historically, there are exceptions to this, most commonly through the birth of an illegitimate child taking it's mother's surname. Today, surnames are inherited with greater flexibility. Double-barrelled names are common, as well as the merging of two surnames of a couple upon marriage or birth of a child.
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English surnames originsEnglish surnames origins
- Patronymic- A surname derived from a person’s father’s name. This may be their father's name with 'son' at the end, with an added 's', or simply the name as it is. Examples include Richardson, Williams and Thomas.
- Matronymic- A surname derived from a person's mother's name. This may appear in many ways, such as the name itself unchanged, 'son' added at the end or others whose meaning has changed over time. For example, Emmott translates as 'son of Emma'. Other examples include Megson and Marriott. Matronymic names are much rarer than patronymic names in England.
- Occupational- This is a surname adopted due to a person’s work that was then passed down regardless of whether their children continued in the same trade. Examples include common names such as Smith and Carter. There are also names based on occupations that either no longer exist or are seldom heard of, such as Fletcher relating to an arrow-maker.
- Characteristic- These surnames derive from of a person’s physical feature or character trait. There are a wide range of these names which can offer an insight into what the first person who was given the name looked like or acted like. Examples include Strong, Wise and Short.
- Habitational (or Toponymic)- These are found where a person had a surname based on their birth place or their parish of former residence. For example, John Stafford may have been born in Stafford or previously lived there before moving to his current parish. This could therefore differentiate him from another John in the same parish who was born elsewhere. Examples include Sheffield, Lichfield and Weymouth.
- Topographical- These are surnames which derive from a feature of the landscape. Examples include Hill, Ford and Bywater. Others are slightly less obvious, such as Atwood assigned to someone who lived 'at the wood'.
Issues to considerIssues to consider
- Surnames change frequently down the generations for many reasons. Adoption, illegitimacy and aliases are all common reasons for a surname to change unexpectedly.
- Not all names have a proven origin and their roots can only be speculated upon. These include names such as Grist, Singleterry and Seacole, which tend to be rarer than others.
- Some surnames can be pointed to a single point of origin but most have multiple sources. Occupational and topographical surnames obviously have multiple original sources. Habitational surnames can often be proven to have one original source, where the surname is heavily concentrated in one area of a parish, in or near to that of the same name. However, many place names are found several times across the country, such as Longton. We cannot therefore assume that everybody with the same surname is related back to the time when surnames originated and began to be passed down.
- As well as different surnames, the same surname tends to change spelling over time. Before spelling was standardised and at a time when literacy levels were low many of our ancestors would have been unaware how to spell their own names. This leads to variations appearing, such as Percy, Percey and Pearcey all relating to the same family. Do not be too restrictive when searching for a particular person by their surname; be aware it may well have changed over time or been recording under a different spelling.
See alsoSee also
- Anglo-Saxon surnames
- German surnames
- British surnames
- Cornish surnames
- Welsh surnames
- Scottish surnames
- Irish surnames
- Viking surnames
- Afrikaans surnames
- Portuguese surnames
- Sephardic Jewish surnames
- Latvian surnames
- English nobility surnames
- Ashkenazi Jewish surnames
- Chinese surnames
- Alsatian surnames
- Indian surnames
- Canadian surnames
- New Zealand surnames
- American surnames
- French surnames
- Dutch surnames
- Luxembourgish surnames
- Surname naming conventions
Explore more about English surnamesExplore more about English surnames
- Discover the origin of your last name at MyHeritage
- Surname Origins – Why? When? Why then? at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Surname Slip-Ups: Baffling Beginnings at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Searching for Surnames: Challenges, Pitfalls and the Downright Ridiculous at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Unfortunate Last Names: Where Do They Come From? on the MyHeritage blog
- Surname Secrets: What’s in a name? on the MyHeritage blog
References