British Surnames Derived from Places
Part 2. The ways and sources surnames are derived from.
Local and Occupational surnames.
British Surnames Derived from Places
Over half of all English surnames used today are derived from the names of places where people lived. This type is known as a locative (local) surname. For example, a man called John who lived near the marsh might be known as John Marsh. John who lived in the dell was called John Dell. Other examples are John Brook, John Lake, and John Rivers. Some names combined two words, such as Underhill (someone who lived at the foot of the hill) and Hightower (dweller of the high tower). They can be derived from numerous sources - country, town or estate - or from features in the landscape - hill, wood or stream. Many of these names, and their derivation are obvious, other less so. Sometimes people were given a surname because they lived near a certain geographical feature such as Heath, wood or woods. Other surnames are Hurst (an old word for a wooded hill), Green or Greene (for somebody who lived by the village green), Hill, Banks, Brooke, Beck and Bywaters. Shaw is a northern word for a wood. A bradshaw was a broad shaw. A holt was a small wood. Hollis means a dweller by the holly trees. We also have the surname Warboys from ward bois (bois is the French word for wood).
Valleys were sometimes called bottoms. The surname Botham comes from there. So does Longbottom and Ramsbottom.
It is a well-known fact that many family names are peculiar to certain localities, where they have remained for many generations, as can be proved from the old church registers. The spread of railways and the increased facilities for locomotion in every way are fast altering the old state of things, however, especially where there is a sudden development of one or more local industries, causing a great influx of strangers.
In remote country places, and particularly in agricultural districts, many of the old family names still remain — some, indeed, are seldom found in any other part of England.
In one district in England a marked peculiarity in the names of the people exists. This is known as the Danish Settlement (Danalagh), which, by agreement between Alfred and Guthrum, renewed by Edmund and Anlaf in 941, was divided from the Saxon kingdom by a line passing along the Thames, the Lea and the Ouse, following the course of Watling Street, the old Roman road running in a straight line from London by Stony Stratford to Chester.
Here, as might be expected, is a strong Norse element, and this distinction is more clearly marked the further east one goes from this line, as the names have not undergone the modification so often found in the west, since in many cases the original Scandinavian form prevails.
The family nomenclature of this part of the country undoubtedly requires particular treatment.
In East Anglia there is one remarkable peculiarity about the family names. A large proportion of them are monosyllabic (односложный). ПРИМЕР This singularity is so striking that it forces itself upon the most casual observer. Perhaps it is owing to the large infusion of names of Dutch and Flemish origin.
Certain locative surnames are less clear in meaning, since they are derived from earlier forms of English. For example, who would guess that Dunlop means “a muddy hill!” Below are a few helpful clues for determining the meanings of this type of name.
The prefix atte meant “at the.” It appeared in names like Attewood and Attewater, which later evolved as Atwood and Atwater.
Frequently used place nouns were den (valley), beck (brook), more (river bank), and adder (stream -РУЧЕЙ). Beckford referred to someone who lived near the crossing place of a brook.
The endings -ton, -ham, -wick, -stow, and -stead meant “farm” or “town.” So the name Denton (den plus ton) referred to someone who lived in a town or farm in a valley.
Other commonly used place endings were: -don (a hill), -bury (a fortification - УКРЕПЛЕНИЕ), -leigh or -ley (a clearing???), and -chester (site of an ancient Roman fort - КРЕПОСТЬ).
In some cases, the preposition "of" was simply added to the name of a town to form a person's byname. Examples are John of York and William of Orange.
Somebody who lived by the walls of a town might be given the surname Walls. If they lived on the edge of the town or village they might be given the surname Townsend. Or if they lived by towers they might get the surname Towers. The origin of the surnames Orchard (САД) and Pond (ПРУД) are obvious.
The surnames Wick, Wicke, Wickes and Wicks all come from the old word wick, which meant a specialised farm. So does Whicker (dweller at the wick).
The surname Darby is a corruption (ИЗМЕНЕНИЕ) of Derby the city in England. Other examples of surnames derived from place names are Bakewell and Southcott (cott is an old word for cottage).
The surname Stone may have been given because somebody lived by a prominent stone. However Stone is also a place name and the surname may have been given to somebody who came from there.
If a stranger arrived he might be called new man and it might become a surname Newman. So almost every village and every community might have a person with a surname Newman. Scott has an obvious origin (ПЕРЕВОД) .