We
didn't always have a surname; indeed it's still the norm in some countries such
as Burma for people not to have a surname. But in other countries, surnames
gradually became a necessity as the population increased, to help differentiate
family members and other people living in the same community. In the United
Kingdom this happened around the time of the Norman Conquest.
Surnames
developed organically from a variety of different sources, such as where the
person lived, who their father was, what their job was, any obvious physical
attributes, their personality, and many, many other sources. This leads to an
enormous number of surnames, with well over 40,000 in the UK alone. The person
the surname was intended for usually didn't have a say in their own surname,
meaning they were often the subject of mocking, insulting, or just plain
bizarre surnames as a result. William, Prince of Orange, having lost a part of
his nose in battle, was called William with the Short nose by others.
Here
are some other interesting examples:
Choate
- meaning fat or chubby.
Beanshop
- someone who owned a bean shop!
Balch
- arrogant or haughty person.
Dalrymple
- dale of the crooked pool.
Peabody
-as handsome as a peacock.
And
some more pleasant ones:
Godard
- someone of a divine nature or disposition.
Osborn
- hero's son.
Truebody
- trusty messenger.
Or
how about these for some simple, obvious surnames:
Endicott
- meaning end or corner cottage.
Knott
- someone who lived on a rocky summit.
Parker
- park keeper or dweller.
And
some which are not what you may think:
Parrott
- meaning Little Peter. Possibly a corruption from the French Pierrot.
Spittle
- hospital.
Tallboys
- from the Anglo-Norman Taillebois.
Many
surnames form common patterns, for example those ending in -er or -man often
signify a profession, and those ending in -son or -kin show a relation to a
parent. Names beginning O' are Irish and signify that the person is a
descendant of someone - for example O'Brien is a descendant of Brien.
Over
the years many names have become corrupted, perhaps when translated from one
language into another, or spelt differently, and their original meaning is now
not easily seen. This leaves many variations of the same surname, which may or
may not trace back to a common ancestor. Some individuals and families also
changed their names or adopted an alias in the past. So although the study of
surnames is important in family history research, it is wise not to place too
much emphasis on them.