CHAPTER XII

FAMILY NAMES

In the study of family names we come across very much the same phenomena as in dealing with other words. They are subject to the same phonetic accidents and to the distortions of folk-etymology, being "altered strangely to significative words by the common sort, who desire to make all to be significative" (Camden, _Remains concerning Britain_). Doublets and homonyms are of frequent occurrence, and the origin of some names is obscured by the well-meaning efforts of early philologists. It might be expected that a family name would by its very nature tend to preserve its original form. This is, however, not the case. In old parish registers one often finds on one page two or three different spellings for the same name, and there are said to be a hundred and thirty variants of _Mainwaring_.[122] The telescoped pronunciation of long names such as Cholmondeley, Daventry, Marjoribanks, Strachan, is a familiar phenomenon, and very often the shorter form persists separately, _e.g._, _Posnett_ and _Poslett_ occur often in Westmoreland for _Postlethwaite_; _Beecham_ exists by the side of _Beauchamp_; _Saint Clair_ and _Saint Maur_ are usually reduced to _Sinclair_ and _Seymour_; _Boon_[123] and _Moon_ disguise the aristocratic _Bohun_ and _Mohun_. In a story by Mr Wells, _Miss Winchelsea's Heart_, the name _Snooks_ is gradually improved to _Sevenoaks_, from which in all probability it originally came, via _Senoaks_; cf. _sennight_ for _seven-night_, and such names as _Fiveash_, _Twelvetrees_, etc. Folk-etymology converts _Arblaster_, the cross-bowman, into _Alabaster_, _Thurgod_ into _Thoroughgood_, and the Cornish _Hannibal_ into _Honeyball_. _Beaufoy_ is a grammatical monstrosity. Its older form is _Beaufou_, fine beech (see p. 129), with an ambiguous second syllable. _Malthus_ looks like Latin, but is identical with _Malthouse_, just as _Bellows_ is for _Bellhouse_, _Loftus_ for _Lofthouse_, and _Bacchus_, fined for intoxication, Jan. 5, 1911, for _Bakehouse_. But many odd names which are often explained as corruptions may also have their face-value. The first _Gotobed_ was a sluggard, _Godbehere_ was fond of this pious form of greeting, and _Goodbeer_ purveyed sound liquor. With _Toogood_, perhaps ironical, we may compare Fr. _Troplong_, and with _Goodenough_ a lady named _Belle-assez_, often mentioned in the Pipe Rolls. _Physick_ occurs as a medieval nickname.

Family names fall into four great classes, which are, in descending order of size, local, baptismal, functional, and nicknames. But we have a great many homonyms, names capable of two or more explanations. Thus _Bell_ may be for Fr. _le bel_ or from a shop-sign, _Collet_ a diminutive of _Nicholas_ or an aphetic form of _acolyte_. _Dennis_ is usually for _Dionysius_, but sometimes for _le Danois_, the Dane; _Gillott_, and all family names beginning with _Gill-_, may be from _Gillian_ (see p. 46), or from Fr. _Guillaume_. A famous member of the latter family was _Guillotin_, the humanitarian doctor who urged the abolition of clumsy methods of decapitation. His name is a double diminutive, like Fr. _diablotin_, goblin. _Leggatt_ is a variant of _Lidgate_, swing gate, and of _Legate_. _Lovell_ is an affectionate diminutive or is for Old Fr. _louvel_, little wolf. It was also in Mid. English a dog's name, hence the force of the rime--

"The Rat (Ratcliffe), the Cat (Catesby), and _Lovell_, our dog, Rule all England under the Hog." (1484.)

It has a doublet _Lowell_. The name _Turney_, well known in Nottingham, is from the town of _Tournay_, or is aphetic for _attorney_. In the following paragraphs I generally give only one source for each name, but it should be understood that in many cases two or more are possible. The forms also vary.

[Page Heading: BAPTISMAL NAMES]

Baptismal names often give surnames without any suffix. Sometimes these are slightly disguised, e.g., _Cobbett_ (Cuthbert), _Garrett_ (Gerard), _Hammond_, Fr. _Hamon_ (Hamo), _Hibbert_ (Hubert), _Jessop_ (Joseph), _Neil_ (Nigel), _Custance_ (Constance); or they preserve a name no longer given baptismally, e.g., _Aldridge_ (Alderic), _Bardell_ (Bardolph), _Goodeve_ (Godiva), _Goodlake_ (Guthlac), _Goodrich_ (Goderic), _Harvey_[124] (Hervey, Fr. _Herve_), _Mayhew_ (Old Fr. _Mahieu_, Matthew). With the help of diminutive suffixes we get _Atkin_ (Adam), _Bodkin_ (Baldwin), _Larkin_ (Lawrence), _Perkin_, _Parkin_ (Peter), _Hackett_ (Haco), _Huggin_, _Hutchin_, _Hewett_, _Hewlett_, _Howitt_ (Hugh), _Philpot_ (Philip), _Tibbet_ (Theobald or Isabella), _Tillet_ (Matilda), _Wilmot_ (William), _Wyatt_ (Guy), _Gilbey_, _Gibbon_ (Gilbert), etc., with numerous variants and further derivatives. The changes that can be rung on one favourite name are bewildering, _e.g._, from _Robert_ we have _Rob_, _Dob_, _Hob_, and _Bob_; the first three with a numerous progeny, while _Bob_, now the favourite abbreviation, came into use too late to found a large dynasty. From _Richard_ we have _Richards_ and _Richardson_, and from its three abbreviations _Rick_, _Dick_, _Hick_, with their variants _Rich_, _Digg_, _Hig_, _Hitch_, one of the largest families of surnames in the language.[125] As the preceding examples show, family names are frequently derived from the mother. Other examples, which are not quite obvious, are _Betts_ (Beatrice), _Sisson_ (Cecilia), _Moxon_ and _Padgett_ (Margaret, Moggy, Madge, Padge), _Parnell_ (Petronilla), _Ibbotson_ (Ib, Isabella), _Tillotson_ (Matilda). One group of surnames is derived from baptismal names given according to the season of the Church. Such are _Pentecost_, _Pascal_, whence Cornish _Pascoe_, _Nowell_, and _Middlemas_, a corruption of _Michaelmas_.[126] With these may be grouped _Loveday_, a day appointed for reconciliations.

[Page Heading: LOCAL NAMES]

Surnames derived from place of residence often contain a preposition, e.g., _Atwood_, _Underhill_, and sometimes the article as well, e.g., _Atterbury_, _Bythesea_. In _Surtees_, on the Tees, we have a French preposition and an English river name. Sometimes they preserve a word otherwise obsolete. _Barton_, a farmyard, originally a barley-field, has given its name to about thirty places in England, and thus, directly or indirectly, to many families. _Bristow_ preserves what was once the regular pronunciation of _Bristol_. The famous north country name _Peel_ means castle, as still in the Isle of Man. It is Old Fr. _pel_ (_pal_), stake, and the name was originally given to a wooden hill-fort or stockade.

Many places which have given family names have themselves disappeared from the map, while others, now of great importance, are of too recent growth to have been used in this way. Many of our family names are taken from those of continental towns, especially French and Flemish. Camden says, "Neither is there any village in Normandy that gave not denomination to some family in England." Such are _Bullen_ or _Boleyn_ (Boulogne), _Cullen_ (Cologne), _Challis_ (Calais), _Challen_ (Chalon), _Chaworth_ (Cahors), _Bridges_[127] (Bruges), _Druce_ (Dreux), _Gaunt_ (_Gand_, Ghent), _Lubbock_ (Luebeck), _Luck_ (_Luick_, Liege), _Mann_ (le Mans), _Malins_ (_Malines_, Mechlin), _Nugent_ (Nogent), _Hawtrey_ (Hauterive), and _Dampier_ (Dampierre). To decide which is the particular _Hauterive_ or _Dampierre_ in question is the work of the genealogist. _Dampierre_ (_Dominus Petrus_) means _Saint Peter_. In some cases these names have been simplified, _e.g._, Camden notes that _Conyers_, from _Coigniers_, lit. quince-trees, becomes _Quince_.

French provinces have given us _Burgoyne_, _Champain_. _Gascoyne_ or _Gaskin_, and _Mayne_, and adjectives formed from names of countries, provinces and towns survive in _Allman_ (_Allemand_), _Brabazon_ (_le Brabancon_, the Brabanter), _Brett_ (_le Bret_ or _le Breton_[128]), _Pickard_ (_le Picard_), _Poidevin_[129] (_le Poitevin_), _Mansell_, Old Fr. _Mancel_ (_le Manceau_, inhabitant of Maine or le Mans), _Hanway_ and _Hannay_ (_le Hannuyer_, the Hainaulter), _Loring_ (_le Lorrain_), assimilated to _Fleming_, _Champneys_ (_le Champenois_), with which we may compare _Cornwallis_, from the Old French adjective _cornwaleis_, man of Cornwall. To these may be added _Pollock_, which occasionally means the Pole, or _Polack_--

"Why then the _Polack_ never will defend it." (_Hamlet_, iv. 4.)

_Janaway_, the Genoese, and _Haunce_, from the famous _Hanse_ confederation. _Morris_ means sometimes _Moorish_ (see p. 49), and _Norris_, besides having the meaning seen in its contracted form _nurse_, Fr. _nourrice_, may stand for _le Noreis_, the Northerner. We still have a _Norroy_ king-at-arms, lit. north king, who holds office north of the Trent.

In some cases the territorial _de_ remains, e.g., _Dolman_ is sometimes the same as _Dalmain_, _d'Allemagne_, _Daubeney_ is _d'Aubigne_, _Danvers_ is _d'Anvers_ (Antwerp), _Devereux_ is _d'Evreux_, a town which takes its name from the _Eburovices_, and _Disney_ is _d'Isigny_. With these may be mentioned _Dubberley_, Fr. _du Boulay_, of the birch wood, and _Dawnay_, from Old Fr. _aunai_,[130] a grove of alders. The last governor of the Bastille was the Marquis de _Launay_ (_l'aunai_). There is a large group of such words in French, coming from Latin collectives in _-etum_; _d'Aubray_ is from Lat. _arboretum_, and has given also the dissimilated form _Darblay_, famous in English literature. Other examples are _Chesney_, _Chaney_, etc., the oak-grove,[131] _Pomeroy_, the apple-garden.

Names of French origin are particularly subject to corruption and folk-etymology. We have the classic example of Tess _Durbeyfield_.[132] Camden, in his _Remains concerning Britain_, gives, among other curious instances, _Troublefield_ for _Turberville_. _Greenfield_ is usually literal (cf. _Whitfield_, _Whittaker_, _Greenacre_, etc.), but occasionally for _Grenville_. _Summerfield_ is for _Somerville_. The notorious _Dangerfield_ was of Norman ancestry, from _Angerville_. _Mullins_ looks a very English name, but it is from Fr. _moulin_, mill, as _Musters_ is from Old Fr. _moustier_, monastery. _Phillimore_ is a corruption of _Finnemore_, Fr. _fin amour_.

[Page Heading: OCCUPATIVE NAMES]

When we come to names which indicate office or trade, we have to distinguish between those that are practically nicknames, such as _King_, _Duke_, _Bishop_, _Caesar_[133] (Julius Caesar was a famous cricketer of the old school), and those that are to be taken literally. Many callings now obsolete have left traces in our surnames. The very common name _Chapman_ reminds us that this was once the general term for a dealer (see p. 67), one who spends his time in _chaffering_ or "_chopping_ and changing." The _grocer_, or _engrosser_, _i.e._, the man who bought wholesale, Fr. _en gros_,[134] came too late to supplant the family name _Spicer_. _Bailey_, Old Fr. _bailif_ (_bailli_), represents all sorts of officials from a Scotch magistrate to a man in possession. _Bayliss_ seems to be formed from it like Williams from William. _Chaucer_, Old Fr. _chaucier_, now replaced by _chaussetier_, "a hosier, or hose-maker" (Cotgrave), is probably obsolete as an English surname. Mr _Homer's_ ancestors made helmets, Fr. _heaume_. _Jenner_ is for _engenour_, engineer (see _gin_, p. 65). In _Ferrier_ traditional spelling seems to have triumphed over popular pronunciation (_farrier_), but the latter appears in _Farrar_. Chaucer's _somonour_ survives as _Sumner_. _Ark_ was once a general name for a bin, hence the name _Arkwright_. Nottingham still has a Fletcher Gate, Lister Gate, and Pilcher Gate. It is not surprising that the trade of _fletcher_, Old Fr. _fleschier_ (_Flechier_), arrow-maker, should be obsolete. The _Fletchers_ have absorbed also the _fleshers_, _i.e._ butchers, which explains why they so greatly outnumber the _Bowyers_ (see p. 178), _Boyers_, etc. _Lister_, earlier _littester_, gave way to _dighester_, whence the name _Dexter_, well known in Nottingham, and this is now replaced by _dyer_. A _Pilcher_ made _pilches_, or mantles; _cf._ the cognate Fr. name _Pelissier_, a maker of _pelisses_.[135] _Kiddier_ was once equivalent to pedlar, from _kid_, a basket. Sailors still speak of the bread-_kid_. For the name _Wait_, see p. 76. The ancestor of the _Poyser_ family made scales (_poises_), or was in charge of a public balance. _Faulkner_, falconer, _Foster_, _Forster_, forester, and _Warner_, warrener, go together. With the contraction of _Warner_ we may compare _Marner_, mariner. _Crowther_ means fiddler. The obsolete _crowd_, a fiddle, is of Celtic origin. It gave Old Fr. _rote_, the name of the instrument played by the medieval minstrels--

"Saxon minstrels and Welsh bards were extracting mistuned dirges from their harps, _crowds_, and _rotes_." (_Ivanhoe_, Ch. 41.)

_Kemp_ is an old English word for warrior, champion. It represents, like Ger. _kaempfen_, to fight, a very early loan from Lat. _campus_, in the sense of battle-field.

[Page Heading: OBSOLETE CALLINGS]

_Pinder_, the man in charge of the pound or pinfold, was the name of a famous wicket-keeper of the last century. The still more famous cricketing name of _Trumper_ means one who blows the trump. Cf. _Horner_ and _Corner_, which have, however, alternative origins, a maker of horn cups and a _coroner_[136] respectively. A dealer in _shalloon_ (see p. 47) was a _Chaloner_ or _Chawner_. _Parminter_, a tailor, is as obsolete as its Old French original _parmentier_, a maker of _parements_, deckings, from _parer_, Lat. _parare_, to prepare. A member of the _Parmentier_ family popularised the cultivation of the potato in France just before the Revolution, hence _potage Parmentier_, potato soup. The _white tawer_ still plies his trade, but is hardly recognisable in _Whittier_. _Massinger_ is a corruption of _messenger_. The _Todhunter_, or fox-hunter, used to get twelve pence per fox-head from the parish warden. _Coltman_ is simple, but _Runciman_, the man in charge of the _runcies_ or _rouncies_, is less obvious. _Rouncy_, a nag, is a common word in Mid. English. It comes from Old Fr. _roncin_ (_roussin_), and is probably a derivative of Ger. _Ross_, horse. The Spanish form is _rocin_, "a horse or jade" (Minsheu, 1623), whence Don Quixote's charger _Rocin-ante_, "a jade formerly."

A park keeper is no longer called a _Parker_, nor a maker of palings and palisades a _Palliser_. An English sea-king has immortalised the trade of the _Frobisher_, or furbisher, and a famous bishop bore the appropriate name of _Latimer_, for _Latiner_. With this we may compare _Lorimer_, for _loriner_, harness-maker, a derivative, through Old French, of Lat. _lorum_, "a thong of leather; a coller or other thing, wherewith beastes are bounden or tyed; the reyne of a brydle" (Cooper). The _Loriners_ still figure among the London City Livery Companies, as do also the _Bowyers_, _Broderers_, _Fletchers_ (see p. 176), _Horners_ (see p. 177), _Pattenmakers_, _Poulters_ and _Upholders_ (see p. 63). _Scriven_, Old Fr. _escrivain_ (_ecrivain_), is now usually extended to _Scrivener_. For _Cator_ see p. 63. In some of the above cases the name may have descended from a female, as we have not usually a separate word for women carrying on trades generally practised by men. In French there is a feminine form for nearly every occupation, hence such names as _Labouchere_, the lady butcher, or the butcher's wife.

The meaning of occupative names is not always on the surface. It would, for instance, be rash to form hasty conclusions as to the pursuits of Richard _Kisser_, whose name occurs in medieval London records. He probably made _cuisses_,[137] thigh armour, Fr. _cuisse_, thigh, Lat. _coxa_. A _Barker_ employed bark for tanning purposes. _Booker_ is a doublet of _Butcher_. A _Cleaver_ was, in most cases, a mace-bearer, Old Fr. _clavier_ (_Clavier_ is a common family name in France) from Lat. _clava_, a club. He may, however, have sometimes been a porter, as Old Fr. _clavier_ also means key-bearer, Lat. _clavis_, a key. A _Croker_, or _Crocker_, sold _crocks_, _i.e._, pottery. A _Lander_, or _Launder_, was a washer-man, Fr. _lavandier_. A _Sloper_ made "slops," _i.e._, loose upper garments, overalls. A _Reeder_ or _Reader_ thatched with reeds. A _Walker_ walked, but within a circumscribed space. He was also called a _Fuller_, Fr. _fouler_, to trample, or a _Tucker_, from a verb which perhaps meant once to "tug" or "twitch." In the following passage some manuscripts have _toukere_ for _walkere_--

"And his clothis ben maad schyninge and white ful moche as snow, and which maner clothis a _fullere_, or _walkere_ of cloth, may not make white on erthe." (WYCLIF, _Mark_, ix. 2.)

The fuller is still called _Walker_ in Germany. _Banister_ is a corruption of _balestier_, a cross-bow man; cf. _banister_ for _baluster_ (p. 60).

Some of the occupative names in _-ward_ and _-herd_ are rather deceptive. _Hayward_ means hedge[138] guard. _Howard_ is phonetically the Old French name Huard, but also often represents Hayward, Hereward, and the local Haworth, Howarth. For the social elevation of the _sty-ward_, see p. 90. _Durward_ is door-ward. The simple _Ward_, replaced in its general sense by _warden_, _warder_, etc., is one of our commonest surnames. Similarly _Herd_, replaced by _herdsman_, is borne as a surname by one who, if he attains not to the first three, is usually held more honourable than the thirty. The hog-herd survives as _Hoggart_; _Seward_ is sometimes for sow-herd; _Calvert_ represents calf-herd, and _Stoddart_ stot-herd, _i.e._, bullock-herd:--

"'Shentlemans!' cried Andie, 'Shentlemans, ye hielant _stot_! If God would give ye the grace to see yersel' the way that ithers see ye, ye would throw your denner up.'" (_Catriona_, Ch. 15.)

_Lambert_ is in some cases lamb-herd, and _Nutter_ is in all probability a perversion of neat-herd, through the North Country and Scot. _nowt-herd_. It is a common surname in Lancashire, and Alice Nutter was one of the Lancashire Witches.

[Page Heading: NICKNAMES]

In a sense all personal names are nicknames (see p. 114), since they all give that additional information which enables us to distinguish one person from another. The practice of giving nicknames suggested by appearance, physique, or habits is common to the European languages; but, on the whole, our nicknames compare very unfavourably with those of savage nations. We cannot imagine an English swain calling his lady-love "Laughing Water." From Roman times onward, European nicknames are in their general character obvious and prosaic, and very many of them are the reverse of complimentary. The most objectionable have either disappeared,[139] or the original meaning has become so obscured as to cease to give offence to the possessor. When a man had any choice in the matter, he naturally preferred not to perpetuate a grotesque name conferred on some ancestor. Medieval names were conferred on the individual, and did not become definitely hereditary till the Reformation. In later times names could only be changed by form of law. It is thus that _Bugg_ became _Norfolk Howard_, a considerable transformation inspired by a natural instinct to "avoid the opinion of baseness," as Camden puts it. We no longer connect _Gosse_ with _goose_, nor _Pennefather_ with a miser. Cotgrave has _pinse-maille_ (_pince-maille_), "a pinch peny, scrape-good, nigard, miser, _penie-father_." In _Purcell_ we lose Old Fr. _pourcel_ (_pourceau_), little pig, _Fitch_ no longer means a pole-cat, nor _Brock_ a badger. On the other hand, we generally regard _Gosling_ as a nickname, while it is more often a variant of _Jocelyn_.

Names descriptive of appearance or habits often correspond pretty closely with those that are found in French. In some cases they are probably mere translations. Examples are: _Merryweather_ (_Bontemps_), _Drinkwater_ (_Boileau_[140]), _Armstrong_ (_Fortinbras_), _Lilywhite_ (_Blanchefleur_). Among colour names we have _Black_, _Brown_, _White_, and _Grey_, but seem to miss _red_. The explanation is that for this colour we have adopted the Northern form _Reid_ (_Read_, _Reed_), or such French names as _Rudge_ (_rouge_), _Rouse_ (_roux_), _Russell_ (_Rousseau_). With the last of these, Old Fr. _roussel_, cf. _Brunel_ and _Morel_. Fr. _blond_ has given _Blount_, _Blunt_, and the diminutive _Blundell_, which exist by the side of the fine old English name _Fairfax_, from Mid. Eng. _fax_, hair. Several other French adjectives has given us surnames, e.g., _Boon_ (_bon_), _Bonner_ (_debonnaire_), _Grant_ (_grand_), _Curtis_ (_courtois_), _Power_ (_pauvre_), etc. _Payn_ is the French adjective _paien_, pagan, Lat. _paganus_, in early use as a personal name.

[Page Heading: FOLK-ETYMOLOGY]

But many apparent nicknames are products of folk-etymology. _Coward_ is for _cowherd_, _Salmon_ for _Salomon_, _Bone_ for _Boon_ (v.s.), _Dedman_ is a corruption of _Debenham_. _Playfair_ means play-fellow, from an old word connected with the verb to _fare_, to journey. _Patch_ may sometimes have meant a jester, from his parti-coloured garments, but is more often a variant of _Pash_, _Pask_, a baptismal name given to children christened at Easter, Old Fr. _Pasque_ (_Paque_). Easter eggs are still called _pash_, _pace_, or _paste_ eggs in the north of England. _Blood_ is a Welsh name, son of _Lud_; cf. _Bevan_, _Bowen_, etc. _Coffin_ is Fr. _Chauvin_, a derivative of Lat. _calvus_, bald. It has a variant _Caffyn_, the name of a famous cricketer. _Dance_, for Dans, is related to Daniel as Wills is to William. In the same way _Pearce_ comes from Peter or Pierre. The older form of the name _Pearce_ was borne by the most famous of ploughmen, as it still is by the most famous of soapmakers. Names such as _Bull_, _Peacock_, _Greenman_, are sometimes from shop or tavern signs. It is noteworthy that, as a surname, we often find the old form _Pocock_. The _Green Man_, still a common tavern sign, represented a kind of "wild man of the woods"; _cf._ the Ger. sign _Zum wilden Mann_.

In these remarks on surnames I have only tried to show in general terms how they come into existence, "hoping to incur no offence herein with any person, when I protest in all sincerity, that I purpose nothing less than to wrong any whosoever" (Camden). Many names are susceptible of alternative explanations, and it requires a genealogist, and generally some imagination, to decide to which particular source a given family can be traced. The two arguments sometimes drawn from armorial bearings and medieval Latin forms are worthless. Names existed before escutcheons and devices, and these are often mere puns, _e.g._, the _Onslow_ family, of local origin, from Onslow in Shropshire, has adopted the excellent motto _festina lente_, "on slow." The famous name _Sacheverell_ is latinised as _De Saltu Capellae_, of the kid's leap. This agrees with the oldest form _Sau-cheverell_, which is probably from a French place called Sault-Chevreuil du Tronchet (Manche). The fact that _Napier_ of Merchiston had for his device _n'a pier_, no equal, does not make it any the less true that his ancestors were, like Perkin Warbeck's parents, "really, respectable people" (see p. 57).

Dr Brewer, in his _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_, says of his own name--

"This name, which exists in France as Bruhiere and Brugiere, is not derived from the Saxon _briwan_ (to brew), but the French _bruyere_ (heath), and is about tantamount to the German _Plantagenet_ (broom plant)."

A "German" Plantagenet should overawe even a Norfolk Howard. A more interesting identification, and a true one, is that of the name of the great engineer _Telford_, a corruption of _Telfer_, with _Taillefer_, the "iron cleaver."

[Page Heading: DAFT]

A curious feature in nomenclature is the local character of some nicknames. We have an instance of this in the Notts name _Daft_[141]--

"A _Daft_ might have played in the Notts County Eleven in 1273 as well as in 1886." (BARDSLEY.)

The only occurrence of the name in the Hundred Rolls for the year 1273 is in the county of Notts.

FOOTNOTES:

[122] This is probably the record for a proper name, but does not by any means equal that of the word _cushion_, of the plural of which about four hundred variants are found in old wills and inventories.

[123] Another origin of this name is Fr. _le bon_.

[124] "The last two centuries have seen the practice made popular of using surnames for baptismal names. Thus the late Bishop of Carlisle was Harvey Goodwin, although for several centuries Harvey has been obsolete as a personal name" (Bardsley). Camden already complains that "surnames of honourable and worshipful families are given now to mean men's children for christian names." Forty years ago there was hardly a more popular name than _Percy_, while at the present day the admonition, "Be'ave yerself, _'Oward_," is familiar to the attentive ear.

[125] It is even possible that _Hood_, _Hudson_, sometimes belong here, as _Hud_ appears to have been used as a North Country alternative for Richard, though it is hard to see why. For proofs see BARDSLEY, _Dict. of English Surnames_, s.v. _Hudd_.

[126] Such a corruption, though difficult to explain phonetically, is not without example in uneducated or childish speech. Cf. _tiddlebat_ or _tittlebat_, for _stickleback_. In _stickler_ (p. 76) we have the opposite change.

[127] Of course also of English origin.

[128] Hence also the name _Britton_.

[129] Whence the perversion _Portwine_, examples of which occur in the _London Directory_.

[130] Old Fr. _vernai_, whence our _Verney_, _Varney_, has the same meaning; cf. _Duverney_, the name of a famous dancer. Old Fr. _verne_, alder, is of Celtic origin.

[131] Cf. _Chenevix_, old oak, a name introduced by the Huguenots.

[132] Other examples quoted by Mr Hardy are _Priddle_, from _Paridelle_, and _Debbyhouse_--"The _Debbyhouses_ who now be carters were once the _de Bayeux_ family" (_Tess of the d'Urbervilles_, v. 35).

[133] These names are supposed to have been generally conferred in consequence of characters represented in public performances and processions. In some cases they imply that the bearer was in the employment of the dignitary. We find them in other languages, _e.g._, Fr. _Leroy_, _Leduc_, _Leveque_; Ger. _Koenig_, _Herzog_, _Bischof_. _Leveque_ has given Eng. _Levick_, _Vick_, and (Trotty) _Veck_.

[134] _Gross_, twelve dozen, seems to be of Germanic origin, the duodecimal hundred, Ger. _Grosshundert_, being Norse or Gothic. But Ger. _Grosshundert_ means 120 only.

[135] _Surplice_, Old Fr. _surpelis_, is a compound of the same word. It was worn "over fur" in unheated medieval churches.

[136] Another, and commoner, source of the name is from residence at a "corner."

[137] See quotation from _Henry IV._ (p. 155).

[138] The obsolete _hay_, hedge, is also a common surname, _Hay_, _Haig_, _Haigh_, etc.

[139] The following occur in the index to Bardsley's _English Surnames_:--Blackinthemouth, Blubber, Calvesmawe, Cleanhog, Crookbone, Damned-Barebones, Drunkard, Felon, Greenhorn, Halfpenny, Hatechrist, Hogsflesh, Killhog, Leper, Mad, Measle, Milksop, Outlaw, Peckcheese, Peppercorn, Poorfish, Pudding, Ragman, Scorchbeef, Sourale, Sparewater, Sweatinbed, Twopenny, Widehose. Some of these are still found.

[140] Cf. also Ital. _Bevilacqua_.

[141] This word has degenerated. It is a doublet of _deft_.