It’s All In a Name – British Names

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First names

In some cultures, the relationship between first names and vocabulary words is transparent, that is the names are just special uses of oridinary words. This is not the case for English names (or for those in most Western European languages). English names are mostly opaque, that is the ‘meaning’ is not obvious and is to be found in languages other than modern English, often ancient languages no longer spoken (such as Latin or Ancient Greek).

Therefore parents choosing an English name for their child rarely do so because of the ‘meaning’ of the name, but for reasons of polyphony (they like the sound of the the name) or personality (the name reminds them of a relative, close friend or person in the public domain). In spite of this opacity, virtually all English first names do have definite meanings which reflect their origins.

The first source for names used in Britain and throughout the English-speaking world is the Bible – male names like Adam, Benjamin, David, Jacob, Joseph and female names like Deborah, Eve, Rebecca, Ruth, Sarah. In fact, Sarah has given rise to other names – Sadie and Sally both started as pet forms of Sarah and then became names in their own right. The New Testament gave us the names of the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and the apostles, principally Peter, James, Andrew, Thomas, Philip, Bartholomew, John and Simon.

Many English first names (like those of many other European countries) are derived from the names of saints – such as Anthony, Christopher, Francis, George, Gregory, Stephen for men and Catherine, Ann, Bernadette, Mary, Jane, Teresa for women.

Another source of ‘English’ first names is the Celtic tradition. Barry, Brian, Bridget, Donald, Duncan, Ian, Kenneth, Kevin, Neil and Sheila come from Irish and Scottish Gaelic, while Gareth, Gladys, Gwendolen and Trevor come from Welsh – all these being Anglicisations of the original Celtic names.

Other ‘English’ names were brought to the country through invasion. Scandinavian exports include Eric, Arnold and Ronald. The Normans of north-west France brought many names to England as a result of the invasion of 1066.

This invasion was the route for many pre-Christian Germanic (usually male) names to reach England – such as Charles, Henry, Robert and William. For example, my first name Roger was brought to England by the Normans – it comes from two Germanic words meaning ‘fame’ and ‘spear’. For my son’s name, I used the same source: the name Richard was brought to England by the Normans and comes from two Germanic words meaning ‘power’ and ‘strong’. Incidentally such Germanic names are known as ‘dithematic’ – that is, they consist of two vocabulary elements. English female names with this Germanic origin are much fewer in number, but include Alice and Emma.

Some first names have been adopted from family names. Take, for instance, the name Digby. This is sometimes used (mainly by middle-class families) as a first name but started as a surname. It refers to Digby in Lincolnshire and comes from Old Norse words ‘diki’ (meaning ‘ditch’) and ‘byr’ (meaning ‘settlement’).

It is true, as Zhihao says, that although we have a wide variety of first names, the same ones reoccur very frequently. The 10 most common first names of Britons alive today are the following:

Of course, names change in popularity. The most popular names for children born in England & Wales during 2006 were as follows:

There are some patterns here. First of all, it is striking how traditional most of the names are for both boys and girls, although for the boys it is interesting that the familiar form of names rather than the original version is often preferred – Jack instead of John (first for the 12th year running), Harry instead of Harold, Charlie instead of Charles. In the case of boys, three of the top six names begin with the letter ‘J’. In the case of girls, seven of the top ten names end with the sound ‘ee’ and 11 of the top 20 names contain one or more of the letter ‘l’. On the other hand, the name David – which is the second most common name in Britain – slipped out of the top 50 of names chosen for babies born in 2004. Incidentally, a reflection of the changing ethnicity of the English population is that the 22nd most popular name is Mohammed and the 44th is Muhammed.

Link: top 50 boys and girls names in 2006 click here

For some girls (but, for some reason, not boys), one first name is not enough and they are called names like Ann-Marie or Sally-Ann or Sarah-Jane. An occasional complication is that, since English pronunciation is so irregular, it is possible to have names that are pronounced identically but spelt differently – such as Brian/Bryan, Rachel/Rachael, Ann/Anne, Carol/Carole or Catherine/Katherine/Kathryn or (even worse, because of the different genders) Francis (male)/Frances (female) or Robin (male)/Robyn (female) or Leslie (usually male, but can be female!)/Lesley (usually female, but can be male!). Indeed there are one or two names that can be used for a boy or a girl – such as the aformentioned Leslie and Hilary plus Dale and Carol.

Importantly, in Britain the choice of names is very influenced by class. A boy called Jason or Wayne or Darren or a girl called Sharon or Tracy or Michelle is almost certainly from a working class family. A boy called Charles, Edward or Nigel or a girl called Felicity or Harriet is almost certainly from a middle-class family. A boy called Jasper or Rufus or a girl called Camilla, Davina, Jemima or Petunia is probably from an upper class family.

Also names are very influenced by fashion. Some names fall out of fashion – a man called Alfred, Arthur, Basil, Percy or Horace or a woman called Bessie, Dorothy, Mavis, Nellie, Ruby or Vera is probably in his/her 60s, 70s or 80s (although Ruby has just jumped back into fashion). Some names come into fashion, typically because of the popularity of a pop, movie or sports star. The Australian soap opera “Neighbours” – in which a young Kylie Minogue played a character called Charlene – led to the temporary popularity of both Kylie and Charlene in both Britain and Australia. Some names come in and out of fashion. A good illustration is Emily: a third of all Emilys are aged over 60, but more than 40% are under 25.

The other powerful influence on names is immigration. The UK has had successive waves of immigration – from the Caribbean, India, Pakistan, parts of Africa and so on – and this has added to the stock of names in this country. Someone called Winston is probably from a family of West Indian origin, while someone called Lakshmi will be from a family from India.

A final point about first names: the British – and other Anglo-Saxon and European nations – often give their children more than one ‘first’ name. Upper class families frequently give their children three first names. There is no rule, but it is a powerful convention that such second or third names are family names, such as that of a grandparent or other close relative. Sometimes children find that they prefer the second name to the first name and ask people to use that one instead. In the case of my own son, I only gave him one first name, believing that was sufficient.

Link: Meaning of English first names click here

Family names

Turning now to English surnames, these did not exist until medieval times. It was the Norman conquest of 1066 that introduced the practice to England. By 1400, most English families and those from Lowland Scotland had adopted the use of hereditary surnames. However, the Welsh only began to adopt the English system of surnames following the union of the two countries in 1536.

Early English surnames fell into six main categories:

• Paternal names – Except in the Celtic fringes of the British Isles, the patronymic surname did not really become established until after the Norman Conquest of 1066. However, after this period, many people adopted the name of their father, such as ‘John son of Richard’ which over time became Johnson or ‘Simon son of Hugh’ which became Hughes or ‘son of Stephen’ which became Stephenson. The single first name William has given rise to Williams, Willamson, Will, Willett, Wills, Willis, Willimott, Wilkins, Wilkinson, Wilcox and Wilcockson. The most common surnames derived from first names are those ending in ‘-s’ or ‘-son’. In other cases, nicknames became surnames, especially with the addition of ‘-kin’, ‘-cock’, and ‘-ot’. Some family names are straightforwardly derived from first names – so I once worked in an organisation with colleagues called Bryan Stanley, Eric George, David Norman and Norman Howard. In Scotland especially, Christian names are often found in family names – so I had a school friend called Randall McRandall and a work colleague called Donald McDonald.

• Nicknames – Some people took names that referred to their appearance or character such as ‘John the Dear’ or ‘Ralph the Pagan’ which became Payne or ‘Henry the Blessed’ which became Bennett. Names such as Fox, from the crafty animal, or White, perhaps from the hair or complexion, are widespread. Many nicknames come from colour (such as Blunt meaning fair-haired and Redhead and Russell meaning red-haired), complexion (such as Fairfax) or form (such as Smallman or – the same meaning – Court). Others come from personal characteristics, such as the names Bull (bull-like), Crane (long, skinny legs), Gulliver (a glutton), Lamb (as meek as a lamb), Lark (with a sweet voice), Lord (as proud as a lord) and Nun (nun-like).

• Place names – Many people adopted the name of the place where they originally came from, such as ‘John of Lewes’ or ‘Matthew of London’. Various towns and cities have become names, so my own surname of Darlington refers to a town in the north-east of England. Many English counties have become surnames, such as Hampshire, Lancashire and Worcester. The single word ‘borough’ has given rise to the surnames Boroughs, Bury, Burg, Burke, Bourke, Borrow and Burrowes.

• Topographical names – Many people adopted names that referred to a geographical feature of where they lived or where they owned land. Sometimes the description was quite precise or detailed, such as Aschcombe meaning ‘a dweller in or near an ash tree valley’ or Denleigh meaning ‘a dweller by a clearing in a valley’. Other examples are ‘John at the Ford’ which became over time Attford or ‘Thomas of the ash-tree hill’ which became Ashdown or ‘Peter dweller by water’ which became Walter. There are a great number of surnames derived from the word ‘hill’. As well as Hill and Hills, there are Hull, Athill, Holt, Wold, Noll, Knollys, Knolles, Ness, Thill, and Knill. Similarly there are many names that refer to streams or rivers, such as those that include ‘beck’ or ‘brook’, and other names that refer to bridges (living by one, living on land near one, or the keeper of one). Row or Rowe refers to someone who lived in a row of cottages or houses by a hedgerow.

• Occupational names – Some people were known by their occupations such as ‘John the Baker’ or ‘James the Taylor’ or ‘Richard the maker of arrows’ which became Fletcher. Indeed the three most common English surnames are Smith, Wright and Taylor. Cook and Turner are also very common. Most surnames ending in ‘-man’ or ‘-er’ usually imply a trade. Sometimes the occupation in question is hard now for us to decipher, for instance Habbeshaw was a maker of hauberks (chain-mail coats) and Slaymaker was a maker of an instrument used in weaving.

• Officerial names – Some people took names from the official duty that they carried out in the village, such as ‘Richard the Reeve’ (a reeve was a chief magistrate or official supervising a landowner’s estate) or ‘Philip the Ward’ (a ward was a guardian or watchman) or ‘Edward the Clarke’ referring to a scholar, cleric or secretary. `Other such names include Page, Priest, Prior and Sergeant.

Two complications in understanding the meaning of English surnames are as follows. First, the same name could have several origins or meanings: for instance, Pike could come from the Old English for hilltop or point or it could refer to the fish with a pointed snout or to a pickaxe. Second, England has suffered so many invasions that names can be derived from many cultures and languages.

So, if we now look at the English surnames that my Chinese friend Zhihao has been collecting, many of them refer to an occupation (Barber, Baker, Bishop, Miller, Potter, Skipper) or a place (Close, Hall, Lane, Littlewood, Prior, Underhill, Wall) or a characteristic (Dearlove, Goodman, Lean, Maiden, Pink, Young). He is right to point out how many surnames we have compared to the Chinese – in England alone, there are some 45,000 different surnames.

Although there is far more variety in surnames in Britain than in China, nevertheless in Britain we do have some very common surnames, such as Smith (over 500,000 people) and Jones (some 400,000 people). Jones means ‘son of John’ and it is especially common in Wales (13.5% of the population) because of the Welsh habit of naming themselves after their father. Indeed, in November 2006, a new world record was established for a gathering of the most people with the same surname when 1,224 people called Jones gathered at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.

In Wales, Williams is a very common surname too. In Scotland, Donald is very common. In Northern Ireland, surnames are so distinctive that local people can usually tell if someone is a Catholic or a Protestant just by knowing their surname. Some names are very likely to be Jewish like Goldstein or Silverman.

People with unusual surnames sometimes like to make contact with others with the same name. For instance, the surname Steggles refers to the countryside stile and there is actually a web site enabling those with this name to share information.

Link: Steggles site click here

One might think that, with increasing mobility, surnames would be randomly mixed throughout the country, but researchers at University Colege, London have found that there is still a geographical clustering of names.

Link: Distribution of British surnames click here

A final point about English surnames: some middle-class and upper-class families combine the surname of the husband and the surname of the wife when they marry to create a new family name and then give their children too this double-barrel surname, such as Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen or Camilla Parker-Bowles.

Links:
Origin of English last names click here
Modern English surnames click here
Geographical concentrations of British surnames click here
BBC family history site click here

Parts of UK

So far, we have talked about English names, but the United Kingdom consists of four nations: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Names in England have one or two characteristics of their own while, in each of the three non-English nations, there are personal names which are cognates (equivalents) of English names and there are are some distinctly local names.

In the case of England, there is a more ethnically diverse population than in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. An illustration of this is that, in the latest list of the most popular names for babies born in England & Wales, Mohammed comes 23rd.

In the case of Scotland, cognates include Iain (for Ian) for boys and Catriona (for Katherine) for girls. Distinctly local names include Dougal, Ewan, Finlay, Hamilton and Hamish for boys and Aileen, Fenella and Fiona for girls. Currently the most popular names for newly-born boys and girls in Scotland are respectively Lewis and Sophie.

In the north of the country, there was a clan system in the Highlands where all the people in the area would have taken the surname of the clan chief and their descendants will still have these names. For example, in the Black Isle (actually a peninsula, so called because the snow does not lie on it) north of Inverness, a large proportion of the population are Frasers because that was the home area of Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat (the most famous one recently was the leader of the commandos in the Second World War). In some rural areas, when so many people have the same surname, people were often called by the name of their farm. For example, someone I know called Alistair Fraser was Alistair Bellevue and the boy at the next farm was Alistair Balvattie. His family were known collectively to my friend as the Balvatties and they were rarely called the Frasers.

In Gaelic speaking parts of Scotland, it was comon to name a male child in reference to an ancestor by using ‘mac’ or a female child by using ‘nic, so: Angus MacDonald = Angus, son of Donald and Mairi nicUilleam = Mary, daughter of William. Except among Gaeilic speakers, the ‘nic’ form is not now used, but ‘Mac’ or ‘Mc’ is commonly found. Incidentally, a name like McWilliam (for example) can also be found in its alternative form, Williamson.

As for surnames, these were not always in general use. However, we do now have names linked to trades: Fisher, Cooper, Mason and Shepherd are well-known names. The common name Stewart derives from the term ‘steward’ and was first held by Walter the Steward (Walter fitzalan), the grandson of a Norman knight who was High Steward to David I of Scotland. Maxwell derives from ‘Maccus’s well’ (Maccus was a Saxon lord who obtained a well or fishing pool on the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders). Then one has, for example, names related to (mostly Norman ) invaders such as Bruce (de Brus) and Wallace (de Waleys). Other surnames relate to places such as Murray (Moray), Methven, Fife. Next, of course, one has the Scottish clan system, where clan members simply took their chief’s name and eventually, through usage, that became their surname. Finally, one also has names which derive from Gaelic (or other) words for physical characteristics, such as Campbell (caim-beul = crooked-mouthed), Cameron (caim-sron = crooked-nosed), Begg (beag = white) and Meikle (little).

In the case of Wales, cognates include Ieuan (for John) and Huw (for Hugh) for boys and Mari (for Mary) and Megan (for Margaret) for girls. Distinctly local names include Aled, Guto, Llewelyn, Owen, Rhodri and Siôn for boys and Bethan, Bronwen, Glenys, Olwen, Rhiannon and Siân for girls. Many Welsh names are taken from Arthurian legend (such as Merlyn and Gwendolyn) or from place names in Wales (such as Merion meaning ‘from Merioneth’). For new born babies in Wales in 2006, the most popular boys’ name was Jack and the most popular girls’ name was Megan.

In the case of Northern Ireland, the differences from English names tend to come from the Scottish tradition in the case of Protestant (or Unionist) families and from the Irish tradition in the case of Catholic (or Republican) families. Since we have already mentioned Scottish names, it only remains to give a few examples of Irish names: Conall, Fergal, Pearce and Seamus for boys and Maeve and Siobhán for girls. Currently the most popular names for newly-born boys and girls in Northern ireland are respectively Jack and Katie.

Surnames too in the non-English parts of Britain can be quite distinctive. In Scotland, many surnames begin with ‘Mc’ or ‘Mac’, while in Northern Ireland, Catholic surnames sometimes begin with ‘O’.

At one time, the Welsh used an ancient patronymic naming system whereby the children of a marriage took their father’s forename as their surname. As a result, surnames were not fixed and changed from generation to generation. This practice continued up until the early 1800s in some areas, with rural areas clinging to the patronymic system longer than urban areas. Sometimes the word ‘ap’ (originally ‘mab’) meaning ‘son of’ was incorporated into the new surname. Since the origin of many Welsh surnames is a first name, one finds frequent occurrences of the same surnames in Wales, even when the familes are not related, such as Evans, Thomas and Williams.

Use of names

We now come to the use of names. In the Anglo-Saxon world (Britain, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), calling someone by their surname is regarded as formal and respectful, whereas use of a first name or Christian name is regarded as familiar and friendly. Most people – especially young people – would want to move very quickly to a situation where they are using the first name. This is even true in a work situation with a more senior colleague.

Indeed it is usually the case – unlike in China – that even greater friendliness is demonstrated by using a familiar or friendly version or diminutive of that first name (the technical term for this is hypocorism). In fact, almost every English first name has a diminutive – for example, Tony for Anthony, Jim for James, Frank for Francis, Liz for Elizabeth, Sue for Susan or Kate for Katherine. Sometimes the diminutive looks different from the original name – for instance, Bill for William, Bob for Robert, Jack for John or Dick for Richard. Sometimes people take a standard diminutive and give it an original spelling, so that I have come across women called Victoria who have variously called themselves Vicky, Vickie, Vikki, Vickii.