Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts > Dictionary of Surnames III

If you read only one dictionary in your life, I recommend Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges A Dictionary of Surnames, published by Oxford University press. The dictionary is especially engaging to those who bear European surnames, for Hanks and Hodges take great pains to outline the origins, meanings and distributions of those names. For example, under the entry Gorton, my mother's maiden name, the dictionary states that it was a habitation name -- one given to a group living in a certain areanear Lancashire, England. The name literally means "dirt enclosure."

Generally, Europeans began to acquire surnames in the 13th and 14th centuries for taxation and census purposes. Sometimes they were given occupational surnames such as Baker or Tupper, which referred to a herdsman in charge of rams.

But people were also given names reflecting their personalities or appearances. The Low German surname Hummel, coming from the word for bumblebee, was originally a nickname for a busy or bustling person. A hard-hearted man could have been saddled with the English surname Flint. A swift runner could have borne the name Hare. Herzlich was a Jewish name for a cordial or sincere person.

Radio Script > Dictionary of Surnames III