The name Hugh was borne by several saints, the most famous of whom in England was the child-martyr, St. Hugh of Lincoln, said to have been murdered by the Jews C. 1250. It had a dim. Huggin and also the forms Hew and How, whence Hewett, Hewlett, Howitt, Howlett, etc., while from the French dim. Huchon we get Hutchin and its derivatives, and also Houchin. Hugh also appears in the rather small class of names represented by Littlejohn, Meiklejohn, etc. [Footnote: This formation seems to be much commoner in French. In the "Bottin" I find Grandblaise, Grandcollot (Nicolas), Grandgeorge, Grandgérard, Grandguillaume, Grandguillot, Grandjacques, Grand-jean, Grandperrin (Pierre), Grandpierre, Grandremy, Grandvincent, and Petitcolin, Petitdemange (Dominique), Petitdidier (Desiderius), Petit-Durand, Petit-Etienne (Stephen), Petit-Gérard, Petit-Huguenin, Petitjean, Petitperrin, Petit-Richard.] We find Goodhew, Goodhue. Cf. Gaukroger, i.e. awkward Roger, and Goodwillie. But the more usual origin of Goodhew, Goodhue is from Middle Eng. heave, servant, hind. Cf. Goodhind.
Most of the other names in Gower's list have been prolific. We might add to them Roger, whence Hodge and Dodge, Humfrey, which did not lend itself to many variations, and Peter, from the French form of which we have many derivatives (Chapter III), including perhaps the Huguenot Perowne, Fr. Perron, but this can also be local, du Perron, the etymology, Lat. Petra, rock, remaining the same.
The absence of the great names Alfred [Footnote: The name Alured is due to misreading of the older Alvred, v being written u in old MSS. Allfrey is from the Old French form of the name.] and Edward is not surprising, as they belonged to the conquered race. Though Edward was revived as the name of a long line of Kings, its contribution to surnames has been small, most names in Ed-, Ead-, e.g. Ede, Eden, Edison, Edkins, Eady, etc., belonging rather to the once popular female name Eda or to Edith, though in some cases they are from Edward or other Anglo-Saxon names having the same initial syllable. James is a rare name in medieval rolls, being represented by Jacob, and no doubt partly by Jack (Chapter IV). It is—
"Wrested from Jacob, the same as Jago [Footnote: Jago is found, with other Spanish names, in Cornwall; cf. Bastian or Baste, for Sebastian.] in Spanish, Jaques in French; which some Frenchified English, to their disgrace, have too much affected" (Camden).
It appears in Gimson, Jemmett, and the odd-looking Gem, while its French form is somewhat disguised in Jeakes and Jex.
The force of royal example is seen in the popularity under the Angevin kings of Henry, or Harry, Geoffrey and Fulk, the three favourite names in that family. For Harry see Chapter III. Geoffrey, from Ger. Gottfried, Godfrey, has given us a large number of names in Geff-, Jeff-, and Giff-, Jiff-, and probably also Jebb, Gepp and Jepson, while to Fulk we owe Fewkes, Foakes, Fowkes, Vokes, etc., and perhaps in some cases Fox. But it is impossible to catalogue all the popular medieval font-names. Many others will be found scattered through this book as occasion or association suggests them.
Three names whose poor representation is surprising are Arthur, Charles and George, the two great Kings of medieval romance and the patron saint of Merrie England. All three are fairly common in their unaltered form, and we find also Arter for Arthur. But they have given few derivatives, though Atkins, generally from Ad-, i.e. Adam, may sometimes be from Arthur (cf. Bat for Bart, Matty for Martha, etc.). Arthur is a rare medieval font-name, a fact no doubt due to the sad fate of King John's nephew. Its modern popularity dates from the Duke of Wellington, while Charles and George were raised from obscurity by the Stuarts and the Brunswicks. To these might be added the German name Frederick, the spread of which was due to the fame of Frederick the Great. It gave, however, in French the dissimilated Ferry, one source of our surnames Ferry, Ferris, though the former is generally local. [Footnote: "For Frideric, the English have commonly used Frery and Fery, which hath been now a long time a Christian name in the ancient family of Tilney, and lucky to their house, as they report." (Camden.)]
If, on the other hand, we take from Gower's list a name which is to-day comparatively rare, e.g. Gilbert, we find it represented by a whole string of surnames, e.g. Gilbart, Gibbs, Gibson, Gibbon, Gibbins, Gipps, Gipson, to mention only the most familiar. From the French dim. Gibelot we get the rather rare Giblett; cf. Hewlett for Hew-el-et, Hamlet for Ham-el-et (Hamo), etc.