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.
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. Hervé), 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.