There are a few other names which may be included here.
STUBBE, STUBBING, GROVE (GRUBB), TWIGG, SPRIGG (TWINE, TWINING, TWISS, SPRAGUE, SPRACK, SPARK, SPRACKLIN, SPRECKLY).
Stubbe might be taken to be of local origin, for nothing would be more appropriate to mark a locality than a stub. But the patronymic Stubbing points to an origin of a different kind, and moreover we find Stubingas among the early settlers. And there was also a Stuf, nephew of Cerdic, and a Northman called Stufr in the Laxdæla-saga. The origin is to be found in O.N. stufr, stubbr, A.S. styb, branch, shoot, probably in the honorific sense of race or lineage. I take Grove, along with which I put Grubb, to be from Germ. grob, Dan. grov, coarse, clumsy; but no doubt in an older sense more suitable for men's names, and probably cognate with Eng. "gruff," the idea being that of great size and strength. We find Grobb as an Anglo-Saxon name, p. [99], and Griubinc (son of Griub) as an Old German name, of which, however, Foerstemann does not offer any explanation. Grobe and Grove are present German names (the latter Low German), and Grub and Grubi are found in France. Here also I may take Twigg, corresponding with an A.S. Twicga, moneyer of St. Edmund, also with a Tuica found in Tuicanham, now Twickenham. I take it to be from the same root as "twig," viz. A.S. tweg, two, and to have perhaps the meaning of "twin." (Names of a similar kind may be Twine, with its patronymic Twining, and also Twiss, corresponding with an O.G. Zuiso, A.S. twis, twin.) Sprigg I class along with Sprague, Sprack, and Spark, corresponding with a Spraga in the Lib. Vit., as from O.N. sprackr, Prov. Eng. spragg, sprack, smart, active. We have also, as a diminutive, Spracklin, corresponding with a Spraclingus in the Lib. Vit., and we have Spreckley, probably the same name as that of Sprakaleg, brother of Sweyn, king of Denmark, from O.N. spræklegr, sprightly.
Names apparently from Complexion or Colour of Hair.
Such names as Black, White, Brown, have been no doubt in many, probably in most cases, original surnames. Nevertheless they are also ancient baptismal names, and it is not by any means certain that these are from the same origin as the surnames.
BLACK, BLACKER, BLAKE, BLANK, BLANCHARD, WHITE, BROWN, DUNN, GRAY, GREGG, CRAIG, MURCH, MURCHIE, SMIRKE.
The Blacingas were among the early settlers. Blecca was the name of a governor of Lincoln, A.D. 627; Blaca is an early name in the Liber Vitæ, and Blac is a name in Domesday. I am inclined to take Black, along with Blake, to be (of course as an ancient name) the same word as blic, found in some Old German names, and to find the sense concerned in A.S. blican, to shine (which indeed is the root of black), hence to give it, like Bright, the sense of "illustrious." Hence I take our Blacker and the French Blacher to be the same as an O.G. Blicker (hari, warrior)—the ancient family of Blacker, I believe, trace their origin to Nancy. I further take Blank and Blanchard (hard, fortis) to be a nasalised form of the above, and to have the same meaning. The stem will be found in more detail p. [46].
I take White, so far as it may be of ancient origin, not to be from colour; in some cases it may be from wid, wood, and perhaps in others from wit, wisdom. In Anglo-Saxon names it is spelt wiht, as if from wiht, man—Cf. O.G. Witgar, A.S. Wihtgar, O.G. Witleg, A.S. Wihtlæg, O.G. Widrad, A.S. Wihtræd, though, as I take it, it is the same word common to the Teutonic system.
The Brownings (Brûningas) were also among the early settlers, and Brûn frequently occurs in after Anglo-Saxon times; among others there is a Brûn bydel, "Brown the beadle," in a charter of manumission. Bruno also occurs as an Old German name, and Brûni was not an uncommon name among the Northmen. I am rather disposed to question the derivation from brown, fuscus, and as in the case of Black, to take the sense contained in the root, which seems to be that of burning or brightness. One of the Northmen, called Brûni, was surnamed "the white," so that in his case, at any rate, the name was not derived from complexion. Dunn is another name that is found among the early settlers, and also in after Anglo-Saxon times. It seems to me to be at least as probably from O.N. duna, thunder, as from dun, fuscus.
The Grægingas (A.S. græeg, grey) are also found in the list of early settlers, though the name does not seem to figure much in after Anglo-Saxon times. There are Old German names Grao and Grawo, and various compounds. The root-meaning seems to contain the sense of "horror," which may be that which is present in names, the idea being of course that of one who is a terror to others. As well as Gray, we have Gregg, and perhaps as another form Craig,[58] and the Germans have Grau. The Myrcingas among the early settlers may perhaps be represented in our Murch and Murchie (whence Murchison), possibly also in S(mirke). Whether the name is from A.S. mirc, dark, mirk, may be uncertain; Professor Skeat thinks of marc, limes, for the Myrcingas, who are probably the same as the Myrgingas of the "Traveller's Song."