ORIGINS OF SURNAMES

No matter our station in life, we all have a surname – but it was not until the middle of the fourteenth century that the practice of being identified by a particular one became commonly established throughout the British Isles.

Previous to this, it was normal for a person to be identified through the use of only a forename, but as population gradually increased and there were many more people with the same forename, surnames were adopted to distinguish one person from another.

Many common surnames are patronymic in origin, meaning they stem from the forename of one’s father – with ‘Adamson’, for example, indicating ‘son of Adam’.

A unique feature of many Scottish surnames is the prefix ‘Mac’ and its abbreviated form ‘Mc’ – Gaelic terms indicating ‘son of’ – with MacGregor, for example, denoting ‘son of Gregor’. 

This Mac/Mc prefix is found in the names of the many clans originally found in the Highlands and Islands, while in Ireland people also identified themselves with their own particular tribe or ‘tuath’, and this tribe – or clann, or clan, took its name from a distinguished ancestor.

The Gaelic-Irish form of ‘Kelly’ for example, is ‘Ó Ceallaigh’, or ‘O’Kelly’, indicating a descent from an original ‘Ceallaigh’ and with the ‘Ó’ denoting ‘grandson of.’

In Wales, an early law stipulated that a person’s name should indicate their ancestry – the name in effect being a type of ‘family tree.’

This required the prefixes ap or ab – derived from mab, meaning ‘son of’ being placed before the person’s baptismal name. 

In the case of females, the suffixes verch or ferch, sometimes shortened to vch or vz would be attached to their Christian name to indicate ‘daughter of.’ 

Linguistic roots of surnames that came into usage throughout the British Isles include not only Norman-French and Gaelic but also Old French, Old Norse, Old English, Middle English, German, Latin, Greek and Hebrew.

Many of these names were coined in connection with occupation, such as Baker and Smith, while Cooks and Clarks were to be found carrying out duties on royal estates and large medieval households.

Even the scenery was utilised, as in Forest, Hill, Moor and Wood, while the hunt and the chase supplied names that include Fox and Hunter.

Colours are also a source of surnames, such as Black, Brown, Gray/Grey, Green and White, and would originally have denoted the colour of clothing a person habitually wore or, apart from the obvious exception of Green, their hair colour or complexion.

Echoes of a far distant past can still be found in our surnames, and they can be borne with pride in commemoration of our forebears.