Dictionary of American Family Names

After the Crusades in Europe, people began, perhaps unconsciously, to feel the,need of a family name, or at least a name in addition to the simple one that had been possessed from birth. The nobles and upper classes, especially those who went on the Crusades, observed the prestige and practical value of an added name and were quick to take a surname, usually the name of the lands they owned. When the Crusaders returned from the wars, the upper classes who had stayed at home soon followed suit. When the clerks who kept the records in the manors and on the feudal lands of the nobles and the great landowners noted the pay- ment of fines and amercements by the vassals, they needed an addi- tional description in order to distinguish one Robert or Leofric from another. The inclination to ridicule or compliment a neighbor or acquaintance by applying a nickname contributed to the rise of surnames. It would do no good for the lord's clerk to ask the peasant what additional name he possessed. He didn't have any other name and hadn't thought about the matter. Therefore, when the clerk noted the vassal's name in the manor records he added, of his own initia- tive, a brief description. It was likely that the vassal was not known among his neighbors by the description put down by the scribe. The very earliest bynames were not names by which those so de- scribed were known, except in isolated instances. The early forms of most descriptive bynames were with preposi- tions,asatteHill(atthehill),onMylatune(fromMilton),deBede- ford (from Bedford), of Boclande (of Buckland), buta Port (outside the gate), del Boys (at the wood), Cole sums (son of Cole), fi/ius Mann (son of Allan), and the Clerec (the derk or clergyman). Early documents were written in Latin in many countries and the names took Latin forms although the man would be known generally by the descriptive word in the common tongue, and so the family names are, in England, for example, English and not Latin English sur- names have generally dropped the prepositions, except a few names like Atterbury, Bywater and Underwood. Many French and Italian names have retained the preposition or article, as Dupont and Lo BelloSurnames are not just words or sounds. They originated as descriptions of the person for reasons of better identification. These early additional names were bynames and not family names. They described one individual and not his whole family. A byname, that is, a name in addition to the Christian name and not necessarily a family name, was at first not hereditary. As long as it was descriptive of the person to whom it was applied, it was not handed down from father to son, although in some cases the same name might be borne by both father and son, as when both had red hair or both followed the same occupation. It was only gradu- ally, over several centuries, that bynames or surnames became heredi- tary family names. Just as a nickname need be appropriate only for an instant, a byname which became a family name need be descriptive only for a short time. In England, by the end of the fourteenth century, surnames were generally hereditary; in France the process evolved a little earlier and in Germany a little later. In Italy the patricians of Venice adopted an hereditary surname system during the tenth and eleventh centuries, and they were the first in Europe. On the other hand, many family names became hereditary in very recent times in Nor- way, Sweden, Turkey, the mountainous districts of Wales and Scotland and among the Germanic and Slavic Jews. Names first became hereditary, in most countries, among the nobles and landowners. Since so many of their names were the names of the lands they held, when the son inherited the land it was only natural that he inherit the name. Among the lower classes, since the son generally learned from, and followed, the trade of his father, the same occupational name was applied, not because it was inherited, but because it applied to the son as well as the father. The occupational name could be said to be inherited only when the son followed another trade but was known by the same surname as the father. Even today if one had to identify another whose name was not known, it would likely be done in one of four ways: (1) the place where the man now lived or had previously lived would be men- tioned, as at the sign of the bell, or by the hill or stream, or from the manor of Newton; or (2) by the man's occupation, as the smith or the carter; or (3) by referring to the father's name, as the son of John or Rob; or (4) by noting the man's most prominent charac- teristic, as short, fat, red (hair), or crooked mouth. INTRODUCTION Practically all of the European family names were thus derived in one or another of the following four ways: I. From the man's place of residence, either present or past; From the man's occupation; III. From the father's name; IV. From a descriptive nickname. From the man's place of residence. Almost every city, town or village extant in the Middle Ages has served to name one Or more families. While a man lived in the town or village he would not be known by its name, as that would be no means of identification—all in the village would then be so named. But when a man left his birthplace or village where he had been known, and went elsewhere, people would likely refer to him by the name of his former residence or by the name of the land which he owned. In many cases, the surname is the form of the place name current at the time the surname arose, and thus not easily recognizable on modern maps. In other cases, the place name which gave rise to the family name cannot be found on maps be- cause the place no longer exists. It is curious to note, however, that the spelling of the surname changed along with the spelling of the town name in most cases. Some had the name of a manor or village because they were lords of that manor or village and owned it. However, of people today who have a place name as a surname, a very small minority de- scended from the lord of that manor. The majority descended from vassals or freemen who once lived in the village or manor. One might acquire a place name as a surname by living at or near the place. This is particularly true of topographical features. When people lived close to the soil, as they did in the Middle Ages, they were acutely conscious of every local variation in landscape and countryside. Every field or plot of land was identified in normal conversation by a descriptive term. If a man lived on, or near, a hill or mountain, he might receive the word as a family name. Every country had hills and mountains and living on, or near, them gave many people names, as Mr. Maid, from Finland, Mr. Dumont and Mr. Depew, from France, Mr. Zola, from Italy, Mr. Jurek, from Poland, Mr. Kopecky, from Czechoslovakia, and the ubiquitous Mr. Hill. Dwelling at, or near, a lake, brook or river would distinguish one from others who lived further from the water, and such names xili INTRODUCTION were quite common in almost every country. Lakes gave rise to Jarvi (Finland), Kuhl (Germany), Loch (Scotland), and Pond, Pool, Leake, Lynn and Lake (England), while streams produced Strom (Sweden), Potocki (Poland), Joki (Finland), Rio and Rivera (Spain), Klink (Holland and Germany), and Brooks and Rivers (England), to list only a few of the most common names. Many other names include a suffix after the word to designate the man who lived at or near the lake or stream. Woods, stones, fields, plains, swamps, enclosures or fenced-in places and trees are natural objects in all the old world countries and have served to name the people living on, in or near them. Fords were common at a time when there were few bridges. Many of these names that appear to be from a topographical term are really from a definite town, village or field name that cannot be identified at the present time. Today we live in cities and towns where streets are named and houses are numbered so we have little occasion to use topographical terms. When a family name derives from the name of a town where the original bearer once resided, a brief explanation or translation of the town name is given in parentheses wherever possible. When more than one meaning of a place name is given, the reason often is that there are several villages with exactly the same name with reference to present-day spelling, although they were derived in different ways. For example, Broughton is a very common English place name. Certain villages of that name in Buckinghamshire, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Huntingdonshire, Lancashire, Leicester- shire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire referred to "a homestead on a brook," while other villages named Broughton, in Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Sussex, designated "a homestead by a fortified place," and Broughton, in Hampshire and Lincolnshire, originally meant "a homestead on a hill or bar- row." Many place names in Europe are of great antiquity; the meanings are so obscure that it would serve little purpose to give them without a lengthy discussion of the reasons for accepting that explanation. To ascertain properly the meaning of the different elements in a name is not always easy. This is especially true of the common elements and more particularly true of those which make up place names, such as the English ham, thorp, wic and worth. Take the simple elem,ent hope, found in so many place names which xiv INTRODUCTION have been taken as family names. It meant, among other meanings, "a piece of enclosed land in the midst of fens," "a small, enclosed valley, a blind valley," "a valley." Take again, for example, the Old English leah, generally found as -ley, a terminal element in a great many English place names and consequently an element in numerous family names It meant "an open place in a wood, a glade, a spot where grass grew," "meadow or pasture land," "open, arable land," or "a wood, grove or forest," some of these definitions beingin direct apposition. In some instances the exact meaning can be ascertained, in others it can only be guessed. The most common English place name element is -ton, meaning "an enclosure," "a homestead," "a village," "a town," at various times and in different parts of England. Similar difficulties occur in names from languages other than English. Most elements now meaning town or city started out meaning "a place or a settlement," often a place where only one family resided. An important source of family names arises from residence in a house or inn identified by a signboard. In some countries, in very early times, inns and public houses were required by law to display a sign. Since few people could read, pictorial signs, rather than the written signs we have today, were the almost invariable rule. Even the early Greeks and Romans identified their public places by distinctive signs. One public house might display the picture of a white horse, another a goblet, while another might have a bush over its door. One of the commonest was a bell; others were ball, cock and swan. Animals, birds and fishes of all kinds were popular. Some of these signs were wooden or stone images, others were merely painted pictures. In later times more elaborate signs were common, and in London there were the Angel and Glove, the Three Kings, Adam and Eve, the Whistling Oyster and many others. When a man lived or worked in a building identified by a pic- torial sign it was only natural to refer to him by.reference to his distinctive place of residence. In medieval times most people also lived where they worked. There can be little doubt that the ancient signboards provide explanation of many otherwise inexplicable family names, but the direct evidence is scanty because of the dis- appearance of the very early signboards. Every conceivable object, both animate and inanimate, became the subject of signboards in various countries, and influenced family names. With regard to family names from signboards a note of caution XV INTRODUCTION is necessary. In later times many tradespeople adopted punning signs which helped the customers to remember their names, al- though such signs may have had little to do with the derivation of their names Some went to extremes Thus, in England, Mr. Chester exhibited a chest with a star on it; Mr. Lionel had a lion with L on its head; John Handcock used a hand and a cock, while John Drinkwater imitated his name with a fountain. In other European countries the same practice prevailed. Tavern, inn and shop signs continued after house signs fell into disuse. From the man's occupation. To describe one by reference to his occupation or profession is most natural. The most common occupational surnames are nqt necessarily those of the occupations followed by the most men- in the Middle Ages. Where everybody was a fisherman or where every- body tilled the soil, the occupation would not .serve to describe the bearer. If the fisherman moved inland or the tiller of the soil worked among sheep raisers, their occupation would become a means of identification to set them apart from others in the neigh- borhood. Most of the occupations or professions reflected in our family names are those known in the small villages in Europe, or those followed in a king's, or important noble's, household, or in some large religious house or monastery. During the Middle Ages much of Europe was composed of small villages. Even the larger cities would be regarded as comparatively small today. Every village, no matter how small, would need the services of one who could work and fashion objects out of iron or other metals and thus the smith is found in every country. Bulgaria surnames him Kovac, the Danes use Smed, the Hungarians say Kovars, the French call him Lefevre and Faure, the Germans say Schmidt or Smidt, in Italy it is Ferraro, the Russians refer to Kuznetzov, and the Poles to Kowal. Every village required the services of a Carpenter to build houses of wood and of a Miller to grind the grain. The Bakers and Cooks prepared the bread from the ground grain. Taylors made the cloth- ing while the Shoemakers shod the people. Where the inhabitants all tilled the soil, they needed men to take care of the animals. The Shepherds tended the sheep. Haywards saw that fences or hedges were kept in repair to keep the animals from the growing crops. 'The Bailiff and the Steward had charge of the lord's affairs, and the Tarlter tended the lord's parks. All these common occupations and xi INTRODUCTION many others are repeated in the family nomenclature of every country. Priests were always present in large numbers to nurture the religious life of the people. The clergy were not all required to lead a celibate life. The minor clergy had privileges not possessed by the common man. As the clergy were about the only ones with any education, when one desired to prove that he was a member of the clergy, about all he needed to do was to prove that he could read. In the case of one accused of crime the status of clergy was important. The clergy were tried in the church courts, which were more lenient than the judges in the secular courts, so that when one who could read was charged with a crime, he could plead "benefit of clergy," and prove it by reading the passage pointed out to him in the Bible and thus be tried in the less severe clerical courts. All this stimulated the origin of surnames referring to the many religious offices. Occupations which were looked up to and respected wereizrate likely to produce permanent family names than those which called attention to servile status. The Steteards, Sargents and Franklins sur- named many more people in proportion to their numbers than the Vassals or Cotters. From the father's name. The patronymical name, that is, the surname derived from the name of the father is very common in all countries, and each com- mon given name takes many forms in all countries. As children were growing up, it was natural to refer to them by the name of their paternal parent. It is easy to ascertain what Christian names and what forms of them were popular during the surname period by examining the family names derived from them. In some cases where the mother came from a more important family, or was a widow, the children might acquire their mother's name. Among Jews it was common practice to take the name of the mother, and, in a few cases, of one's wife. A boy apprenticed to learn a trade who lived with the master's family often was known by the fore- name or surname of the master rather than that of his father, he having grown to manhood and having become known to others in association with his master rather than his parents. Some family names derived from the father's name use exactly the same form as the father's forename, such as George and Thomas. Many German names follow this principle. But the greater number INTRODUCTION in the western countries have some patronymical ending or begin- ning.WithEnglishnamesitisthetermination-son.Otherendings, indicating 'son" are the Danish and Norwegian -sen, the Armenian -ian, the Finnish -nen, the Greek -pubs, the Polish -wiecz and the Spanish -ez. Prefixes denoting "son" are the Scotch and Irish Mac-, theNormanFitz-andtheWelshAp-.TheIrish0'means"grand- son." Many of these prefixes have been dropped, especially among the Irish. In. this dictionary, names which originally had the prefix are explained as "the son of . . ." or "grandson of . . ." Other important terminations of family names are the diminutive endings. These are particularly numerous among the French, Ger- man, Irish, Italian and Spanish names. Children and older people were often referred to by hypocoristic forms, that is, an endearing or shortened form of the Christian name, such as Dick for Richard or Clem fonGlement, described in the dictionary as "pet names." They 25,2ice-accented syllable and may be the first part of the name mattefromAbrahamorDanfromDaniel;themiddlepart,as Hans from Johannes and Zeke from Ezekiel; or the last part, as Mass from Thomas or Zander and Sander from Alexander. European family names which embody a Christian name include all the important Bible names in their different national forms. As an example, John, in its various national forms, produces common surnames in all countries. There are Johnson and Jackson in Eng- land, Johns and Jones in Wales, Jensen, Jansen and Hansen in Den- mark, Jonsson and Johanson in Sweden, Janowicz in Poland, Ivanov in Russia and Bulgaria, Ianson in Scotland, Janosfi, in Hungary, Jantzen in Holland, and MacEoin in Ireland, all referring to the son of John. Peter, Paul, James, Simon, Michael and Thomas, in their various national forms, are also exceedingly common in every country where the Bible is known. A brief translation or explanation of the personal name from which the family name arose is generally given in parentheses. Many names which appear to be from common words are really rare old forenames which have dropped from ordinary usage.'Gold, for example, is from the Old English Gold or Golda, a not uncommon early personal name. It will be noted that many surnames are from the old Teutonic names, most of which are dithematic in form, that is, they consist of two elements; and translations, separated by a comma, of the two elements only are given. Certain name-themes were in use, and almost any two of them could be combined to make a name with xviii INTRODUCTION little or no attention being given to the meaning of the combined, name. Thus William, from vilja "resolution" and helma "helmet," means "resolution, helmet" and not "the resolute helmet" or "helmet of resolution." There is no relationship between the two elements; they are merely combined to make a new concept, a man's name. Robert is from two name-themes, hrode meaning "fame," and beorht meaning "bright," and there is no semantic connection be- tween the two elements. Many name-themes are found either at the beginning or end of the name. There is Wulfgar and Garulf, andthereisWulfsigeandSigewulf."Wolf"isaverycommonname- theme. Some name-themes are found usually at the beginning, others only at the end. From a descriptive nickname. If a man were unusually tall, or short, or fat, or slim or slow, or fast, or long-legged, the fact would be observed and he would be nicknamed accordingly. Today, even strangers will quickly call a red-haired man "Red." Such a descriptive nickname would be added to his forename and might become a surname. Red, under its various forms, is a common family name in many countries. Reid, Reed and Read are very common in England where also are found Ruff, Russ, Russel, and Ruddy. In France it would be Rous- seau, Rouse, or Larouse, in Italy, Purpura and Rossi, the Czecho-Slo- vakians would call him Cervenka or Cerueny, the Hungarians say Voros, the Germans, Roth, the Grecian form would be Cokinos or Pyrrhos, and the Irish Flynn. Names calling attention to light or dark complexion are common throughout the world. Light complexion is designated by words meaning white or pale. Thus we find Bianco (Italy), Le Blanc (France), Labno (Poland), Lichter (Germany and Holland), Weiss (Germany), Bialas (Poland), Bily and Bilek (Czecho-Slovakia), and, of course, White and Light (England). Dark-complexioned people are named by words meaning brown, dark or black. Thus, Brown, and Brun and Braun come from England, France and Germany, respectively. Mr. Black is well known; Mr. Schwartz comes from Germany, Mr. Morin from France, Messrs. Karas, Karras and Melas speak Greek, Mr. Fekete is a Hungarian, Mr. Cherney hails from Czecho-Slovakia, while the Russians would call him Chernoff and the Hebrews, Pincus; Mr. Fosco comes from Italy, and Mr. Czernik from Poland, to name only a few who end up in America. Small or short men are so named everywhere. Italy calls them INTRODUCTION Basso or Curcio. Germany refers to them as Klein, Kurtz, Stutz and Wenig. The Poles say Niziolek and the Hungarians mention Kiss. In France it is Lacour. Russia names them Malek, and Poland knows them as Malek and Malecki, while in Lithuania it is Mazeika and in Czecho-Slovakia Maly. Besides Small and Short, England has named many of them Litt and Lytle, while the Scotch form is Small. Tall or big men, likewise, stand out throughout the world. There is Le Grand and Grande from France; and Nagy from Hungary. It is Longo in Italy, Groot from Holland, Feltz, Hoch, Homan, and Lang in Germany, Large, Long and Lang, as well as Longfellow in England. The fat man is often distinguished from the large man. Germany calls him Dick, Gross and Grath, France says Gras. In Ukraine it is Waskey. The absence of "Fat" or a synonym of that word as a very common name in England draws attention to the gaunt bodies of the English. Among some peoples the more opprobrious nicknames seem to be accepted with equanimity. One might be called Thief, Cuckold or Bastard. Other names referring to sex and parts of the body are not uncommon, as proved by early records. Among the English and most Americans this type of surname has all but disappeared. Such nicknames tend to be altered into inoffensive or meaningless words. Indeed, many milder nicknames, once so common, have gone into the discard. Family names originating from nicknames can easily be mistaken for names in other classifications. A man who tilled the soil for a livelihood might make his own shoes in the evening and might thus receive the nickname of Shoemaker, though that was not his occupation. He might have made only one pair of shoes in his life- time. Another might be nicknamed with a place name because he had once made a trip to that place. One who made a trip to Paris and bored others by continually talking about it might be so nick- named. Palmer was the palm-bearing pilgrim who had returned from the Holy Land. A man might be referred to as Hansen merely from some close relationship with an older man named Hans, al- though not related to him. There is a semantic relationship between topographical terms and bodily shape; a short, lumpish person, for example, might be referred to as a hillock or mound, a tall, thin man, or one with a pointed head, might be likened to a pointed hill. Indeed, any word could be used as a nickname and might become a surname. Animal names are found as common surnames in all European pl INTRODUCTION countries. Every familiar animal, bird or fish has entered into some family name. The bear was the king of beasts in the north of Europe and has been much used in the formation of names. Such names are derived from a nickname applied by a man's neighbors, from some real or fancied resemblance to the animal. One noted for speed or an awkward stride might be called Hare, Haas or Cooney. A cunning or crafty person might be called Fox, Fuchs, Voss, Todd, Liska, Liss, Volpe, Colfax or some other name, depending on the language or dialect spoken where he lived; a dirty or filthy person, Hogg; a vain man, Poe; an excellent swimmer, Fish. Color, voice, temperament and bodily shape tend to originate these animal nick- names. A dark man might be called Crow, one with a pleasant voice might be likened to a Lark, the quiet man to a Dove and the long-legged man would call to mind a Crane, Heron or Stork. Another source of animal names is the house, shop or inn signs previously explained. However, all of these names must be care- fully examined as the origin may be some word corrupted into the name of a familiar animal. Badger, for example, generally does not refer to the animal, but is one who buys commodities and trans- ports them in a bag elsewhere for sale, or who comes from Badger, in Shropshire. Mr. Beaver, in many cases, came from Beauvoir, in France. Many animal surnames were first applied as forenames and are thus patronymics. One reason for the frequency of names of animals is that they were popular and common terms among the people of all parts of Europe, and since they entered into numer- ous dialects, we have many different names for each familiar animal, bird or fish. These four classes of names explain the overwhelming majority of family names of Europe. Indeed, one should say that practically all surnames (except those few consciously adopted) belong to one or another of these four classes. Names in European countries are uniform in their meanings. The difference is only in the language from which they are derived. This uniformity in Europe in regard to the origin of family names might be stressed by considering the compound name, Drinkwater, an English name, not at all unknown. In France, the same name arose and the French spelled it Boileau. The Italians observed the phenomena and labeled the man Bevilacqua. Among the Germans the name is rather rare, but some do bear the name of Trinkwasser, while Waterdrinker is a Dutch version. xxi INTRODUCTION In some countries one class of names is emphasized more than others. Among the Welsh, Scotch, Irish, Danes, Swedes and Nor- wegians, patronymical names (surnames derived from the fathers' names) predominate, and they are very popular among the Germans and Poles; many descriptive nicknames are found among the Italians and Irish; place names are common with the English and Germans Corruption of family names. Before spelling became frozen by the universal use of dictionaries and the spread of education, family names were in a constant state of flux in all countries. Names like the Scotch Ogilvie, the German Baer and the Irish Shaughnessy, have almost an infinite number of forms and spellings. The component parts of a name may change in form. For example, the ubiquitous -ham may be altered to -am, -urn, -om, -man, -nam, -num, -son and -hem. As the languages and dialects changed in spelling, so did many of the names. Some retained archaic spellings, however, and thus their simple meaning became lost to the person not learned in onomatology. Various laws in the different European countries, particularly military rules and regulations, have, in this century, tended to restrict the alteration of family names. As surnames have undergone various corruptions and changes in the countries where they arose, it is not surprising that this process of corruption and change was greatly accelerated when brought to America. For the unlettered pioneer, names of all nationalities took on a roughly phonetic spelling. There was, and still is, a strong propensity to alter an unfamiliar name into a familiar name or word with a similar sound. The Dutch Roggenfelder became the Ameri- can Rockefeller; the German Dietz became Deeds in America. The number of alterations of this kind is endless. Many names that appear to be English are really derived from other tongues. The longer, more awkward or unpronounceable ones are shortened and simplified, generally with the idea of making them more like English names or at least easier on the eye and ear familiar with the English tongue. Some are deliberately translated into the more popular names. Thus, people of other nationalities than the ones mentioned in this dictionary can be found for almost every name. Many English Millers are really German Muellers; many English Smiths are really German Schmidts. In numerous instances the spelling of foreign names is altered to make their pronunciation more agreeable to American. ears. INTRODUCTION Even among common English names this principle produces muta- tion. The terminal -s in many cases has no meaning other than to give a certain ease in enunciation, as Stubbs and Brooks. In other names, such as the Welsh Edwards and Williams, the final -s definitely designates the patronymic; in some cases it merely indi- cates the possessive and in others the plural, while in still others it is only the remaining evidence of an old case ending. Names without the terminal -s exist alongside of those where it has been added. In some instances the form with the final -s is more common than without it, while in other names the opposite is true. Another common alteration brought about by pronunciation is the medial p, as in Thompson and Simpson. The common -sson termination of Swedish patronymical names commonly drops one s in this country, Petersson quickly becomes Peterson. Many names have a terminal -e or -d or -t, or not, according to the fancy of present or past bearers. There are many other common corruptions and sub- stitutions of consonants. It would take a large book to explain all of them. Each vowel may change to any other vowel. Variations in names tend to follow certain definite rules and many difficult names can be explained after the correct principle is applied. Nationality. In many cases, designating the proper nationality has presented difficulties. The nationality, or nationalities, given after each name merely designates the country from which most of the persons bear- ing that name came, and is not meant in any way to denote the language from which the word or root giving rise to the name comes Many strictly English surnames are derived from French words or places Many French and Italian names come from Teu- tonic words. Separating nationalities within a family of languages poses prob- lems. In the Scandinavian countries many names are common to two or more countries. Thus Nelson and Larson are found com- monly in both Norway and Sweden. The Celtic countries hive names popularcin all of them. It has been impractical to attempt to ffis- tinguish;:carefully between the various Soviet Socialist Republics. The Ukrainians have been identified separately, but the Byelorus- sians, or White Russians, have generally been included under Russians. The Slavic countries have many names in common. The Teutonic languages have provided family names which have the same form and meaning in different countries, but are more corn- INTRODUCTION fl:ton in some nations than in others. The Romance countries have presented fewer difficulties than most of the language families. In designating nationality the troublesome question arises as to how long a name must be resident in a country to be considered native to that country. A French name that came over to England with the Conqueror, in io66, and has resided ever since then in England, can surely be considered an English name, especially if the name, even though French in appearance, is not common in that form in France. Roger de Beaumont, for example, is listed in Domesday Book (io86) as one of the Dorsetshire landowners; he took his name from Beaumont in Normandy, and the name has be- come common in England and the United States. But what about the French Huguenots who went to England, Switzerland and Germany during the seventeenth century? No hard and fast rule can be set up, especially in those cases where it is difficult to find out just how long a name has been current in a country. Consistency is neither possible nor always desirable when dealing with all languages and dialects in each language, as well as archaic terms and provincial usage. To some extent the classifica- tion is arbitrary. A name may have been a rare name in a country for hundreds of years until its numbers were bolstered by another name, exactly the same in spelling but entirely different in origin. The nationality given would then be that of the later arrival. Names may have been altered by being resident for a time in another country; but still may not have attained the nationality of that country through which it came. For example, a Polish name may have emigrated to Germany, and in the course of a hundred years the name may have been altered to look like a Ger- man name. However, upon becoming current in the United States, it might still be a Polish name and indicate Polish nationality. Thus Bieschke came to the United States from Poland by way of Germany. Some of the difficulties attendant upon designating na- tionality could have been avoided by merely noting the language from which the name was derived. However, this would not have satisfied many who wished to learn about their names and their national origin. To say that a name resident in England since the Conquest was derived from Erse, Gaelic, Breton, Cornish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, French, Dutch, Old High German or some other language, would not tell the bearer much. It might also be- traced back to the Latin, Greek, Hebrew or Sanskrit, but that would be the work of the philologist, not the onomatologist. xxiv INTRODUCTION The same name with the same spelling may be derived inde- pendently from two or more different languages and have entirely different explanations which are sometimes given under one entry. For example, the name Brody, sometimes spelled Brodie, is found in Ireland, Scotland, Germany and Russia. In Ireland it was originally MacBruaideadha, that is, the son of Bruaideadh (frag- ment, or morsel). The Scotch derived it from the barony of Brodie, in Moray, meaning a muddy place, while in Germany it referred to a man with a large or unusual beard. The Russians with that name came from Brody, in Russia. In the dictionary variant forms of the name may also be given, and the explanations may not apply equally to all forms. Thus among the Germans and Russians the form is usually Brody and not Brodie. This is an incongruity that must be accepted because of limitations of space. Whether names are grouped together or separated depends to some extent on the degree of difference in meaning and the importance of the different forms from the point of view of numbers. Names from one language frequently spill over into another language, especially into the language current in the country where the bearer lives. If a dozen people in America have a name marked ' as German, for example, one can be very sure that at least one or two among them will not be a German. He may be a Frenchman, Belgian, Russian or Pole, whose name originally was so near to the German name in spelling or sound that it gradually changed to the German form. If a dozen people have a common English name, possibly three of them are of a nationality other than English, whose names have gradually adapted themselves in this country to a familiar English form. Part of them may have deliberately altered them to the English form. When two or more nationalities have substantially contributed to a certain name, more than one nation- ality has been credited even though in one of them there has been a slight change. Diligent search might even turn up a dozen origins for a single name; only the more important ones are listed in this dictionary because of space limitations. Jewish names. Jewish family names have presented unusual problems since many of them are of comparatively recent origin and artificial in nature due to their conscious adoption. In Europe, particularly outside of Spain and Portugal, many Jews did not have surnames until compelled to assume them by laws promulgated in the latter part INTRODUCTION of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth centuries. While a great many Jews accepted as surnames the names of the cities or villages where they were born or from whence they came and others were known or identified by the name of their father, it is clear that some knowingly adopted unusual or fanciful names. The only explanation that can be given of names like Rosenblum and Green- blatt is a translation into English. Jews living in crowded, airless and sunless ghettos frequeritly adopted names which alluded to green woods and fields. Some who were slow in accepting a sur- name were arbitrarily assigned names by the governing authorities. Some of these were of a ridiculous or startling nature. However, most of these odd and unusual names were quickly dropped or altered, especially upon arrival in the United States. No attempt has been made to identify Jewish family names as such. Some names are borne only by Jews, others are borne by both Jews and Gentiles. Assigning nationalities to some of these Jewish names has brought forth complications. However, all of these Jewish names have been identified by nationality except a few, such as Cohen and Levy, which have been designated merely as Hebrew. It must be remembered, however, that many Eastern European Jews, upon coming to the United States, adopted German family names because at that time the German Jewish names were the aristocratic names among the Jews. A curious practice found among the Jews has been that of adopt- ing surnames formed from abbreviations or contractions of a man's own name added to the Hebrew titles and names of his father, or of the father's Hebrew names. Descendants of Ben Rabbi Judah Lowe became Brill; Rabbi David, the Hazan, produced Bardah; Sabbatai Cohen originated the surname Schach. Sheliah Tzibbur (minister of the congregation) gave rise to the name Schatz, while Segan Leviyyah, literally "assistant of the .Leviteship," became Segal, Seget and the like. Jews have assimilated their Jewish names with non-Jewish names current in the countries where they lived. They change to a similar- sounding name, generally one beginning with the same initial as their Jewish name. Rabbin becomes Robin and Rabbinowitch be- comes Robinson. Other names are loosely translated into names current among the non-Jewish majority. Mortal man is forever reaching for better things, and toward what he views as noble, genteel or aristocratic; and certain, names, from time to time, are regarded as socially acceptable and others xxvi INTRODUCTION as plebeian. Names in Poland terminating in -ski were held in high esteem; a larger proportion of Poles in America bear such names than in Poland! If a degree of prestige can be obtained by the use of such a name, the element could be easily attached to occupy one's time while crossing the ocean. Certain farm names carried prestige among Norwegians, and what was to prevent them from adopting such names upon emigrating to America? In the same way many Swedes looked back and adopted the distinctive soldier name of a grandfather. These soldier names in Sweden were an unusual feature of their permanent family names. When a young man of the peasant class was inducted into the army, he frequently adopted another name for use during his military career. Perhaps his family name was too common to identify him properly when associated with many others. These soldier names were usually of one syllable, a common Swedish word, as Alm (oak), Bjork (birth), Hie1m (helmet), Quist (twig), Rash (quick) or Varg (wolf) and the like, and might be changed when the soldier was assigned to another post. When the soldier returned to civilian life he usually discarded his soldier name and re-assumed his old family name The soldier name was per- petuated as an hereditary family name when it was adopted by the soldier's descendants. Common in many European countries was the custom, after one graduated from a university, to adopt a new surname, usually a translation into a Greek or Latin form of a word, or name, bear- ing some relationship to.the bearer. If the name of one's old home was Skog (forest), he might adopt Sylvander; if the patronymic was Karlsson, it might be altered to Carolus. Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist, Ilatinized his original surname, von Linnd, after he had completed his formal education. Philipp Schwarzert, the German scholar, made a translation to Melanchthon. Wilhelm Holtzmann, the sixteenth-century classical scholar, translated his surname to Xylander. In all countries very few people have consciously selected their family names. They have merely acquiesced, generally uncon- sciously, in a name by which they have become known. Even those who deliberately change their name are strongly influenced by the name they seek to discard. Most of the people who change their name merely shorten the name they bear, alter its spelling to simplify it, or translate it into the language current in the place where they xxvii INTRODUCTION live. Few deliberately choose an entirely different name unless adopted into another family. Among some of the early Swedes and Norwegians the surname changed with each generation. Thus Lars the son of Swen Olesson was not Lars Olesson but Lars Swensson, and his son would bear the surname of Larsson. To get away from the ordinary patronymical name in Sweden the government encouraged its citizens to adopt nature names, that is, names composed of two elements, usually words for trees, plants, flowers or topographical terms, without regard to meanings, and without any, or very little, relationship to the person adopting the name. Therefore, in this dictionary, such Swedish names as Bergstrom, Almquist, Sandstrom and Stromkvist can only be trans- lated into English. Because of the extreme age of some of the Chinese family names, only a translation hasbeen attempted in mostinstances.The Chinese were the first to have hereditary family names, having had them for more than two thousand years. As the Chinese family names were greatly limited in number, the Chinese have more of the common names than their numbers in this country would seem to warrant. Scotch and Irish names beginning with Mac are spelled Mac or Mc in accordance with the spelling under which the greater number of any particular name are found, but they are all listed together as if spelled Mac. Both Irish and Scotch purists complain that the contraction to Mc is "wrong." In America, however, most people contract the prefix to Mc, the tendency being slightly stronger amongtheIrish.MostIrishnamesmaytakethe0'prefixmeaning "grandson."Withrespecttocapitalsinthemiddleofnames,there is no uniformity, the prevailing practice as to a particular name is followed in this dictionary. There is usually little or no difference in nationality or meaning whether the name appears as Du Pre or Dupre. In Italy, names beginning with a preposition or article are always written with a space between the two words, as De Leo, La Guardia and Dal Santo. The American custom of closing the space is probably due to the influence of the Gaelic Mac names, which are usually written without any space between the prefix and the name. In this dictionary all names are entered in the form in which they are current in America. French and Italian names, especially the latter, besides many INTRODUCTION German and some Slavic names, are notable for the decapitation of the baptismal names. Thus the French reduce Thomas to Massie, Masset, Massin, Masson and the like, while the Germans use Mass, and the Italians, Massa and Masso. Various names beginning with Cob- and Kob- are aphetic forms of Jacob or Jakob. The Italian Como is from Giacomo (James), while Zola and Cozzi are from Franzola and Fran cescozzi, respectively. In this Dictionary of American Family Names all the common surnames found in the United States are included. American family names consist of the family names of the entire world, with the European names predominating since most of the American popu- lation are descended from European nationals. Counts have been made in many large city, telephone and other directories to insure the inclusion of the most common names in the United States. Where several forms of a name are given, the most common form is given first, except possibly in a few dozen cases where two forms were so close together in point of number that it could not be known for sure which form was in most common use. In addition, the family names of many famous Americans are explained as well as some with curious or interesting names. People with odd or un- usual names are prone to alter them and thus avoid the constant comment about them. Whether a name is given as a main entry or as a variant of.an- other name depends on how many people bear the name in America and also how far away it is, alphabetically, from the more popular name. I and y are both found, yet Bird is not given as a variant of Byrd, the more common form, as they are too far apart in the alphabet. This does not apply to Jacobi and Jacoby, and they are grouped together. Harrison, a very common name, is given with Harris, the more common one, because it would otherwise come next in alphabetical order and the explanation is the same. Johns, on the other hand, is separate from Johnson because of difference in nationality. Famous names are given more attention than their numbers warrant. When variants of the names are listed, it must be understood that, in general, the explanations refer principally to the first form. There may, of course, be other minor explanations for some of the variants. This method was adopted in order to provide as much information as possible in the limited space available. A complete discussion of a name and its variants and cross-explana- nix INTRODUCTION tions would consume several pages for almost every entry and much would be repetitious. Attention in this dictionary is given to the way in which the family name originated, and its meaning from an onomastic view- point. The philologist and the linguist are interested only in the word root, or stem, from which a name is derived, while many people are interested in the way their family name developed into its present form. Besides the exact word which formed the name, thecustomsandhabitsofmanypeoplesmustbestudied.Withouta feeling for the origin of family names and an understanding of how they gradually arose in various countries, the philologists are some- times led astray in suggesting that a name is derived from a certain word or root when an understanding of the process by which names originated would cause them to reject that word and search further. A word meaning the same in another language may not be defined in exactly the same way since the root word may have affectedthenamedifferentlyintheotherlanguage.Tobeabsolutely sure of the meaning and derivation of any particular family name, it would have to be traced genealogically back to its origin and the circumstances of the origin studied. This is impossible, of course, but we know that the large majority of the common names, as con- tained herein, arose exactly in the way explained in the dictionary. In arriving at an explanation of a surname, it must be remem- bered that the meaning of the word or stem from which the surname is derived is not the dictionary meaning at the present day, but the meaning of the word at the time and in the place where the family name came ino existence. Over the years words sometimes change radically in meaning; sometimes they change only slightly. Seeley once referred to the happy or prosperous one, then, the good, simple, innocent man. The word later changed in meaning to the silly, foolish or stupid person. As a surname it carried, chiefly, the earlier and more felicitous connotations. Thus the meaning of the sur- name is different from the meaning of the word today. In the Middle Ages a word may have had different meanings or different shades of meanings in different parts of the country. At a time when dictionaries were scarce or non-existent, Words were often used with little regard for the finer shades of meaning. For this reason, it will be found that in the following list an element in a name may be defined with one meaning or shade of meaning in one name and with a different meaning in another name. Too much emphasis cannot be placed on the fact that a familyname may have more than one origin, although only the most important ones are listed in this dictionary. Many names are common simply because they are derived from several different sources. Barnes designates the dweller near the barn or grain-storage building in some instances, while in others it is the bairn, or child, or young person of a prominent family; some with the name are descendants of Beorn (nobleman) or of Barn, a pet form of Barnabas (son of prophecy), while still others came from Barnes, the name of villages in both England and Scotland. Infrequently, it is also the Polish shortening from Bernhard and a German pet form for Berinhard. All of these origins combine to make the name very common. Indeed, most of the very common names are 'common be- cause they owe their existence to several different origins. In this dictionary different derivations or origins have been separated by semicolons. Because of the limitations of space, only the more important derivations are included. In this book the diacritical marks of the various languages are disregarded because they are not customarily used in American family names. A true "American" name does not have an accent, a tilde, an umlaut, a circumflex, a cedilla or any of the numerous other signs or marks used in the various languages. Americans just refuse to take the time to add such marks, and the foreigner soon ceases to insist upon it and he, himself, ignores the diacritical mark. This is not a failure to recognize the difficulty in explaining many European names. For example, there is the Finnish Saari, designat- ing a "dweller on an island," and the Finnish Saint meaning "dweller on, or near, a ridge." When Mr. Saari comes to America and quickly drops the diacritical marks, one cannot later be sure of the meaning of his name. However, this difficulty is always present in any other name that has more than one origin. Names that come from languages using other than the Latin alphabet present their difficulties; not all have used the same system of trans- literation. For a more complete discussion of personal names see the author's The Story of Our Names published by Harper SeBrothers in 195