surnames, oh how they interest me
01/08/2010
I recently finished a book called Pillars of the Earth, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The story transpires during the Middle Ages in England. One of the fascinating things about the book was watching names evolve. Common sense explains a lot of our surnames, but until this book, I'd never given it much thought. As I read I was fascinated time and time again with the development of surnames.
Back when there were fewer people, they described a person by where he lived or his work or something else, and gradually dropped the in-between words.
John the cook. John Cook
John the bishop. John Bishop
John the fisherman. John Fisher
John the shepherd. John Shepherd
John the weaver. John Weaver
John who reads. John Reader
John who is strong. John Armstrong
John by the hill. John Hill
John the cart driver. John Carter
John the wagon driver. John Waggoner / Wagner
John who runs the mill. John Miller
John who turns the wool to felt, a process known as fulling. John Fuller
John the son of Jack. John Jackson
John who lives by the forest. John Forest
John who lives in the woods. John Woods
John the tailor. John Taylor
John the jack-of-all-trades (a wright). John Wright
John who works on boats. John Boatwright
John who works on carts. John Cartwright
John the blacksmith. John Smith
John the foreman. John Foreman
John the baker. John Baker
John the knight. John Knight
I finished that book several weeks ago and I'm still analyzing names. Something about it captured me. Does this fascinate anyone else?