Product Description

Did you know that Batts, may have had stout ancestors? That Dennes could be descended from swineherds? That Herons might come from thin men with long legs? How much do you know about the origin of your own surname? This fascinating dictionary covers the origin and meaning of over 16,000 surnames, giving detailed information on early name-forms and how names have changed over the centuries. Alternative forms of names are cross-referenced to make it easy to find variants. Popular names such as Brown, Clark and Smith are all covered, alongside rarer names from Clapper to Cutterbuck, Stocking to Twitchen. An authoritative introduction sets in context the popular topic of name-studies, and guides the reader through the history of English surnames. The dictionary also includes an appendix in which the distinguished family historian, Professor David Hey (author of the Oxford Companion to Local and Family History) gives advice on how to locate the home of a family name. He explains, with examples, how to discover the current distribution of a name in the UK, and how to trace its origins. Quirky and interesting, informative and accessible, this is an excellent guide for anyone with an interest in English family names.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22121 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 520 pages

Customer Reviews

Great reference for variants, origins and first mentions
This paperback is brilliant value at 18 names per penny, and my heavily used copy is dog-eared, battered and always within reach like favourite books should be. It lists surnames and variants, dates and sources of first mentions, origins and meanings. The Introduction about types of names, their historical roots and how and why they vary is a book in itself. There are 10 pages of obscure reference sources which take me into another world. An Appendix tells how to plot the distribution of surnames and locate their home. I run a very large genealogical website for Derbyshire and get many hundreds of e-mail enquiries about strange names. Looking the surnames up in this book is always rather exciting and the information often surprising. The book has been a pleasure to use. Sometimes when I can't find a name I wish I had a larger book, but I haven't come across a better reference work yet. The sheer volume of detail and the effort spent collecting it is amazing. If there were six stars this paperback would get them.

A Dictionary of English Surnames
I have been writing a book on a certain Cornish names using references which thanks to this little book have been proven to be unreliable. It also has helped question which way my particular book should now be driven. So even though it has created more work many thanks go to Reaney and Wilson for all their work into the subject matter.

Fabtastic
I bought this as I'm an amateur genealogist. It's fascinating to look up the surnames in my family tree and also makes a good talking point with friends too! The book gives an explanation of where a particular surname might have derived from and lists early references to that surname. I traced a branch of my family to the 1500's to a particular Oxfordshire village and the book references a person of the same surname living very close by in the 1200's. There is also a good introduction on the origins of English surnames in general. Worth the money.