What's in a name : Surnames

Q. Montague or Capulet

A. ''Tis but thy name that is my enemy,' said Juliet on the balcony - her Romeo belonging to the family of the sworn enemies of her own. She also said, 'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,' which, while it may be true of plants, it is not the case with sentient human beings. Our names - particularly our surnames - identify us and play a major role in out psychological make-up, giving clues as to our ethnicity, heritage, even our social class.

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Q. When and where was the first recorded use of surnames

A. In 2852 BC in China, the Emperor decreed that hereditary family names be adopted.

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Q. So, when did surnames first begin to be used in the British Isles

A. Traditional British surnames - also known as family names or last names - became fixed in the period between 1250 and 1450. The broad range of ethnic and linguistic roots for British surnames reflects the history of Britain as multi-ethnic land. These roots include Old English, Middle English, Old French, Old Norse, Irish and Scots Gaelic, Pictish, Welsh, Cornish, Gaulish, Germanic, Latin, Greek and Hebrew.

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Q. How and why did they develop

A. They came about largely as a result of a lack of variety of Christian - or given or first - names. When everyone was called William or John it became necessary to distinguish one from another.

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All indigenous British surnames came about in one of four ways:

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First names: family names based on the Christian name of the father - known as patronymics - are very common in English-speaking countries. So Williams or Williamson are both sons of William. In Scotland and Ireland Mac or Mc means 'son of'. Norman families which settled in Ireland soon after the Norman Conquest have a surname beginning with Fitz, from fils, French for 'son' - curiously Fitz in England often indicated illegitimacy, so Fitzroy means the illegitimate son of the King (fils de roi). The Irish O', as in O'Brien, means the grandson of Brien.

Localities: These can be derived from a specific geographical area or piece of land. So, Marsh, Middleton or Ireland, for example.

Occupations: These are largely self-explanatory: Barber, Plumber, Baker, Cartwright and so on. However, some are deceptive: some Farmers did not work in agriculture but collected taxes, and Banker is not an occupational surname at all, meaning 'dweller on a hillside'.

Nicknames: either arising from physical or behavioural characteristics, such as Redhead or Black, these are probably the most interesting of the lot as they say something very specific about one of our ancestors. These are not always complimentary, however. The well-known Gaelic surname Kennedy comes from a forebear who was nicknamed 'ugly head'.

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Q. What about other parts of the world

A. Surnames are not by any means universal, although they are much more widespread than they once were, partly as a result of the Europeans' insistence that their colonial subjects adopt family names in order to help the bureaucracy run more smoothly.

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Turkey adopted family names as recently as 1935, and Iceland still uses an age-old system whereby you are so-and-so's dottir or son, which means that you won't have the same last name as siblings of the opposite sex or either of your parents - difficult for compilers of phone books. In the Far East it is usual for family name to precede the given name.

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Q. And the world's most popular surname is...

Depending on which authority you consult it's either Li (or Liu) or Chan (or Chang). Either way it's a Chinese name.

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Q. What about in the English-speaking world

A. Smith, of course. Do you really need to ask

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For more on Phrases & Sayings click here

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By Simon SMITH