In the first ages of the world a single name was sufficient for each individual; and that name was generally invented for the person, in allusion to the circumstances attending his birth, or to some personal quality he possessed, or which his parents fondly hoped he might in future possess.

Christian names being given in infancy, and by friends and relatives, cannot, as a general rule, have bad significations, or be associated with crime or misfortune. It. is otherwise, however, with surnames. These will be found to be of all shades, from the best to the worst, the most pleasing to the most ridiculous. They originated later in life, after the character and habits of the individual had been formed, and after he had engaged in some permanent occupation, trade, or pursuit. They were given by the community in which he dwelt by enemies as well as by friends.

The first approach to the modern system of nomenclature is found in the assumption of the name of One's Sire in addition to his own proper name; as Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Sometimes the adjunct expressed the country or profession of the bearer; sometimes some excellence or blemish; as Diogenes the Cynic; or Dionysius the Tyrant.

A mother's name, that of a parent, or of some remoter ancestor more illustrious than the father, have in the same way been used to form new names. A like attention has been paid to sentiments of friendship and gratitude. Sometimes the wife's name became the husband's surname. The name of the tribe or people to which a man belonged might also become a surname. If any particular name described the locality of a man's residence or property, it may serve the same purpose. Personal acts and qualities have given rise to a great variety of surnames.

Surnames are traceable to several chief sources. There will be seen evidences in physical and political geography that the designations of countries, mountains, rivers, districts, towns, villages, hamlets, are all associated with the names of persons whom we daily meet, suggesting to the thoughtful mind most interesting topics regarding the histories of families and places.

Though the majority of our ancient family names are territorial, we have many large classes of exceptions, and the origin of most of them is not at all doubtful.

Surnames can scarcely be said to have been permanently settled before the era of the Reformation. The keeping of parish registers was probably more instrumental than anything else in settling them; for if a person were entered under one name at baptism, it is not likely he would be married under another and buried under a third; in some instances, prior to the keeping of parish registers, persons were recorded as having different names at different periods of their life. As to the derivations of surnames, it should be remembered, that places were named before families. You have only to examine any of those names which serve for lands and also for persons, to see this plainly. If you found the name of Cruickshanks, or Prettyman, Black-mantle, or Great-head, you would not hesitate. These are evidently coined for persons, and you find no such names of land, or for the double purpose. But then you can have as little doubt that names like Church-hill, Green-hill, Hazel-wood, Sandi-lands, were first given to places; and when you find them borne both by land and persons, you will conclude the persons took them from the territories. In general then, when a place and a family have the same name it is the place that gives the name to the people, not the family to the place. This rule, which will not be disputed by anyone who has bestowed some study or thought on the subject has very few exceptions.

There is a class of fables, the invention of a set of bungling genealogists, who, by a process like that which heralds call canting--catching at a sound pretend that the Douglases had their name from a Gaelic word, said to mean a dark gray man, but which never could be descriptive of a man at all; that the Forbeses were at first called For beast, because they killed a great bear; that Dalyell is from a Gaelic word, meaning "I dare;" that the Guthries were so called from the homely origin of gutting. three haddocks for King David the Second's entertainment, when he landed very hungry on the Brae of Bervie from his French voyage. These clumsy inventions of a late age, if they were really meant to be seriously credited, disappear when we find from record that there were very ancient territories, and even parishes, of  Douglas, Forbes, Dalyell, and Guthrie, long before the names came into use as family surnames.

It was formerly customary to receive names from ancestors by compounding their name with a word indicating filial relationship. Names so compounded were termed patronymics, from Pater: father, and Onoma.: a name-father being used in the sense of ancestor. When personal names merged into family appellations, patronymics became obsolete; or, more correctly, ceased to be formed. Before this change was effected, in case a man was called Dennis: born on the Day of St. Dennis, sometimes his eldest son would be called Dennison, which in some cases, became Tennyson; and a man from a village in which was a church dedicated to St. Dennis was called Dennistoun. After the period in which descriptive names flourished, each of his children, whether male or female, would be called Dennis, so that this became literally a patronymic, inasmuch as it was a name received from a father. Howbeit, only those names that were taken from a parent when such was not the rule are called patronymics. Personal names lead the van as to all others, and are the basis of half their successors. Long after personal names were almost as widely diffused as persons, we find patronymics coming into use, the offspring. of necessity arising out of multiplicity.

But when we come to realize that nearly one third of Englishmen were known either by the name of William or John about the year 1300, it will be seen that the pet name and nick form were no freak, but a necessity. We dare not attempt a category, but the surnames of today tell us much. Will was quite a distinct youth from WiIlot, Willot from Wilmot, Wilmot from Wilkin, and Wilkin from Wilcock. There might be half a dozen Johns about the farmstead, but it mattered little so long as one was called Jack, another Jenning, a third Jenkin, a fourth Jackcock (now Jacox as a surname), a fifth Brownjohn, and sixth Micklejohn, or Littlejohn, or Propetjohn (i.e., well-built or handsome).

The first name looking like a patronymic is antediluvian, viz., Tubal-Cain: flowing out from Cain, as though O'Cain, given to intimate pride in relationship to Cain. During the Israelitish theocracy Gentile patronymics were in common use, as Hittites from Beth, but those personal came in later. As soon, however, as the New Testament opens we meet with Bar-Jonah, Bar-Abbas, names received from fathers in the conventional patronymical sense. It is, therefore, manifest that the chronology of patronymics, the period of their formation, lies about midway between primitive ages and time current.

The Saxons sometimes bestowed honorable appellations on those who had signalized themselves by the performance of any gallant action, like the Roman Cognomina. Every person conversant with the history of those times will call to mind that England was much infested with wolves, and that large rewards were given to such as were able by force or stratagem, to subdue them. To kill a wolf was to destroy a dangerous enemy, and to confer a benefit on society. Hence several Saxon proper names, ending in ulph and wolf, as Biddu1ph, the wolf-killer, or more properly " wolf-compel1er," and some others; but these, among the common people at least, did not descend from father to son in the manner of modern surnames.

Another early species of surname adjunct is the epithet Great, as Alexander the Great; with words expressive of other qualities, as Edmund Iron-side, Harold Hare-foot; and among the kings of Norway there was a Bare-foot. France had monarchs named Charles the Bald, Louis the Stutterer, and Philip the Fair.

As society advanced more in refinement, partly for euphony, and partly for the sake of distinction, other names came into common use.

Modern nations have adopted various methods of distinguishing families. The Highlanders of Scotland employed the sirename with Mac, and hence our Macdonalds and Macartys, meaning respectively the son of Donald and of Arthur.

It would, however, be preposterous to imagine that surnames universally prevailed so early as the eleventh century. We have overwhelming evidence that they did not; and must admit that although the Norman Conquest did much to introduce the practice of using them, it was long before they became very common. The occasional use of surnames in England dates beyond the ingress of the Normans. Surnames were taken up in a very gradual manner by the great, (both of Saxon and Norman descent) during the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. By the middle of the twelfth, however, it appears that they were (in the estimation of some) necessary appendages to families of rank, to distinguish them from those of meaner extraction.

The unsettled state of surnames in those early times renders it a difficult matter to trace the pedigree of any family beyond the thirteenth century. In Cheshire, a county remarkable for the number of its resident families of great antiquity, it was very usual for younger branches of the family, laying aside the Dame of their father, to take their name from the place of their residences, and thus in three descents as many surnames are found in the same family. This remark may be forcibly illustrated by reference to the family pedigree of the family of Fitz-Hugh, which name did not settle down as a fixed appellative until the time of Edward III.

Although most towns have borrowed their names from their situation and other respects, yet with some apt termination have derived their names from men; as Edwardston and Alfredstone. But these were from forenames or christian names, and not from sire names; and even almost to the period of the conquest forenames of men were generally given as names of places,

The Normans are thought to have been the first to introduce the practice of fixed surnames among us; and certainly a little while before the conquest, some of these adventurers had taken family names from their chateaux in Normandy. "Neither is there any village in Normandy," says Camden, "that gave not denomination to some family in England." The French names introduced into England at the conquest may generally be known by the prefixes de, du, des, de, la, st.; and by the suffixes font, ers, fant, deau, age, mont, ani, aux, bois, ly, eux, et, val, court, vaux, lay, fort, ot, champ, and dille, most of which are component parts of proper names of places, as every one may convince himself by the slightest glance at the map of Northern France. But that these Norman surnames had not been of long standing is very certain, for at the Conquest it was only one hundred and sixty years since the first band of Northmen rowed up the Seine, under their leader Hrolf, whom our history books honor with the theatrical name of Rollo, but who was known among his people as "Hrolf the Ganger."

But whether in imitation of the Norman lords, or from the great convenience of the distinction, the use of fixed surnames arose in France about the year 1000; came into England sixty years later, or with the Norman Conquest; and reached Scotland, speaking roundly, about the year 1100.

The first example of fixed surnames in any number in England, are to be found in the Conqueror's Valuation Book called Doomsday. "Yet in England," again to quote the judicious Camden, "certain it is, that as the better sort, even from the Conquest, by little and little took surnames, so they were not settled among the common people fully until about the time of Edward the Second."

Those dashing Norman adventurers introduced to the British Isle the custom of chivalry and the surnames they had adopted from their paternal castles across the channel. They made a rage for knighthood and turned the ladies' heads. An English  princess declined to marry a suitor who "had not two names."  Henry I wished to marry his natural son Robert to Mabel, one of the heiresses of Fitz-Hamon. The lady demurred:

Whereupon King Henry gave him the surname of Fitzroy, which means son of a king.

The era of fixed surnames does not rest only on the authority of Camden. It can be proved by a thousand records, English and Scotch. It is almost sufficiently proved when it can be shown the race of Stuart already first of Scotch families in opulence and power, distinguished by no surnames for several generations after the Norman Conquest. Much later the ancestors of the princely line of Hamilton were known as Walter Fitz-Gilbert, and Gilbert Fitz-Walter, before it occurred to them to assume the name their kinsmen had borne in England. But surnames were undoubtedly first used in the twelfth century and came into general use in the following one.

Was formed by adding ing to the ancestor's name. as AElfreding, which means Alfred's son; the plural for which is AElfredingas.

Which is exceedingly common, is generally indicated by affixing son to the name of a progenitor, and is incapable of being used in a plural form or in the generic sense. For instance, Gibson, a son of Gibbs, a contraction for Gilbert. Munson, a son of MUDD, a contraction of Edmund.

Are from the Latin word De, which means of. This is a Patronymical sign common to French, Italian, and even German names. Thus Deluc which means of Luke. Dwight means of Wight; and De Foe means of the Faith.
 
 

Fitz stands for Filius, a son, and received through the Normans.
 
 

Corresponding more or less closely with de, ac, is the Dutch van, and usually applied with the force of the, as Vandersteen, which means of the stone, hill, from which have sprung Folli, Fell, Knox. Vandervekle means of the field; Van Meter means living on hired land; and Vandeveer means of the ferry.
 
 

Is a form of the Celtic means mac, which the Cambrian people made Mab or Map, and shortening it to a letter h, p, or its cognate f, gave it work to do as a patronymical prefix. Thus, Probart, son of Robert; Probyn, son of Robin; Blake, son of Lake; Bowen, son of Owen; Price, son of Rice or Rheese; Priddle, son of Riddle; and Prichard, son of Richard.
 
 

The Highlanders, Irish and Welsh hold mac in common. The Welsh delight to have it in the forms of mab, map, ap, hop, b, p, f. In Irish names mac tends toward mag, ma, and c. But Scotland took most lovingly to mac. The Milesians found a greater charm in Eoghan: a son, forming ua, and that used as 0 in the sense of eldest son, for he only was allowed to use it. The Irish developed a patronymic out of their Erse treasury more elastic and poetic than the Gaelic mac.. The Celtic for young, offspring son, is, as above given, eoghan, whence Egan for Hugh, eoghan: son of Hugh; and also Flanegan, son of Flan.
 
 

Is mac, meaning a son; and 0 from eoghan, for a first born son. The Gaels also had a patronymical affix derived from eoghan, known as ach, och, the source of our ock, as seen in hillock, which means little hill.
 
 

Is formed by az, or ez affixed. The two words are variations of the tail Filius, a son; as Alvarez, son of Alva; and Enriquez. son of Henry.

Was sometimes formed by placing the name of a son before the name of his father, as Galileo Galilei, which means Ga1i1eo, the son of Galilei; Speron Speroni, which means Speron, the son of Speroni.
 
 

Is itch for a son; and of, ef or if for a grandson or descendant. Romanovitch Jouriff: son of Romain, grandson of  Joury; and Romanoff, descended from Romain, son of Rome.
 
 

Assumes the forms pulos, soula, as in the name Nicolopulos, son of Nicholas.
 
 

Are sobn, zen, sen, son, zoon, and dotter, such as Mendelssohn, son of Mendel; Thorwaldsen, son of Thor-
wald; and Larsdotter, son of Lars.
 
 

Is aitis, ait or at, used as affix, thus, Adomaitis, meaning a son of Adam.
 
 

Is putra, added as an affix; as occurs in Rajaputrl1, son of a king.
 
 

Is tse, or se, used as an affix, as Kung-fut-se, which means Kung, the son of Fo; and Yang-tse-Kiang, river, son of the ocean.
 
 

Is illus, as Hostilius, son of Hostis.
 
 

Is idas, modified to ida, ides, id, i, ode For instance, Aristides, son of Ariston.
 
 

Proper is ben, from the word Eben, a stone. The Chaldees used Bar in the sense of lofty, elevated, superior, which was primarily applied to eminence, and is identical with our Barr. As Barzillai, son of Zillai; Benjoseph, son of Joseph.
 
 

The primary sense ot kin seems to have been relationship: from thence family or offspring.

The next meaning acquired by kin was child, or "young one. " We still speak in a diminutive sense of a manikin, kilderkin, pipkin, lambkin, jerkin, mini-kin (little Minion), or Doitkin.

Terminations in kin were slightly going down in popular estimation when the Hebrew invasion made a clean sweep of them. They found shelter in Wales, however, and directories preserve in their list of surnames their memorial forever.

In proof of the popularity of kin are the surnames of Simpkinson, Hopkins, Dickens, Dickinson, Watkins, Hawkins, Jenkinson, Atkinson, and all the rest. The patronymics ending in kins got abbreviated into kiss, kes, and ks. Hence the origin of our Perkes, Purkiss, Hawkes, and Hawks, Dawks, Jenks, Jucltes, and Jukes (Judkins).
 
 

This diminutive, to judge from the Paris Directory, must have been enormously popular with the French. England's connection with Normandy and France generally brought the fashion to the English Court, and in habits of this kind the English folk quickly copied. Terminations in kin and cock were confined to the lower orders first and last. Terminations in on or in and ot or et, were the introduction of fashion, and being under patronage of the highest families in the land, naturally obtained a much wider popularity.
 
 

These are the terminations that ran first in favor for many generations.

This diminutive ot et is found in the English language in such words as poppet, jacket, lancet, ballot, gibbet, target, gigot, chariot, latchet. pocket, ballet. In the same way a little page became a paget, and hence among our surnames Smallpage, Littlepage, and Paget.

Coming to baptism, we find scarcely a single name of any pretensions to popularity that did not take to itself this desinence. The two favorite girl names in Yorkshire previous to the Reformation were Matilda and Emma. Two of the commonest sur-
names there today are Emmott and Tillot, with such variations as Emmett and Tillett, Emmotson and Tillotson.

Of other girl names we may mention Mabel, which from Mab became Mabbott; Douce became Doucett and Dowsett; Gillian or Julian, from Gill or Jill (whence Jack and Jill), became Gillot, Juliet, and Jowett; Margaret became Margett and Margott, and in the north Magot.
 
 

After these local names "the most in number have been derived from Occupations or Professions."

The practice of borrowing names from the various avocations of life is of high antiquity. Thus the Romans had among them many persons, and those too of the highest rank, who bore such names as Figures, Pictor, and Fabritius, answering to the Potters and Paynters, of our own times. These names became hereditary, next in order after the local names, about the eleventh and twelfth centuries. As local names generally had the prefix de or at, so these frequently had le, as Stephen le Spicer, and Walter le Boucher.
 
 

The same principle which introduced surnames borrowed from trades and occupations led to the adoption of the names of dignities and offices, which also became hereditary; as Emperor, King, Prince, Duke, Earle, Pope, Bishop, Cardinal, etc.
 
 

These seem to form one of the most obvious sources of surnames, and a prolific source it has been. Nothing would be more natural at the first assumption of surnames, than for a person of dark complexion to take the name of Black or Blackman, a tawny one that of Browne, and a pale one that of White or Whiteman. But it was not from the head alone that names of this description were taken, for we have, in respect of other personal qualities, our Longs and our Shorts, our Strongs and our Weaklys, and our Lightfoots and our Heavisides, with many more whose meaning is less obvious. Among the names indicative of mental or moral qualities, we have our Hardys and Cowards, our Livelys and our Sullens, our Brisks and our Doolittles; and Brainhead, which later became Brainerd.

Everybody must have remarked. the great number of names of this kind. Who does not immediately call to mind some score or two of the name of Edwards, Johnson, Stevens, and Harrison, in the circle of his acquaintance. Many of the christian forenames of our ancestors were taken up without any addition or change, as Anthony, Andrew, Abel, Baldwin, Donald, etc. Others have been corrupted in various ways, as Bennet from Benedict, Cutbeard from Cuthbert, Stace from Ustace.

The surnames from these sources are almost innumerable. There is scarcely a city, town, village, manor, hamlet, or estate, in England, that has not lent its name to swell the nomenclature of Englishmen.

We find the names of the heavenly bodies, beasts, birds, fishes, insects, plants, fruits, flowers, metals, etc., very frequently borne as surnames; as Sun, Moon, Star, Bear, Buck, Chicken, Raven, Crab, Cod, Bee, Fly, Lily, Primrose, Orange, Lemon, Gold, Silver, etc.

There are several surnames derived from consanguinity, alliance, and from other social relations, originating, from there having been two or more persons bearing the same christian name in the same neighborhood; as Fader, Brothers, Cousins, Husbands; and closely. connected with the foregoing are the names derived from periods of age, as Young, Younger, Elder, Senior. From periods of time we have several names, as Spring, Summer, Winter. The following surnames may also find a place here: Soone, Later, Latter, Last, Quickly.

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