Surnames with Anglo-Saxon and British Origin
Surnames were first used in Rome, and from there they were established in France in the latter part of the 10th century. They were introduced into England at the Norman…
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From Surnames, their Origin and Nationality by Llewelyn McKenna, 1913.
Surnames with Anglo-Saxon [and British] Origin
Surnames that end in bury, berry, borough, burg, burgh are simply forms of the ancient Anglo-Saxon word used for a town, city or village, hence, Salisbury is simply “the city of health;” Waterbury, “the water town” or “the town near the waters’ edge,” while Edinburgh is “Edwinstown.” It might be well to remember that in Scotland burgh is always pronounced borough. Norbury is simply the north town, Sudbury the south town, and Edina, our little Missouri town, is simply the Latinized or poetical name for Edinburgh.
Gough, meaning red, Glas, or Glass, meaning green, and Vaughan, meaning little, are also very common surnames, as well as the names Reed, Reid, Rudd, Ray, Roy, Roe, all meaning red. These names were derived from the color of the tartan and hose worn by these Scottish clans, as were also Douglas, meaning dark green. Dun, Dunn, Dunne meaning a dark slate or stone gray color!
Surnames were first used in Rome, and from there they were established in France in the latter part of the 10th century. They were introduced into England at the Norman conquest and recorded in Doomsday in October, 1066. They were not introduced into Wales for many years afterward, and even there, they are still somewhat uncertain. It is said that the royal family of Great Britain, as well as the Bourbons of France and Spain have really no surnames, from the fact, that they have never adopted one.
King Edward, the Seventh of Great Britain, might have adopted the name “Wettin” should he have chosen, from the fact, that that was his father’s surname, but his mother being a British queen never adopted it, and, hence, he took his titles and name from his mother and not from his father, because she was of the royal family, whereas he was not. King Edward belonged to a family called Guelph, meaning Wolf, which originated in the northern part of Italy, but he is of the German house of Hanover and Brunswick, descended from Sophia, a daughter of James I of Great Britain.
The first sovereign of the Hanovarian succession was George I., who began reigning in August, 1714, on the death of Queen Anne. She was the last of the Stuarts, and James I. of Great Britain was the first of the Stuarts to sit on the English throne. He had formerly been James VI. of Scotland. The countries were united and were afterwards known as Great Britain. The union came about on the death of Queen Elizabeth in March, 1603. King James was the only child of Mary, Queen of Scots, the most beautiful and most unfortunate of women. She was beheaded by order of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, in 1585, aged 43 years. She was executed at Peterborough, England.
Curious to learn more about your surname and heritage? Try visiting FamilySearch’s Surname Search feature!
Oliver Cromwell was a Great Mixer
Probably no man in Great Britain was ever more active in spreading the names of the people of the British Islands over the world than was Oliver Cromwell, Protector of the English Commonwealth, during the years from 1649 to 1660. It has been said of him that he transported, exported, deported, and imported the people of that country at his own sweet will. He sent the English to the south of Ireland where the third generation of these people became more Irish than the native Irish themselves, the Scotch to the West Indies, as well as to Virginia and the Carolinas, hence, as has been said, no man did more for mixing up the people than did he.
Scottish surnames have the following terminals: Craick, meaning a storm; Bogle, a goblin; Boak, to belch; Hunt, meaning to haunt; Rash, meaning an itching; Snell, meaning keen; Hope, meaning hops; Gowan, a daisy; Stott, a young ox; Watt, meaning wet; Snodgrass, a trimmed lawn; Spink, a prim rose; Collie, a sheep dog; Grossert, a gooseberry; Cay, Kay, a jackdaw; Garvie, a sprat, a fish; Brander, a gridiron; Meikle, big; Riggs, a ridge; Cowan, a smith; Souter, a shoemaker; Grieve, Grave, manager of a coal pit; Gilmour, a chief’s attendant; Yett, Yates, Gates, an entrance to an enclosure.
Origin of British Surnames
British surnames are largely derived from Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Norman-French, and Danish sources, thus Bal or Bally, meaning a town as Balbriggan, meaning Bridgetown. Ballybrophy, meaning Brophy’s town; Ballyvaughan, meaning little town. There are many Celtic names formed in this way, Names ending in tre, meaning a town; Ros, meaning a heath, hence, grass land. Pol, meaning a pool; Lam, a church; Caer, a castle; Pen, head land; Hurst, a wood; Den, a valley, Don, a hill, hence, the jingle:
“By Tre, Ros, Pol, Lam, Caer, Pen, Den and Don,
You may always know an Englishman ”
There were few surnames in England before the Norman Conquest, 1066, although some appear in the old Saxon records. Many influences united to introduce these names. Many names that were once significant had lost their meaning and were only held in the memory of those who knew the persons. Many surnames appeared in Doomday, but it was not at first common to transmit the surname from father to son. Doomday was the name of a Norman French book that contained a record of all important transactions and affairs of the government after the conquest.
McKenna, Llewelyn. Surnames, their Origin and Nationality. Monarch Printing Co., 1913.
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