Robert Ferguson
Surnames as a Science

PREFACE

That portion of our surnames which dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, and so forms a part of the general system by which Teutonic names are governed, is distinctly a branch of a science, and as such has been treated by the Germans, upon whose lines I have generally endeavoured to follow.

It has been a part of my object to show that this portion of our surnames is a very much larger one than has been generally supposed, and that it includes a very great number of names which have hitherto been otherwise accounted for, as well as of course a great number for which no explanation has been forthcoming.

Nevertheless, while claiming for my subject the dignity of a science, I am very well aware that the question as to how far I have myself succeeded in treating it scientifically is an entirely different one, and one upon which it will be for others than myself to pronounce an opinion.

This work is of the nature of a supplement to one which I published some time ago under the title of The Teutonic Name-system applied to the Family-names of France, England, and Germany (Williams and Norgate), though I have been obliged, in order to render my system intelligible, to a certain extent to go over the same ground again.

I will only say, in conclusion, that in dealing with this subject – one in which all persons may be taken to be more or less interested – I have endeavoured as much as possible to avoid technicalities and to write so as to be intelligible to the ordinary reader.

Robert Ferguson.

Morton, Carlisle.

CHAPTER I.
THE ANTIQUITY AND THE UNSUSPECTED DIGNITY OF SOME OF OUR COMMON NAMES

As some things that seem common, and even ignoble, to the naked eye, lose their meanness under the revelations of the microscope, so, many of our surnames that seem common and even vulgar at first sight, will be found, when their origin is adequately investigated, to be of high antiquity, and of unsuspected dignity. Clodd, for instance, might seem to be of boorish origin, and Clout to have been a dealer in old rags. But I claim for them that they are twin brothers, and etymologically the descendants of a Frankish king. Napp is not a name of distinguished sound, yet it is one that can take us back to that far-off time ere yet the history of England had begun, when, among the little kinglets on the old Saxon shore, "Hnaf ruled the Hôcings."¹ Moll, Betty, Nanny, and Pegg sound rather ignoble as the names of men, yet there is nothing of womanliness in their warlike origin. Bill seems an honest though hardly a distinguished name, unless he can claim kinship with Billing, the "noble progenitor of the royal house of Saxony." Now Billing, thus described by Kemble, is a patronymic, "son of Bill or Billa," and I claim for our Bill (as a surname) the right, as elsewhere stated, to be considered as the progenitor. Among the very shortest names in all the directory are Ewe, Yea, and Yeo, yet theirs also is a pedigree that can take us back beyond Anglo-Saxon times. Names of a most disreputable appearance are Swearing and Gambling, yet both, when properly inquired into, turn out to be the very synonyms of respectability. Winfarthing again would seem to be derived from the most petty gambling, unless he can be rehabilitated as an Anglo-Saxon Winfrithing (patronymic of Winfrith.) A more unpleasant name than Gumboil (Lower) it would not be easy to find, and yet it represents, debased though be its form, a name borne by many a Frankish warrior, and by a Burgundian king fourteen centuries ago. Its proper form would be Gumbald (Frankish for Gundbald), and it signifies "bold in war." Another name which wofully belies its origin is Tremble, for, of the two words of which it is composed, one signifies steadfast or firm, and the other signifies valiant or bold. Its proper form is Trumbald, and the first step of its descent is Trumbull. A name which excites anything but agreeable associations is Earwig. Yet it is at any rate a name that goes back to Anglo-Saxon times, there being an Earwig, no doubt a man of some consideration, a witness to a charter (Thorpe, p. 333). And the animal which it represents is not the insect of insidious repute, but the sturdy boar so much honoured by our Teuton forefathers, ear being, as elsewhere noted, a contraction of evor, boar, so that Earwig is the "boar of battle." Of more humiliating seeming than even Earwig is Flea (vouched for by Lower as an English surname). And yet it is at all events a name of old descent, for Flea – I do not intend it in any equivocal sense, for the stem is found in Kemble's list of early settlers – came in with the Saxons. And though it has nothing to do with English "flea," yet it is no doubt from the same root, and expresses the same characteristic of agility so marvellously developed in the insect.

Even Bugg, if he had seen his name under this metaphorical microscope, might have felt himself absolved from changing it into Howard, for Bugg is at least as ancient, and etymologically quite as respectable. It is a name of which great and honourable men of old were not ashamed; there was, for instance, a Buga, minister to Edward of Wessex, who signs his name to many a charter. And there was also an Anglo-Saxon queen, Hrothwaru, who was also called Bucge, which I have elsewhere given reasons for supposing to have been her original name. There are moreover to be found, deduced from place-names, two Anglo-Saxons named respectively Buga and Bugga, owners of land, and therefore respectable. In Germany we find Bugo, Bugga, and Bucge, as ancient names of men and women in the Altdeutsches Namenbuch. And Bugge is at present a name both among the Germans and the Scandinavians, being, among others, that of a distinguished professor at Christiania. As to its origin, all that we can predicate with anything like confidence is that it is derived from a word signifying to bend, and of the various senses thus derived, that of ring or bracelet (O.N. baugr) seems to me the most appropriate. The bracelet was of old an honourable distinction, and the prince, as the fountain of honour, was the "bracelet-giver."²

My object then at present is to show that many of our short and unpretending names are among the most ancient that we have, being such as our Saxon forefathers brought with them when they first set foot upon our shores, and such as we find whenever history gives us a yet earlier glimpse of the Teuton in his home. Bass, for instance, whose red pyramid to-day stamps authenticity on many a bottle, was in ancient times a well-known potter's name on the beautiful red Samian ware of the Romans. The seat of this manufacture was on the banks of the Rhine, and in the long list of potters' names, mostly of course Roman, there are not a few that are those of Germans or of Gauls. And there is one interesting case, that of a lamp found along the line of the Roman wall, in which the German potter, one Fus, has asserted his own nationality by stamping his ware with the print of a naked human foot, within which is inscribed his name, thus proving, by the play upon his name, that fus meant "foot" in the language which he spoke. Little perhaps the old potter thought, as he chuckled over his conceit, that when fifteen centuries had passed away, his trade-mark would remain to attest his nationality.

But to return to Bass, let us see what can be done to bridge the gulf between the princely brewers of to-day and the old potter on the banks of the Rhine. And first, as to Anglo-Saxon England, we find Bass as a mass-priest, and Bassus as a valiant soldier of King Edwin in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, as also a Bassa in the genealogy of the Mercian kings. Basing, the Anglo-Saxon patronymic, "son of Bass," occurs about the twelfth century, in the Liber Vitæ. And Kemble, in his list of Anglo-Saxon "marks," or communities of the early settlers, finds Bassingas, i. e. descendants or followers of Bass, in Cambridgeshire and in Notts, while Mr. Taylor finds offshoots of the same family on the opposite coast in Artois. In Germany we find many instances of Bass, and its High German form Pass, from the seventh century downwards. And in the neighbourhood of the Wurm-See, in Bavaria, we find, corresponding with our Bassings, a community of Pasings, i. e. descendants or followers of Pass. We may take it then that our name Pass is only another form of Bass, both names being also found at present in Germany. As to the origin of the name, for which no sufficient explanation is to be found in the Old German dialects, Foerstemann has to turn to the kindred dialect of the Old Northern, where he finds it in basa, anniti, to strive contend.

Thus far we have had to do with Bass as a name of Teutonic origin. But it appears to have been a Celtic name as well, for Bassa, a name presumably Welsh, occurs in the pathetic lament of Llywarch, written in the sixth century, the name being, on the authority of the late Dr. Guest, still retained in Baschurch near Shrewsbury. The name Bass, then, or Pass, on Roman pottery might be either that of a German or of a Gaul, but more probably the former, especially as we find also Bassico, a form more particularly German, and some other forms more probably Teutonic.

Before parting with Bass, I may refer to one in particular of his progeny, the name Basin, formed from it by the ending en or in, referred to in a subsequent chapter. The original of our Basin has been supposed to have been a barber, the mediæval leech, but I claim for him a different origin, and connect his name, which is found as Basin in Domesday, with the name Basin of a Thuringian king of the fifth century.

Let us take another of our common surnames, Scott. This has been generally assumed to have been an original surname derived from nationality, and we need not doubt that it has been so in many, perhaps in most, cases. But Scott, as a man's name, is, not to say older than the introduction of surnames, but as old probably as the name of the nation itself. To begin with England, it occurs in the thirteenth century, in the Liber Vitæ, where it is the reverse of a surname, Scott Agumdessune (no doubt for Agemundessune). I do not think, however, that Agumdessune is here a surname, but only an individual description, an earnest of surnames that were to be. For there is another Scott who signs about the same time, and it might be necessary to distinguish between these two men. There is in the same record yet another Scott, described as "Alstani filius," who, in the time of William the Conqueror, "for the redemption of his soul, and with the consent of his sons and of all his friends," makes a gift of valuable lands to the Church. Scott again occurs in an Anglo-Saxon charter of boundaries quoted by Kemble, "Scottes heal," i. e. "Scot's hall." And Scotta occurs in another in "Scottan byrgels," i. e. "Scotta's burial mound." In Germany Scot occurs in the ninth century in the Book of the Brotherhood of St. Peter at Salzburg, where it is classed by Foerstemann as a German name, which seems justified by the fact that Scotardus, a German compound (hard, fortis), occurs as an Old Frankish name in the time of Charlemagne. In Italy, where, as I shall show in a subsequent chapter, the Germans have left many Teutonic names behind them, we find a Scotti, duke of Milan, in the middle ages, whose name is probably due to that cause. Scotto is a surname at present among the Frisians, while among the Germans generally it is most commonly softened into Schott.

Scot however, as a man's name, seems to have been at least as common among the Celts as among the Teutons; Gluck cites four instances of it from ancient, chiefly Latin, authors, in only one of which, however, that of a Gaul, is the particular nationality distinguished. As to the origin of the name, all that can be said is that it is most probably from the same origin, whatever that may be, as the name of the nation; just as another Celtic man's name, Caled, signifying hard, durus, is probably from the same origin as that of Caledonia, "stern and wild."

Lastly, among the names on Roman pottery, we have Scottus, Scoto, and Scotni, the last being a genitive, "Scotni manû." Of these three names the first is the Latinisation of Scott; the second has the ending in o most common for men's names among the old Franks, but also found among the Celts; the third, as a genitive, presumably represents the form Scotten, the ending in en, hereafter referred to, running through the whole range of Teutonic names, but being also found in Celtic. Upon the whole, then, there does not seem anything sufficiently distinctive to stamp these names as either Teutonic or Celtic. I may observe that all these three forms, Scott, Scotto, and Scotten, are found in our surnames, as well as Scotting, the Anglo-Saxon patronymic, which assists to mark the name as in Anglo-Saxon use. We have also Scotland, which has been supposed to have been an original surname derived from nationality, and so I dare say it may be in some cases. But Scotland appears as a man's name in the Liber Vitæ about the twelfth or thirteenth century, and before surnames begin to make their appearance. Scotland again occurs as the name of a Norman in the Acta Sanctorum, where it seems more probably of Frankish origin, and cannot at any rate be from nationality. The fact seems to be that land, terra, was formed into compounds, like bald, and fred, and hard, without reference perhaps to any particular meaning. Similarly we find Old German, apparently Frankish, names, Ingaland and Airland (more properly Heriland), which might account in a similar way for our surnames England and Ireland.

Let us take yet one more name, Gay, a little more complicated in its connections than the others, and endeavour to trace it up to its origin. "Nay! but what better origin can we have," I can fancy the reader saying at starting, "than our own word 'gay', French gai?" I would not undertake to say that our name is not in any instance from this origin, but what I say is that a proved Anglo-Saxon name is better than any assumed word, however suitable its meaning may seem to be. Moreover, the same Anglo-Saxon word will account, not only for Gay, but for a whole group of names, Gay, Gye, Gedge, Gage, Kay, Key, Kegg, Kedge, Cage, – all variations, according to my view, of one original name. It must inevitably be the case that a name dating back to a remote antiquity, and in use over a wide area, must be subject to many phonetic variations. And it matters nothing to etymology, so long as her own strict rules are complied with, if some of these names have not a single letter in common. Given, then, an Anglo-Saxon name Gagg, Gegg, with its alternative form Cagg, Keg, and we get from it all the forms that are required. For the English ear is averse, as a matter of euphony, to a final g, and while it most commonly changes it into y (which is in effect dropping it), as in A.S. dag, Eng. day, A.S. cæg, Eng. key, it also not unfrequently changes it into dg, as in A.S. bricg, Eng. bridge, &c. To come, then, to the Anglo-Saxon names concerned, Kemble, in his list of original settlers, has both Gagingas, i. e. descendants or followers of Gag, and Cægingas, i. e. descendants or followers of Cæg. And the Anglo-Saxon names cited below, one of them the exact counterpart of Gay, are deduced from place-names of a later period. The Old German names do not, in this case, throw any light upon the subject, as, on account of the stem not being so distinctly developed as it is in Anglo-Saxon, they have been placed by Foerstemann to, as I consider, a wrong stem, viz. gaw, patria.

Anglo-Saxon names.– Gæcg, Geagga, Geah, Cæg, Ceagga, Ceahha (Gæging, Gaing, patronymics).

Old German names.– Gaio, Geio, Kegio, Keyo, Keio.

Present German.– Gey, Geu.

Present Friesic.– Kay, Key.

English surnames.– Gay, Gye, Gedge, Gage, Kay, Key, Kegg, Kedge, Cage.

As to the origin and meaning of the word, I can offer nothing more than a somewhat speculative conjecture. There is a stem gagen, cagen, in Teutonic names, and which seems to be derived most probably from O.N. gagn, gain, victory. We find it in Anglo-Saxon in Gegnesburh, now Gainsborough, and in Geynesthorn, another place-name, and we have it in our names Gain, Cain, Cane. It is very possible, and in accordance with the Teutonic system, that gag may represent the older and simpler form, standing to gagen in the same relation as English ward does to warden, and A.S. geard (inclosure), to garden.

As in the two previous cases, so also in this case, there is an ancient Celtic name, Geio, to take into account, and to this may be placed the names Keogh and Keho, if these names be, as I suppose, Irish and not English. Also the Kay and the Kie in McKay and McKie. Lastly, in this, as in the other two cases, there is also a name on Roman pottery, Gio, which might, as it seems, be either German or Celtic. Can there be any connection, I venture to inquire, between these ancient names, Celtic or Teutonic, and the Roman Gaius and Caius? Several well-known Roman names are, as elsewhere noted, referred by German writers to a Celtic origin.

It will be seen then that, in the case of all the three names of which I have been treating, there is an ancient Celtic name in a corresponding form which might in some cases intermix. And there are many more cases of the same kind among our surnames. Wake, for instance, may represent an ancient name, either German or Celtic; for the German a sufficient etymon may be found in wak, watchful, while for the Celtic there is nothing, observes Gluck, in the range of extant dialects to which we can reasonably refer it. So Moore represents an ancient stem for names common to the Celts, the Germans, and the Romans, though at least as regards the Germans, the origin seems obscure.³

Now it is quite possible, particularly in the case of such monosyllabic words as these, that there might be an accidental coincidence between a Celtic and a Teutonic name, without their having anything in common in their root. It is possible, again, that the one nation may have borrowed a name from the other, as the Northmen, for instance, sometimes did from the Irish or the Gael, one of their most common names, Niel(sen), being thus derived; while, on the other hand, both the Irish and the Gael received, as Mr. Worsaae has shown, many names from the Northmen. So also the Romans seem to have borrowed names from the Celts, several well-known names, as Plinius, Livius, Virgilius,⁴ Catullus, and Drusus, being, in the opinion of German scholars, thus derived.

But though no doubt both these principles apply to the present case, yet there is also, as it seems to me, something in the relationship between Celtic and Teutonic names which can hardly be accounted for on either of the above principles. And I venture to throw out the suggestion that when ancient Celtic names shall have been as thoroughly collected and examined as, by the industry of the Germans, have been the Teutonic, comparative philology may – perhaps within certain lines – find something of the same kinship between them that it has already established in the case of the respective languages. Meanwhile, I venture to put forward, derived from such limited observations as I have been able to make, certain points of coincidence which I think go some way to justify the opinion expressed above. In so doing I am not so much putting forward etymological views of my own, as collecting together, so as to shape them into a comparison, the conclusions which have, in various individual cases, been arrived at by scholars such as Zeuss. There are, then, four very common endings in Teutonic names, —ward, as in Edward, ric, as in Frederic, mar, as in Aylmar, and wald, as in Reginald (=Reginwald). The same four words, in their corresponding forms, are also common as the endings of Celtic names, ward taking the form of guared or guaret, the German ric taking generally the form of rix (which appears also to have been the older form in the German, all names of the first century being so given by Latin authors), wald taking the form of gualed or gualet, and mar being pretty much the same in both. Of these four cases of coincidence, there is only one (wald = gualet) which I have not derived from German authority. And with respect to this one, I have assumed the Welsh gualed, order, arrangement, whence gualedyr, a ruler, to be the same word as German wald, Gothic valdan, to rule. But we can carry this comparison still further, and show all these four endings in combination with one and the same prefix common to both tongues. This prefix is the Old German had, hat, hath, signifying war, the corresponding word to which is in Celtic cad or cat. (Note that in the earliest German names on record, as the Catumer and the Catualda of Tacitus, the German form is cat, same as the Celtic. This seems to indicate that at that early period the Germans so strongly aspirated the h in hat, that the word sounded to Roman ears like cat, and it assists perhaps to give us an idea of the way in which such variations of tongues arise.)

I subjoin then the following names which, mutatis mutandis, are the same in both tongues, and which, judging them by the same rules which philology has applied to the respective languages, might be taken to be from some earlier source common to both races: —

In comparing Catualda with the British Cadwalladyr I am noting an additional point of coincidence. Catualda is not, like other Old German names, from wald, rule, but from walda, ruler. There is only one other Old German name in the same form, Cariovalda,⁵ also a very ancient name, being of the first century. This then may represent the older form, though this is not what I wish at present to note, but that Catualda is the counterpart of the British Cadwalladyr, which also is not from gualed, rule, but from gualedyr, ruler.

In suggesting that this coincidence may be confined within certain lines I mean to guard against the assumption that it would, as in the case of the language, be found to pervade the whole system, many of the formations of which may be of a more recent time. There are some other stems, considered by the Germans to be in coincidence, to only one of which I will refer at present, the Old Celtic tout, Welsh tûd = the Gothic thiuda. Hence the name Tudric, of a British king of Glamorgan, would be the counterpart of that of the Gothic king Theuderic, or Theoderic. I will take one more instance of a name presumed to be common to the Germans and to the Celts as an illustration of the manner in which – men's names being handed down from generation to generation without, even in ancient times, any thought of their meaning – a name may survive, while the word from which it was originally derived has perished out of the language, or is retained in a sense so changed as hardly to be recognised. The German name in question is that of Sigimar, the brother of Arminius, dating from the first century of our era, a name which we still have as Seymore, and in its High German form Sicumar we have as Sycamore, intermediate Anglo-Saxon names being found for both. The prefix sig is taken, with as much certainty as there can be in anything of the kind, to be from sig, victory; the ending mar, signifying famous, is a word to which I have already referred as common both to the Germans and to the Celts. Segimar was also an ancient Celtic name, but while the ending mar has a meaning to-day in Celtic speech, the prefix seg is a word of which they are hardly able to render any account. Only in the Old Irish (which seems to contain some of the most ancient elements) Gluck, finding a word seg with the meaning of the wild ox, urus, deduces from it the ancient meaning of strength (Sansc. sahas, vis, robor), and infers an original meaning akin to the German.

It happens, perhaps yet more frequently, that a German name, which cannot be explained by anything within the range of Teutonic dialects, may find a sufficient etymon from the Celtic. That is to suppose that a word originally common to the Teutonic and the Celtic, has dropped out of the former, and been retained only in the latter. Thus there is a word arg, arch, found in many Teutonic names, and from which we have several names, as Archbold, Archbutt, Archard, Argent, Argument, for which the meaning that can be derived from the German seems very inadequate, but for which the Irish arg, hero or champion, seems to offer as good a meaning as could be desired. So also all, from which, as elsewhere shown, there are a number of names, in its Teutonic sense of omnis, does not seem to give by any means so satisfactory a result as in its Celtic sense of "great" or, "illustrious." Many other instances might be adduced on both sides to show the way in which a word has dropped out of the one language and been retained in the other.

Before passing from this part of the subject, I may be allowed to adduce an illustration – a striking one I think, albeit that the name in this case is not that of a man but of a dog – of the way in which a name may be retained in familiar use, though the word from which it is derived has perished out of the language, though the language itself has passed out of use among us for more than a thousand years, and though the word itself is only used in a sort of poetical or sentimental sense. Who has not heard, in verse or in prose, of the "poor dog Tray"? And yet who ever heard, excepting in books, of a dog being called Tray, a word which conveys no meaning whatever to an English ear? What then is the origin, and what is the meaning, of the name? It is, I venture to think, the ancient British name for a dog, which is not to be found in any living dialect of the Celtic, and which is only revealed to us in a casual line of a Roman poet: —

Non sibi, sed domino, venatur vertragus acer,

Illæsum leporem qui tibi dente feret.

Martial.

The British vertrag must have been something of the nature of a greyhound, though, from the description of his bringing back the game unmangled to his master, perhaps capable of a higher training than the greyhound generally attains to. Now the ver in vertrag is in the Celtic tongues an intensitive, and as prefixed to a word, gives the sense of preeminence. The ancient British word for a dog in general must have been trag, a word of which we find a trace in the Irish traig, foot, allied, no doubt, to Gothic thragjan, Greek τρεχειν, Sanscrit trag, to run. The ancient British name then for a dog, trag signified the "runner," and with the intensitive prefix ver, as in vertrag, the "swift runner."⁶ And trag is, I take it, the word from which, g as usual in English becoming y, is formed our word Tray.

It may be of interest, in connection with the antiquity of our names, to take a few of the oldest Teutonic names of which history gives us a record, and endeavour to show the relationship which they bear to our existing surnames. It will be seen that not only have we the representatives of these ancient names, but also in certain cases names which represent a still more ancient form of the word.

And first let us take the name, dating back to the first century of our era, of the old German hero Arminius, brought before us with such magnanimous fairness by Tacitus. The old idea, let me observe, that Armin is properly herman, leader or warrior, has long been given up by the Germans. The name, of which the most correct form is considered to be Irmin, is formed from one single word of which the root is irm, and the meaning of which is, as Grimm observes, entirely obscure. We have then as English surnames Armine, Ermine, and Harmony, the last, no doubt, a slight corruption, though, as far as the prefix of h is concerned, it is as old as Anglo-Saxon times, for we find "Harmines den," Harmine's valley, in a charter quoted by Kemble. Then we have compounded with gar, spear, and corresponding with an O.G. Irminger —Arminger, Irminger,⁷ and again as a corruption, Iremonger. And, compounded with hari, warrior, and corresponding with an O.G. Irminhar, we have Arminer. And, as a Christian name of women, one at least of our old families still retains the ancient name Ermentrude, the ending trude, as found also in Gertrude, being perhaps from the name Thrud, of one of the Valkyrjur, or battle-maidens of Odin. The French also, among the many names derived from their Frankish ancestors, have Armingaud, Armandet, and Ermingcard, corresponding with the ancient names Irmingaud, Irmindeot, and Irmingard. And Irminger, as I write, comes before me in the daily papers as the name of a Danish admiral. But Irmin is not the oldest form of the name, – "the older and the simple form," observes Foerstemann, "runs in the form Irm or Irim," and with this also we can claim connection in our family names. For we have the simple form as Arms and Harme; and as compounds we have Armiger, corresponding with an O.G. Ermgar; Armour, with an O.G. Ermhar; and Armgold, with an O.G. Ermegild. Lastly, I may observe that both Irm and Irmin are found also by Stark as ancient Celtic names. And certainly there is no stem more likely than this, of the origin of which all trace is lost in the darkness of the past, to be one that is older than the Arian separation.

The name Sigimar, of the brother of Arminius, I have already shown that we have, not only in its own form as Seymore, but also in its High German form as Sycamore, the Anglo-Saxon names from which they may be taken to be more immediately derived being also found in the chapter on place-names. And I have also shown that we have the name Cariovalda (or Harwald) of a prince of the Batavi, of the first century, in our Harold.

There was another old hero of the German race, not so fortunate as Arminius in finding an historian in a generous foe, whose name only comes before us in a line of Horace: —

Occidit Daci Cotisonis agmen

Cotiso must have been a leader of some High German tribe, perhaps somewhere on the Upper Danube, and he must have made a gallant stand against the Roman arms, inasmuch as his final overthrow is deemed by the Roman poet a worthy subject on which to congratulate his imperial patron. Cotiso is a High German form of another name, Godiso or Godizo, elsewhere referred to, and hence may be represented, I venture to think, in our names Godsoe and Goddiss, while Cotiso itself may be represented in our Cottiss, the ancient vowel-ending being in our names, as I shall show in the next chapter, sometimes dropped and sometimes retained.

Another name which goes back to the first century of our era is Arpus, that of a prince of the Catti in Tacitus. The Eorpingas, descendants or followers of Eorpa, were among the original settlers, and seem to have confined themselves to Norfolk, where alone we have any traces of them. The name may perhaps be referred to Anglo-Saxon eorp, wolf, though other derivations have also been proposed. We have the name at present as Earp (the name of a member of the House of Commons), and also as Harp. Upon this stem is formed the name Arbogastes (gast, guest) of a Frankish general under the Emperor Gratian in the fourth century; and Arbogast is still a family name among the French.

Lastly, let us take the name of the German king, Ariovistus, brought before us by Cæsar. The proper form of this name, there seems little doubt, is Arefastus, as found in some other O.G. names. There was also an Arfast, bishop of East Anglia, in the time of William the Conqueror. And Arfast is a present name among the Frisians, according to Outzen, who compares it – rightly, as it seems to me – with the old name Ariovistus. The corresponding name Arinfast (aro, arin, eagle) was also in ancient use among the Danes. It seems to me that our name Harvest may easily be a corruption of Arfast; it has generally no doubt been derived from a man's having been born at such a season, but I distrust, as a general rule, as elsewhere stated, derivations of this kind.

In connection with the subject of the antiquity of Teutonic names generally, and of English names as derived from them, I shall have, in a subsequent chapter, to refer to the names of original settlers in England as deduced by Kemble from ancient charters, and compare them with names of a similar kind found in Germany. The coincidence that will be found in these names at that early period, from England and Friesland in the north to Bavaria in the south, will, I think, be a very strong argument to show that these names could not have originated within the Teutonic area itself, and so dispersed themselves over it in its length and breadth, but that they must have been brought with them by the Teutonic invaders from their earlier homes.

CHAPTER II.
CLUE TO SOME OF THE ANCIENT FORMS REPRESENTED IN ENGLISH NAMES

So long as our surnames are treated as if each name were something standing apart by itself, very little progress can be made in their elucidation; it is by collation and comparison that, in this as in any other science, definite results are to be obtained. And a moderate amount of attention to the forms in which these names appear, and to the various endings prevalent among them, will enable many names, otherwise unrecognisable, to be brought within the pale of classification and of possible explanation. I am of course referring to that portion of our surnames – a much larger one according to my judgment than is generally acknowledged – which dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, and so forms a part of the general system by which Teutonic names are governed.

I shall have, in the course of this work, frequently to refer to the Teutonic system, and to names which do, or do not, according to my judgment, enter into it. And I will therefore, before going further, endeavour to explain what I mean by the Teutonic system. There is, then, a class of words which, at a time of remote antiquity, have been adopted as stems upon which, in some cases by a sort of phonetic accretion, in some cases by the addition of a diminutive ending, in some cases by forming a patronymic, in some cases by taking in another word as a compound, a number of other names have been formed. Thus, when we find such a group of names as Dill, Dilly, Dillow, Dillen, Dilling, Dilke, Dilwyn, or as Budd, Budden, Buddle, Budding, Buddrich, Budmore, we may take it that these are all ancient names, of which Dill and Budd are respectively the stems. And whenever we find a group of names with endings such as it is my object in the present chapter to explain, and in compounds such as will be dealt with in a succeeding chapter, we shall be warranted in assuming the antiquity of the group.

The endings in a, ay, ah, ey, ie, o, oe, ow

And in the first place, let us take the endings in a, i, and o, of which the above are nothing more than arbitrary variations of spelling. Now ancient Teutonic names formed of one single word had commonly, though not invariably (and the same thing applies also to ancient Celtic names), a vowel-ending in a, i, or o; this ending is in our names sometimes dropped and at other times retained. (It is to be observed, however, that even in Anglo-Saxon times it is not an unfrequent thing to find the same name variously with and without a vowel-ending, of which some instances may be noted in Chapter V.) Thus we have Abbe, Abba, and Abbey, we have Bell, Belly, and Bellow, we have Earl and Early, we have Dand, Dandy, and Dando, we have Brand and Brandy, we have Todd and Toddy, we have Dane and Dana, we have Marr, Marry, and Marrow. These are all ancient names, variously with and without the vowel-ending, and it will be readily seen how apt the addition is to disguise the name, and to give it the appearance of something else.

The question now to consider is – What is the value and meaning of this vowel-ending, which was only given to simple names and never to compounds? It might be, in some cases, used simply as a sort of euphonic rounding-off of a name which might seem meagre and insignificant without something of the sort. We ourselves appear to use s in the same manner in the case of some very short names, such as Wills and Epps, in which the final s may perform the same service that was rendered by the vowel-ending. But there is also another principle which I think obtains, and which, indeed, may be the guiding principle in such cases. In Anglo-Saxon (and the same principle applied to other Teutonic dialects), the addition of a to a word implied connection with it. Thus, from scip, a ship, is formed scipa, one connected with a ship, a sailor. Now, going back to the remote origin of names, there were many cases in which a man took a name from an abstraction, such as war, peace, glory, victory, or from a weapon, as the sword or the spear, and it is obvious that in such cases he required something to connect his name with it, and this is, as it seems to me, what was effected by the ending in question. And the principle is still a living one among us, and we form names daily in accordance with it, though we no longer use the ending in a, which has been superseded by that in i.⁸ A connection with anything whatever is expressed by this ending, as when a stupid person is called "Duncey," one with a remarkable nose "Nosey," or one with a halting gait "Stumpy." The French seem to have retained their old ending, and, when they form names of this sort, to do it with the ending in o (eau) which appears to be in accordance with the genius of their language, as that in i (ey) is with that of ours.

Of these three endings, that in a is the one which was in use among the Goths, in such names as Cniva, Totila, Ulfila. And the same was also the case among the Saxons, a branch of the same Low German stock, in such names as Anna, Ella, Penda, Dodda. The ending in i was also common among the Old Saxons, and, if we may judge by the Liber Vitæ of Durham (which might naturally be supposed to contain a large proportion of Northern names), was also prevalent in the ancient Northumbria. We have in that record the names Alli, Arni, Bynni, Betti, Cyni, Diori, Elsi, Paelli, Tidi, Tilli, Terri, all of which are found in our present names Alley, Arney, Binney, Betty, Kinney, Deary, Elsey, Paley, Tidy, Tilley, Terry. The ending in o was that which was in favour among the Franks and the High Germans generally, the oldest instance on record being probably that of Cotiso, p. 20. This is the usual ending in French names (so far as they are of Old Frankish origin, and come under this head), the form being generally eau, as in Baudeau, Godeau, Fredeau, representing the ancient names Baldo, Godo, Fredo. Hence our names ending in o may be taken to be, to some extent, names of Old Frankish origin come to us through the Normans. But the number of such names is larger than could reasonably be accounted for in such a way, and in point of fact, we meet occasionally with such names at a much earlier period. The Frisians certainly seem to have had names in this form, and it is a question whether such names may not be partly due to them. It must be observed, then, that names with these three various endings represent the stem just the same as those that are without it.

The ending in an, en, in, or on

This ending runs through the whole range of Teutonic names, and is common in English surnames. Hence we have Doran, Lingen, Bolden, Hannen, Farren, the names on which they are formed being represented in Dore, Ling, Bold, Hann, Farre. As to the value and meaning of this ending, we have nothing more to guide us than its parallel use in the languages most nearly concerned, where it is what may be called formative. That is to say, it is a form of speech which is used to form the endings of words, not adding anything to the meaning, but forming a kind of euphonic rounding-off of the word. Thus from A.S. wearda is formed warden, from geard (inclosure) is formed garden, from Brytta is formed Briton, from mægd, maid, is formed maiden. Cf. also the old word ratten for rat, still used in provincial speech. In many cases in Teutonic names we have words thus formed, and also the simpler forms on which they have been founded, e. g. we have bero, bear, and also berin, we have aro, eagle, and also arin (=A.S. earn), both forming the stems on which a number of other names have been built. I take the ending in en, then, to be most probably a kind of phonetic accretion, adding nothing to the sense, but sometimes representing a secondary word, and starting a stem on its own account.

The ending in ing

This is the Anglo-Saxon and ancient German patronymic, as in Browning, "son of Brown," Dunning, "son of Dunn," Winning, "son of Winn." It must have been superseded during, or very soon after, Anglo-Saxon times, by the patronymic in son, inasmuch as no names of Scriptural origin appear to be formed with it. Hence we have such names as Bulling, Burning, Canning, Gambling, Halling, Harding, Hopping, Loving, Manning, Swearing, Telling, Walking, Willing, some of which have been popularly supposed to be from the present participle. All of the above except two, Swearing and Gambling, are found in the list of early Saxon settlers, and of these two (which are found in after Anglo-Saxon times) Swearing, which corresponds with an Old German Suaring, finds its stem in an Anglo-Saxon name Sweor, signifying important, honourable; and Gambling (properly Gamling) is the patronymic of an A.S. and O.N. name, Gamol, signifying "old," probably in the honorific sense of old descent. From this origin, I take it, are also our names Farthing and Shilling, the former from the stem fard, or farth, signifying "travel," found in several ancient names, and which I rather take to be the same as ford, found in the Fordingas among the early settlers. And Shilling, which corresponds with a present German Schilling, is probably the same as the Scilling in the "Traveller's Song," a supposed contraction of Scilding, from A.S. scyld, shield, in which case our name Shield would be the parent of Shilling. I have referred at the beginning of this book to the curious-looking name Winfarthing (quoted from Lower) as perhaps a corruption of an A.S. Winfrithing, though it is a case in which I do not feel much certainty, finding one or two other such names as Turnpenny, which may have been sobriquets.

The ending in el or il

This ending in Teutonic names may be taken, as a general rule, to be a diminutive, though in a few cases it may be more probably, like that in en, formative. Thus in the list of early A.S. settlers we have Bryd(ingas) and we have Brydl(ingas), representing the words bride and bridle. Now, as German writers have taken the word brid in ancient names to mean "bridle," comparing it with French bride, it would seem probable that, in the above A.S. name, Brydl is not a diminutive, but the extended word "bridle." However, as a general rule, it may be presumed to be a diminutive, and in such sense I take the following, premising that this, as well as all other diminutives, except kin, lin, and et, is subject to a vowel-ending just the same as simple forms. We have Bable, corresponding with an A.S. Babel, and an O.G. Babilo; Ansell and Anslow (Ansilo), corresponding with an O.G. Ansila; Mundell and Mundella, with a Gothic Mundila;⁹ Costall, Costello, and Costly, with an O.G. Costila. Costly is properly Costili, with the ending in i, as also Brightly is Brightili, and some other names with an adverbial look may be similarly explained.

The ending in ec or ic

This ending, with rare exceptions, may also be taken to be a diminutive. The oldest instance on record is stated by Stark as that of the Vandal general Stilicho in the fourth century, though, as found on Roman pottery (in the names Bassico and Bennicus), it may be still older. It seems rather singular that, though, according to Grimm, this ending was more particularly in favour among the Saxons, not a single instance of it occurs among the names of our early settlers, nor indeed any other form of diminutive except that in el, though the form in question is not uncommon in after Anglo-Saxon times. This diminutive is still in living use among us, at least in Scotland, where a "mile and a bittock" (little bit) has proved a snare to many a tourist. We have Willock, Wilkie, and Wilke, corresponding with an O.G. Willico, and an A.S. Uillech; Lovick and Lubbock, corresponding with O.G. Liuvicho; Jellicoe, corresponding with O.G. Geliko, Jeliko, and an A.S. Geleca, some of these examples being with, and some without, the vowel-ending.

The ending in lin

This ending, which is also a diminutive, is probably formed from that in el, by the addition of en. It is found in Foerstemann's list as early as the fifth century, but, as found on Roman pottery, must probably be still older. We have Bucklin, corresponding with a Buccellin, general of the Alemanni in the sixth century, and with a Buccellan on Roman pottery. Also Tomlin, corresponding with an O.G. Domlin; Applin, with an O.G. Abbilin; Franklin, with an O.G. Francolin; Papillon, with an O.G. Babolen, &c. This form of diminutive never takes a vowel-ending.

The ending in kin

This diminutive ending is formed from that in ec by the addition of en. It is the youngest-born of all, not being found, unless in rare cases, before the tenth century. And it is one that is still in living use both in England and in Germany, in the latter country more especially. We have Wilkin, corresponding with an O.G. Williken, and an O.N. Vilkinr; Godkin, with an O.G. Gotichin; Hipkin, with an O.G. Ibikin or Ipcin; and Hodgkin, with an A.S. Hogcin.

The ending in et

There is an ending in d or t in O.G. names, which may be taken, though perhaps not with anything like certainty, to have the force of a diminutive. Hence might be such a name as Ibbett, corresponding with O.G. names Ibed and Ibet, from an unexplained stem ib; also our names Huggett, Howitt, and Hewitt, corresponding with an Anglo-Saxon Hocget, and an O.G. Huetus, from the stem hog, hug, signifying study or thought. But some other endings are so liable to intermix, and particularly the common one had, war, that there is very seldom anything like certainty.

The ending in es or is

I take this ending also to be diminutive, and to be possibly akin to our ish, as in blue-ish, which, as signifying a "little blue," seems to have the force of a diminutive. Hence we have Riches, corresponding with an O.G. Richizo, and a present French Richez; and Willis, corresponding with an O.G. Willizo. Then we have Godsoe, corresponding with an O.G. Godizo, of which Cotiso, mentioned in Horace (p. 20), is a High German form; and Abbiss, corresponding with the name, Abissa, of the son of Hengest, from, as supposed, Gothic aba, man. And we have Prentiss, corresponding with an A.S. Prentsa (=Prentisa), respecting which I have elsewhere suggested that the name should be properly Pentsa. Another name which I take to be from this ending is Daisy. There is an A.S. Dægsa, which as Dagsi, with the alternative ending in i, would give us Daisy. We have another name, Gipsy, which I take to be from Gibb or Gipp (A.S. geban, to give) with this ending. This ending in is is naturally very apt to be corrupted into ish, and it is from this source, I take it, that we have such names as Radish, Reddish, Varnish, Burnish, and Parish, the two last of which we have also in their proper form as Burness, and Parez or Paris.

The ending in cock

This ending is not one that enters into the Teutonic system, unless so far as it may turn out to be a corruption of something else. I have not met with it earlier than A.D. 1400, nor do I know of anything to make me think that it is much older. There has been at different times a good deal of discussion as to its origin in Notes and Queries and elsewhere. Mr. Lower has supposed it to be a diminutive, for which I do not think that any etymological sanction can be found, unless indeed we can suppose it to be a corruption of the diminutive eck or ock before referred to, which seems not impossible. But on the whole I am disposed to agree with the suggestion of a writer in Notes and Queries that cock is a corruption of cot, – not, however, in the sense which I suppose him to entertain, of cot as a local word, but of cot as an ancient ending, the High German form of gaud or got, signifying, as supposed, "Goth." So far as the phonetic relationship between the two words cock and cot is concerned, we have an instance, among others, in our word apricot, which was originally apricock.

I am influenced very much in coming to the above conclusion by finding coq as a not unfrequent ending in French names, as in Balcoq and Billecoq, also in Aucoq, Lecoq, Videcocq, Vilcocq, which latter seem to be names corresponding with our Alcock, Laycock, Woodcock, and Willcock. They might all be formed on Teutonic stems, if we suppose Lecoq and Laycock to have lost a d, like Lewis and Lucas, from leod, people. Now, that the ending gaud, with its alternative forms got, caud, cot, is present in French names as well as in English will be clearly seen from the following. From the Old German Faregaud we have Faragut, and the French have Farcot; from the O.G. Benigaud they have Penicaud, and we have Pennycad; from the O.G. Ermingaud they have Armingaud, and from Megingaud they have Maingot; from the O.G. Aringaud we have Heringaud, from Wulfegaud we have Woolcot, from Adogoto we have Addicott, and from Madalgaud we have Medlicott. I am also disposed on the same principle to take Northcott, notwithstanding its local appearance, to represent the O.G. name Nordgaud, and in this case we have also the name Norcock to compare.

Presuming the above derivation to be the correct one, the question then arises, – Has this ending come to us through the French, or has the corruption proceeded simultaneously in both countries? That the latter has been the case, the French Videcocq, as compared with our Woodcock, goes some way to show, the one having the High German form vid or wid, and the other the Saxon form wud. I may also mention, as being, so far as it goes, in accordance with the above theory, that we have a number of names both in the form of cot and cock, as Adcock and Addicott, Alcock and Alcott, Norcott and Norcock, Jeffcock and Jeffcott. I do not, however, desire to come to a definite conclusion, though, as far as I am able to carry it, the inquiry seems in favour of the view which I have advocated. But the whole subject will bear some further elucidation.

CHAPTER III.
NAMES REPRESENTING ANCIENT COMPOUNDS

The subject of the relative antiquity of simple names (i. e. those formed from one single word) and of compound names is one which has occupied a good deal of the attention of the Germans. And the conclusion at which some of them at least seem to have arrived, and which perhaps has been stated the most distinctly by Stark, is that the compound names are the older of the two. And the principal ground upon which this conclusion is based seems to be this, that in a very great number of cases we find that a simple name was used as a contraction of a compound name, just as we use Will for William, and Ben for Benjamin. Stark, in particular, has gone into the subject with German thoroughness, and produced a most complete list of instances of such contractions, such as Freddo for Fredibert, Wulf for Wulfric, Benno for Bernhard; and among the Anglo-Saxons, Eada for Edwine, and Siga for Siwerd, &c., from which he seems to arrive at the general conclusion that simple names are in all cases contractions of compound names.

Nevertheless, I must say that it seems to me that to assume the compound to be older than the simple looks very much like something that is contrary to first principles, and indeed the very fact that simple names are so often used in place of compounds appears to me to show that they are more natural to men, and that men would generally adopt them if they could. I cannot but think then, going back to the far remote origin of Teutonic names, that the vocabulary of single words must have been exhausted before men began to take to the use of compounds. When this period arrived, and when the confusion arising from so many men being called by the same name could no longer be endured, some other course required to be adopted. And the course that was adopted was – I put this forward only as a theory – when the range of single names was exhausted, to put two names together. The number of changes that could be thus introduced was sufficient for all purposes, and there is, as I believe, no established case of a Teutonic name being formed of more than two words. From this point of view Teutonic names would not be translatable, or formed with any view to a meaning, and this is, as it seems to me, what was in fact the case, as a general rule, though I should be very far from laying it down as a universal principle. If names were formed with a view to a meaning, it does not seem very probable that we should have a name compounded with two words, both of which signify war; still less with two words, one of which signifies peace and the other war. "Bold in war" might have a meaning, but "bold in peace," if it means anything, seems satirical. In point of fact, there was a certain set of words on which the changes were rung in forming names without any apparent reference either to meaning or congruity. Thus we find that the early Frankish converts in the time of Charlemagne, the staple of whose names was German derived from their heathen ancestors, adopted not a few words of Christian import from the Latin or the Hebrew, and mixed them up with the old words to which they had been accustomed in their names. Thus a woman called Electa, no doubt meaning "elect," calls her son Electardus (hard, fortis); thus from pasc (passover) is formed Pascoin (wine, friend); from the name of Christ himself is formed Cristengaudus (gaud, Goth.) Now these are three of the common endings of German names, but no one can suppose that any sense was intended to be made out of them here, or that they were given for any other reason than that they were the sort of words out of which men had been accustomed to form their names. Indeed, the idea present to the minds of the parents seems to have been in many cases to connect the names of their children with their own, rather than anything else, by retaining the first word of the compound and varying the second. Thus a man called Girveus and his wife Ermengildis give their children the names of Giroardus, Girfridis, Gertrudis, Ermena, and Ermengardis, three of the names connecting with that of the father, and two with that of the mother. In the case of a man called Ratgaudus and his wife Deodata, the names of four of the children are Ratharius, Ratgarius, Ratrudis, and Deodatus, the names of two other children being different. Many other instances might be given of this sort of yearning for some kind of a connecting-link in the names of a family. Now the people by whom these names were given were common peasants and serfs, so that the case was not one like that of the Anglo-Saxon kings of Northumbria, among whose names the prefix os, signifying "semi-deus," and expressive of a claim to a divine lineage, was of such frequent recurrence. It may be a question then whether, while the former word of the compound connected with the father or the mother, the latter part did not sometimes connect with some other relative whose name it was desired to commemorate, giving the effect that is now frequently expressed by a Christian name and a surname. Again, when we look at the remote origin of these names, when we find in the opening century of our era, and who can tell for how many centuries before, precisely the same names that have been current in all these centuries since, we can hardly doubt that some of these names, derived from words that had long died out from the language, must have been used even in ancient times without any more thought of their meaning than parents have now when they call a child Henry or John. I desire, however, to put forward the above theory as to the origin of compound names rather with a view of raising the question than of expressing a definite conclusion.

The vowel ending in a, i, or o, to which I have referred as in general use in the case of simple names was not used in the case of compounds, unless indeed it happened to be an original part of the second word as in Frithubodo, from bodo, messenger. Only in the case of women, to mark the sex, the ending in a was given. And in the case of some names, such as Gertrud, in which the second part is a word that could only be given to a woman, as no vowel-ending was required, so none was given.

I now proceed to give a list of the principal compounds occurring in English names, with the ancient forms corresponding. I have been obliged, as a matter of necessity, to compare our names more frequently with Old German than with Anglo-Saxon equivalents, on account of the former having been collected and collated – a work which it remains for some one of our well qualified Anglo-Saxon scholars to do with regard to the latter.

The meanings which I have assigned for these names are such as have been most generally adopted by the German writers who have made a special study of the subject. But it must be borne in mind that this study is one in which there is no context by which conclusions can be verified, and that in the vast majority of cases we have nothing more to go upon than a reasonable presumption.

Adal, athel, ethel, "noble."

(Hard, fortis), Old Germ. Adalhard – Ang. – Sax. Ethelhard – Eng. Adlard. (Helm), O.G. Adalhelm – Eng. Adlam. (Hari, warrior), A.S. Ethilheri – Eng. Edlery. (Stan, stone), A.S. Æthelstan – Eng. Ethelston.

Ag, ac, ec, "point, edge."

(Hard, fortis), O.G. Agihard – Eng. Haggard. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Agiher, Egiher – Eng. Agar, Eager. (Leof dear), O.N. Eylifr – Eng. Ayliffe. (Man, vir), O.G. Egiman – A.S. Æcemann – Eng. Hayman, Aikman. (Mund, protection), A.S. Agemund – Eng. Hammond. (Ward), O.G. Eguard – A.S. Hayward – Eng. Hayward.

Agil, Ail, of uncertain meaning, but perhaps formed on the previous stem Ag

(Gar, spear), O.G. Egilger, Ailger – Eng. Ailger. (Hard, fortis), O.G. Agilard, Ailard – Eng. Aylard. (Man), O.G. Aigliman – Eng. Ailman. (Mar, famous), O.G. Agilmar, Ailemar – Eng. Aylmer. (Ward, guardian), O.G. Agilward, Ailward – Eng. Aylward. (Wine, friend), A.S. Aegelwine – Eng. Aylwin.

Alb, Alf, signifying "elf."

(Hard, fortis), O.G. Alfhard – Eng. Alvert. (Hari, warrior), A.S. Ælfhere – O.G. Alfheri, Albheri – Eng. Alvary, Albery, Aubrey. (Rad, red, counsel), O.G. Alberat – A.S. Alfred – Eng. Alfred. (Run, mystery), O.G. Albrun¹⁰– Eng. Auberon.

Ald, signifying "old."

(Bert, famous), O.G. Aldebert – Eng. Aldebert. (Hari, warrior), A.S. Aldheri – Eng. Alder, Audrey. (Gar, spear), A.S. Eldecar (Moneyer of Edmund) – Eng. Oldacre (?). (Rad, red, counsel), O.G. Aldrad – Eng. Aldred, Eldred. (Rit, ride), O.G. Aldarit – Eng. Aldritt. (Ric, rule), O.G. Alderich, Olderich, Altrih – Eng. Aldrich, Oldridge, Altree. (Man, vir), A.S. Ealdmann – Eng. Altman.

Amal, of uncertain meaning

(Gar, spear), O.G. Amalgar – Eng. Almiger. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Amalhari, Amalher – Eng. Ambler, Emeler.

Angel, signifying "hook, barb"(?)

(Bert, famous), O.G. Engilbert – Eng. Engleburt. (Hard, fortis), O.G. Englehart – Eng. Engleheart. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Angelher – Eng. Angler. (Man), O.G. Angilman – Eng. Angleman. (Dio, servant), O.G. Engildeo – A.S. Angeltheow – Eng. Ingledew. (Sind, companion), O.G. Ingilsind – Eng. Inglesent.

Ans, High Germ, form of A.S. os, "semi-deus."

(Hard, fortis), O.G. Ansard – Eng. Hansard. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Ansher – Eng. Anser. (Helm), O.G. Anshelm – Eng. Anselme, Hansom.

Ark, Arch (see page 16)

(Bald, bold), Eng. Archbold. (Bud, envoy), O.G. Argebud – Eng. Archbutt. (Hard, fortis), O.G. Archard – Eng. Archard. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Erchear – Archere, Roll of Battle Abbey– Eng. Archer. (Rat, counsel), O.G. Archarat – Eng. Arkwright(?). (Mund, protection), O.G. Argemund – Eng. Argument.

Aud, Aut, High Germ. form of A.S. ead, "prosperity."

(Hari, warrior), O.G. Authar – Eng. Auther. (Ric, rule), O.G. Audricus – Eng. Auterac. (Ram, raven), O.G. Audram – Eng. Autram, Outram.

All (see page 16)

(Frid, peace), O.G. Alufrid – Eng. Allfrey. (Gar, spear), A.S. Algar – Eng. Alger. (Hard, fortis), A.S. Ealhard – Eng. Allard. (Mar, famous), O.G. Alamar – Eng. Almar. (Mund, protection), A.S. Ealmund – O.G. Alamunt – Eng. Almond, Alment. (Noth, bold), A.S. Ælnoth – Eng. Allnut. (Ward), O.G. Aloard – A.S. Alwerd – Eng. Allward. (Wid, wood), O.G. Aluid – Eng. Allwood. (Wig, wi, war), A.S. Alewih – Eng. Allaway.¹¹ (Wine, friend), O.G. Allowin – Eng. Alwin.

Al, el, probably "foreigner."

(Bod, envoy), O.G. Ellebod – Eng. Albutt. (Gaud, Goth), O.G. Eligaud – Eng. Allgood, Elgood. (Gar, spear), O.G. Elger – Eng. Elgar. (Hard, fortis), O.G. Eleard – Eng. Ellard. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Elier – Eng. Ellery. (Mar, famous), O.G. Alimer – Eng. Elmore. (Mund, protection), Elmund, Domesday– Eng. Element. (Wine, friend), Elwin, Lib. Vit.– Eng. Elwin. (Wood), Elwod, Lib. Vit.– Eng. Elwood. (Gern, eager), O.G. Aligern – Eng. Hallgreen.

Ad, at (Gothic, atta), "father."

(Gis, hostage), O.G. Atgis – Eng. Atkiss. (Gaud, Goth), O.G. Adogoto – Eng. Addicott. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Adohar – Eng. Adier. (Mar, famous), O.G. Adamar – Eng. Atmore. (Ric, rule), A.S. Ætheric – Eng. Attridge. (Rid, ride), O.G. Atharid – Eng. Attride. (Wulf), A.S. Athulf – Eng. Adolph.

An, han (O.H.G. ano), "ancestor."

(Fred, peace), O.G. Enfrid – Eng. Henfrey. (Gar, spear), O.G. Anager, Eneger – Eng. Hanger, Henniker. (Man, vir), O.G. Enman – Eng. Hanman, Henman. (Rad, counsel), O.G. Henred – Eng. Hanrot. (Wald, rule), O.G. Anawalt – Eng. Anhault.

Arm, of uncertain meaning

(Gar, spear), O.G. Ermgar – Eng. Armiger. (Gild, value?) O.G. Ermegild – Eng. Armgold. (Had, war), O.G. Ermhad – Eng. Armat. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Ermhar – Eng. Armour, Armory. (Rad, counsel), O.G. Ermerad – Eng. Ormerod.

Armin, of uncertain meaning

(Gar, spear), O.G. Irminger – Eng. Irminger, Arminger (Hari, warrior), O.G. Irminhar – Eng. Arminer.

Arn, ern (A.S. earn), "eagle."

(Hari, warrior), O.G. Arnheri – Eng. Harnor. (Helm), O.G. Arnhalm – Eng. Arnum. (Wald, rule), O.G. Arnoald – Eng. Arnold. (Wulf), O.G. Arnulf – Eng. Arnulfe.

Ask, ash, perhaps in the sense of "spear."

(Bert, famous), A.S. Æscbyrht– Eng. Ashpart. (Hari, warrior), A.S. Æschere – Eng. Asher. (Bald, fortis), Eng. Ashbold. (Man, vir), A.S. Æscmann – Aschmann, Hund. Rolls– Eng. Ashman. (Mar, famous), A.S. Æscmer – Eng. Ashmore. (Wid, wood), O.G. Asquid – Ascuit, Domesday– Eng. Asquith, Ashwith. (Wine, friend), A.S. Æscwine – Eng. Ashwin. (Wulf), O.G. Ascolf – Eng. Ascough.

A.S. beado, "war."

(Hari, warrior), O.G. Bathari – Eng. Badder, Bather. (Hard, fortis), A.S. Badherd – Beadheard, Lib. Vit.– Eng. Beddard. (Man, vir), Badumon, Lib. Vit.– Eng. Badman. (Ric, rule), O.G. Betterich – A.S. Bædric – Eng. Betteridge. (Ulf, wolf), O.G. Badulf – Eng. Biddulph.

Bald, "fortis."

(Hari, warrior), A.S. Baldhere – Eng. Balder, Boldery. (Ric, rule), O.G. Baldric, Baldrih – Eng. Baldridge, Baldry. (Wine, friend), A.S. Baldwine – Eng. Baldwin.

A.S. band, bend, "crown, chaplet."

(Hard, fortis), O.G. Pantard – Eng. Pindard. (Hari, warrior), A.S. Pender – Eng. Pender. (Rad, counsel), O.G. Bandrad – Eng. Banderet, Pendered.

A.S. ben, "wound."

(Gar, spear), O.G. Benegar – Eng. Benger. (Gaud, Goth), O.G. Benegaud – Eng. Pennycad. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Beniher – Eng. Benner. (Man, vir), Eng. Beneman, A.D. 1535, Penman. (Nid, strife), O.G. Bennid – Eng. Bennet.

A.S. bera, "bear."

(Gar, spear), O.G. Bereger¹²– Eng. Berger. (Grim, fierce), O.G. Peragrim – Eng. Paragreen. (Hard, fortis), O.G. Berhard – Eng. Barehard. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Beriher – Eng. Berrier. (Helm), O.G. Perrhelm – Eng. Perriam. (Land, terra), O.G. Perelant – Eng. Purland. (Man, vir), O.G. Berman – Eng. Burman, Perman. (Mar, famous), O.G. Bermar – Eng. Barmore, Paramore. (Rat, counsel), O.G. Perratt – Eng. Perrott. (Dio, servant), O.G. Peradeo – Eng. Purdue. (Ward), O.G. Beroward – Eng. Berward. (Wise, sapiens), O.G. Berois (=Berwis) – Eng. Barwise.

Berin, bern, "bear."

(Gar, spear), O.G. Beringar – Eng. Berringer. (Hard, fortis), O.G. Berinhard – Eng. Bernard. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Bernher, Pernher – Eng. Berner, Pirner. (Wald, rule), O.G. Berneold – Eng. Bernold. (Kel, for Ketil), O.N. Biornkel – Eng. Barnacle.

Bil, supposed to mean "mildness, gentleness."

(Frid, peace), O.G. Bilfrid – Eng. Belfry. (Grim, fierce), O.G. Biligrim, Pilgrim – Eng. Pilgrim. (Mar, famous), O.G. Belemar – Eng. Billamore, Belmore. (Gard, protection), O.G. Biligard – Eng. Billiard. (Mund, protection), O.G. Pilimunt – Eng. Belment. (Wald, rule), Biliald, Lib. Vit.– Eng. Billyald.

Bert, "bright, illustrious."

(Ram, raven), O.G. Bertram – Eng. Bertram. (Land, terra), O.G. Bertland – Eng. Brightland. (Mar, famous), A.S. Brihtmar – Eng. Brightmore. (Rand, shield), O.G. Bertrand – Eng. Bertrand. (Ric, rule), O.G. Perhtric – A.S. Brihtric – Partriche, Hund. Rolls– Eng. Partrick, Partridge. (Wine, friend), A.S. Brihtwine – Eng. Brightwine.

Black, blake, signifying "brightness."

(Hari, warrior), O.G. Blicher – Eng. Blacker, Blaker. (Man), A.S. Blæcman (genealogy of the kings of Northumbria), Blacman (Moneyer at Norwich) – Blaecmon, Lib. Vit.– Blacheman, Domesday– Eng. Blackman, Blakeman. (Wine, friend), Eng. Blackwin.

Bod, bud, "envoy."

(Gar, spear), O.G. Baudochar – Eng. Bodicker. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Botthar – Boterus, Domesday– Eng. Butter, Buttery. (Gis, hostage), O.G. Boutgis, Boggis – Eng. Boggis. (Mar, famous), O.G. Baudomir – Eng. Bodmer. (Ric, rule), O.G. Buttericus, Bauderich – Eng. Butterick, Buddrich. (Rid, rit, "ride"), O.G. Bodirid, Buotrit – Eng. Botright.

Boll, bull (prob. M.H.G. buole), "friend."

(Gar, spear), O.G. Pulgar – Eng. Bulger. (Hard), Pollardus, Domesday – Eng. Bullard, Pollard. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Bolheri – Eng. Buller. (Mar, famous), A.S. Bulemær – Eng. Bulmer.

Burg, signifying "protection."

(Hard), A.S. Burghard – Eng. Burchard. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Burghar – Eng. Burger. (Wald, rule), O.G. Burgoald – Eng. Purgold. (Wine, friend), Eng. Burgwin.

Ball, bale, signifying "bale, woe."

(Frid, peace), O.G. Palfrid – Eng. Palfrey. (Mar, famous), O.G. Ballomar, Belimar – Eng. Balmer, Bellmore.

Coll, signifying "helmet."

(Brand, sword), A.S. Colbrand – Eng. Colbran. (Biorn, bear), O.N. Kolbiorn – Eng. Colburn. (Man, vir), A.S. Colman – Eng. Colman. (Mar, famous), A.S. Colomôr – Eng. Collamore. (Hard), A.S. Ceolheard – Eng. Collard.

Cost, cust, "skill, science" (Germ, kunst)

(Hard), O.G. Custard – Eng. Custard.

Dag, "day," in the sense of brightness, glory.¹³

(Bald, bold), O.G. Tagapald – Daegbald, Lib. Vit.– Eng. Daybell. (Bern, bear), O.G. Tagapern – Eng. Tayburn. (Burg, protection), O.G. Tagabirg – Eng. Tackabarry. (Gisil, hostage), O.G. Daigisil – Eng. Daggesell. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Daiher – Dacher, Lib. Vit.– Eng. Dagger, Dacker, Dayer. (Helm), O.G. Dachelm – Eng. Dacombe. (Mund, protection), O.G. Dagamund – A.S. Daiemond – Eng. Daymont. (Mar, famous), O.G. Dagemar – Dagemar on Roman pottery – Eng. Damer.

Dall, dell, as supposed, "illustrious."

(Bert, famous), O.G. Dalbert – Talbercht, Lib. Vit.– Eng. Talbert. (Fare, travel), O.G. Dalferi – Eng. Telfer. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Dealher – Eng. Deller. (Man), O.G. Dalman – Eng. Dalman, Tallman. (Wig, wi, war), Daliwey, Hund. Rolls– Eng. Dalloway.

Dan, den, of uncertain meaning, perhaps, "Dane."

(Hard), A.S. Dæneheard – Eng. Denhard. (Gar, spear), O.G. Thangar – Eng. Danger. (Wulf), A.S. Denewulf – Eng. Denolf.

Dar, signifying "spear."

(Nagel, nail), A.S. Dearnagel – Eng. Darnell. (Gund, war), O.G. Taragun – Eng. Darrigon. (Wine, friend), O.G. Daroin – Eng. Darwin.

Dear, "carus."

(Leof, dear), A.S. Deorlaf – Eng. Dearlove. (Man, vir), Dereman, Domesday– Eng. Dearman. (Môd, courage), A.S. Deormod – Eng. Dermott. (Wine, friend), A.S. Deorwyn – Eng. Derwin.

Gothic, thius (O.H.G. dio), "servant."

(Log, loh, clean?), O.G. Thioloh – Eng. Dialogue. (Mad, reverence), O.G. Deomad – Eng. Demaid. (Man, vir), O.G. Dioman – Eng. Demon. (Mund, protection), O.G. Thiomunt – Eng. Diamond.

Old North. dolgr, "foe."

(Fin, people's name), O.N. Dolgfinnr – Eng. Dolphin. (Man, vir), A.S. Dolemann – Eng. Dolman.

A.S. dôm (O.H.G. tuom), "judgment."

(Gis, hostage), O.G. Domigis, Tomichis – Eng. Tomkies. (Hard, fortis), O.G. Domard – Eng. Dummert. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Domarius – Domheri, Lib. Vit.– Eng. Dummer.

A.S. dugan, to be "doughty."

(Man, vir), O.G. Dugiman, Tugeman – A.S. Ducemann – Eng. Tugman, Duckman. (Mar, famous), O.G. Daumerus – Eng. Dugmore. Probably from the noun, duguth, virtue, A.S. Dogod – Eng. Doggett, Dugood.

Erl, supposed same as "earl."

(Bad, war), O.G. Erlebad – Eng. Hurlbat (Bert, famous), O.G. Erlebert – Eng. Hurlburt. (Hari, warrior), O.G. Erleher – Eng. Hurler. (Wine, friend), O.G. Erliwin, A.S. Herlawine – Eng. Urlwin

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1

From the old Saxon fragment called the "Traveller's Song." Hnaf is no doubt from the Ang. – Sax. cnafa, cnapa, son, boy, the Anglo-Saxons often representing c by a (no doubt aspirated) h.

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2

Stark also adduces an instance in the eleventh century of Buggo as a contraction of Burchard.

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3

So at least Foerstemann seems to think, observing that we can scarcely derive it from Maur, Æthiops, English "Moor." Nevertheless, seeing the long struggle between the Teutons and the Moors in Spain, it seems to me that such a derivation would be quite in accordance with Teutonic practice. See some remarks on the general subject at the end of Chapter IV.

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4

So that we may take it that Virgilius, as the name of a Scot who became bishop of Salzburg in the time of Boniface, was his own genuine Celtic name, and not derived from that of the Roman poet.

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5

This name, that of a prince of the Batavi, is considered by the Germans to be properly Hariovalda, from har, army, and hence is another instance of an initial h being represented among the Romans by a c. The name is the same as the Anglo-Saxon Harald, and as our present name Harold.

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6

For this explanation of vertragus I am indebted to Gluck.

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7

There was an English admiral of this name, though I do not know of it at present.

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8

How or when this change took place is a question that awaits solving, but I observe that, in 1265, the Countess of Montford, giving names (or sobriquets) to her servants, calls one of her messengers Treubodi (trusty messenger), and not Treuboda, as the Anglo-Saxon form would have been.

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9

This name appears as Μουνδιλας in Procopius, but, judging by the present pronunciation of Greek, it would sound as Mundila.

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10

Hence I take to be the name of the fairy king Oberon. Albruna was also the name of a "wise woman" among the ancient Germans referred to by Tacitus.

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11

Probably also A.S. Haluiu – Eng. Halloway.

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12

Here probably the name Biracrus, on Roman pottery, corresponding with an O.G. form, Berecar.

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13

Or perhaps of beauty, like a Celtic stem tac, found in names of men, and perhaps a corresponding word.

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