The Advent of English Surnames

The Oldest Recorded English Surnames  

The oldest written documentation of “surname” usage in England dates back to the reign of King Edgar (959 – 975 A.D.) on old surviving registers.  One such list known as the “Old English Bynames” catalogued a man named Eadric Little living in Northamptonshire County in 972 A. D.  This “index” was the first time a man with the “second name” of Little had been recorded, thus making “Little” one of the oldest English surnames to exist.[i] 

How truly exciting this is since my Great-Grandmother Margaret Jane Little Salmon, hails from this enduring and proud family line. Her father Capt. John Little (pictured below) was born at Stapleton, Cumberland, England in 1834, immigrated by 1860, and died at Rockport, Aransas, Texas in 1895.  It is through his family line that I claim my English heraldry!

The Normans invaded England in 1066! Soon afterward, the Norman barons began to use “identifying” names/surnames for their citizens.  Over the next few centuries, specific names came and went.   However, by the year 1400, the use of ‘hereditary surnames” had taken strong root in the majority of families living in England and Lowland Scotland.[ii]   With the advent of the “poll tax” levied by the government, there was a need to identify their taxpayers more readily and to prove lines of kinship for inheritance purposes.[iii]

The Origins of the Names

So now you may be wondering at this point, how some of these English surnames were created.  Good question! In brief summary, surnames were used to denote:

1.      a place of residence including their town or county, or their actual country of origin.

2.      the name of a farm, hamlet or estate.

3.      a landscape feature.

4.      a trade, job, or occupation.

5.      a nickname, pet name, or shortened name.

6.      the father’s name, baptismal or Christian name.

7.      new immigrants who kept their old names.[iv]

 

2nd Great Grandfather John Little in England.

Over the next several centuries, these “additional” names were then passed from father to son creating distinctly unique English surnames still in use today.  As with their Irish counterparts, the names were often misspelled by the records keepers giving rise to various versions of the original name.  Since the three countries of Ireland, Scotland and England are located within a stone’s throw of each other, immigration of the people is/was a very common occurrence.  As a result, many of the Irish, English or Scottish surnames have roots in more than one country.  Just something to keep in mind as you try to discovery your own family history!   I have come across this very situation myself on a few of my Irish lines which have their surname origins in England but who actually lived in Ireland for the recent generations.

So now are you ready to explore your own British family?  I hope so.  I know I am. 

My next blog will explore the English surnames on my 2nd Great-grandfather John Little's line.    Watch for it!

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[i] “The Surname Database” is located online at: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/little#ixzz2ZW27FwRK, 20 July 2013.

[ii] Blake, Paul, “What’s In a Name? Your Link to the Past,” BBC online website at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/get_started/surnames_01.shtml, dated 26 April 2011.

[iii]  “The Surname Database.” Ibid.

[iv] Blake, Paul.  Ibid.