Month: October 2020

Did you know there are about 45,000 surnames or last names used in England? Each of these surnames comes with its own special history. Like many others, you might be wondering if last names have always been important. And how did surnames change over time?

If you want to get to know their history, let’s take the time to find out.

We Must Study Credible Sources to Understand the Origin of Last Names

Generally, last names are known to evolve from almost endless sources. These include physical attributes, heraldic charges, trades, counties, and other objects. 

To search for a family tree, we need to study credible lists of specific names. This is the only way to recognize our ancestors, if and when we stumble upon them.

The Origin of English and British Last Names 

Notably, before the Normans conquered Britain, there were no identifiable surnames as we understand them today. Everyone was known by their given name, occupations, or nicknames. Some families and individuals either changed names or took up an alias at some point. 

When communities were smaller, it was easy to identify everyone by a single personal name. Things changed as the population increased; it became necessary to identify people by a second or last name. 

This brought about some of the more “interesting” names. Some of these included William from Sutton, Roger son of Edward, and William the Short. As time passed, many of these names were gradually corrupted. Their original meaning today is unclear.

Norman Invaders Introduced Last Names to England in the 11th Century

Experts think that surnames were initially introduced in England by Norman barons post-1066 AD. Soon, the trend spread to other areas. At first, people could change or drop their surnames as they wished. 

Afterward, the names stuck and could even be passed on to others. In time, people developed permanent surnames like Green and Pickering, Fletcher and Smith or Wilkins, and Johnson. By 1400 most families in England and Scotland were using hereditary surnames.

After the Norman invasion, most personal names of the early Celtics and Saxons disappeared altogether. Yes, names like Oswin, Oswald, and Oslaf quickly vanished with the Norman invasion. Soon after, it was neither sensible nor fashionable to carry these names; they were no longer passed on.

The Union of England and Wales in the 16th Century Promoted Last Names 

After 1400 new surnames were formed while immigrants brought in some. Notably, many Highland Scottish, Welsh, and Irish names originated from Gaelic sources. The integration of these surnames became complete after the union of England and Wales in 1536.

Some families and individuals have taken up an alias or changed their names altogether. While some have done this on a whim, others acted due to legal considerations. This drives home the point that, even though the study of surnames is crucial in genealogical research, there’s a possibility that the importance of these names might be overrated.

Countries, Estates, Towns, and Landscape Features Gave Rise to Last Names

Mot surnames and local names in various countries are derived from specific sources. These include the names of a country (consider the Moore (Morocco), Beamish (Bohemian), and the Lubbock (Lubeck). 

Estates and towns also contributed significantly, like Bristowe (Bristol) and Vyse ( Devizes), as did features of the landscape (hills, streams, or woods). Consider names like Woods, Woodman, Greenwood, Woodruffe, Attwood and Woodcutter.

Some names may have been given to migrants who left certain places in the surname formation period. These include names like Berkley, Bedford, and Pickering. Alternatively, such names reflect the identities of landowners who likely hosted the migrants. Others got their last names from a hamlet or farm. Devon and Pennines are classic examples.

Trees were not left behind in inspiring last names either. Think about Leaf, Root, Bark, Stock, and Curzon — all these refer to a stem. Others include Oakham, Oakley, Ockham, and Noakes, which refer to an oak tree.

Last Names Evolved From Nicknames, Occupational, and Baptismal Names

It’s no wonder that occupations contributed to last names evolving in society as well. Consider surnames like Taylor, Cook, Smith, Wright, and Turner. Others include Brewer, Goldsmith, Potman, Fiddler, Baker, Piper, Hornblower, Bellringer, and Bannister or Bathkeeper.

And we can’t forget about some of the unique nicknames that gradually developed into surnames. These included Nice, Pappilon (meaning inconsistent or dainty), and Foljambe (meaning deformed leg), Smallman, Slowman, Blunt, and Fairsex.

Some last names came from Baptismal names, especially in places like England. Some of these are Williamson or William, Littlejohn, and Brownjohn.

Conclusion

The history of the surnames in various countries in the world makes for an interesting study. In many places, the development of last names derived from countries, towns, hamlets, rivers, trees, nicknames, occupations, and baptismal names. You just need access to some comprehensive and credible sources of genealogy to unlock the mystery.

Have you ever tried to trace your own surname’s history? Rise to the challenge and begin an exciting journey of self-discovery.

Commonly mispronounced names have been at the heart of seemingly harmless jokes for decades. But could mispronouncing last names have an even greater effect on the person than we realize?

How Mispronouncing Last Names Affects Us 

Recently, I stumbled on an article written by Ruchika Tulshyan about how her colleagues’ struggle to say her name was negatively affecting her not only her psychologically, but also in her career. 

Ruchika admitted she suffered losing out on job opportunities due to her name. Specifically, a hiring manager decided not to call her back for an interview and attributed that her name is one of the determining factors. Her experience coincides with a study showing that white sounding-names were about 25-30% more likely to get an interview callback for a job.   

And then there’s Arvind Narayana, a computer science professor from Princeton University. He shared a story on Twitter about how his difficultly-pronounced name also stands in the way of his job’s progression. 

Arvind stated that even with all of his achievements, people still hardly knew who he is due to the easily forgettable name. He needed to run some extra miles in order to get people to acknowledge him.

Being super active on Twitter and writing a somewhat popular blog are some of the things he did to bolster outreach. He continued to do this despite the negative feedback that an online presence could have on his career field.

But to Narayana, it’s something that he has to do to make sure that people know he “exists.” 

Mispronouncing Last Names Influences Children Too

This problem isn’t only prevalent in the workplace environment. It happens in schools as well, according to a study called “Teachers, please learn our names!: racial microaggressions and the K-12 classroom.” 

The study claimed that names mispronunciation by teachers against their students—especially minorities—can possibly harm the perceptions of a child toward him/herself and the world. Calling it microaggressions might be a stretch, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that this seemingly trivial problem will, more than possibly, provide lasting impacts on the child’s well-being. 

Correctly pronouncing people’s names—whether it’s their first or last name—is so important to promote inclusiveness and a sense of belonging. 

We can minimize these detrimental effects by learning how to spell people’s names correctly, starting with the more common ones. 

List of Some British and American Last Names Pronunciation 

Unfortunately, the spelling in the English language is less consistent compared to other languages around the world. Just the letter “c” has different sounds depending on the word, like /k/ for “car,”/c/ for “check,” and /s/ for “city.”  

For that reason, these name pronunciations—some of which you thought you’ve figured out—might surprise you.

1. John Dowland, doh-lund (or dow-lund) 
2. Cathy Berberian,  ber-be-ree-an (English) 
3. Frederick Delius, deh-lee-us 
4. Henry Purcell, purr-sell (stress the “purr”) 
5. Roger Goeb, gayb 
6. Leon Kirchner, kirch-ner (English) 
7. Monica Huggett, hug-gett 
8. George Antheil, ann-tile 
9. Nathan Milstein, mils-tein (English) 
10. Leonard Bernstein, berns-tein (similar to “pine”) 
11. William Schuman, shoo-mn (English) 
12. Gunther Schuller, shoo-ler (English) 
13. Ivan Tcherepnin, tcher-rep-nin 
14. Lennox Berkeley, ber-ke-lee 
15. Alan Hovhaness, hoh-vahn-ness 
16. Frederic Rzewski, zheff-skee (Polish & English) 
17. Bryn Terfel, brinn tehr-vl (Welsh) 
18. Ralph Vaughan Williams, ralph vawn wil-lee-ams 
19. Sir Adrian Boult, ay-dree-en bolt 
20. Maria Jette, jet-ee 
21. Gil Shaham, geehl sha-hahm (Hebrew & English) 
22. Jan Degaetani, dih-giy-uh-tah-nee 
23. Gervase de Payer, jehr-vayz de pay-er 
24. Richard Bonynge, bahn-eeng (British) 
25. Ellen Taafe Zwilich, tayf zwil-ik 
26. George Rochberg, rawch-bug 
27. Raymond Leppard, leh-pard  
28. Peter Schikele, shi-kul-lee 
29. Kathleen Ferrier, feh-ree-uh 
30. David del Tredici, treh-dih-chee 
31. Vincent Persichetti, per-see-chet-tee 
32. James Levine, le-vine 
33. Claus Adam, ah-dam 
34. Gustav Leonhardt, lay-on-hart (English) 
35. Emmy Loose, loh-zuh 
36. Niels Gade, neelz gah-thuh (as in “the”) 
37. Emil Gilels, eh-meel gee-lehls 

The list of names above is only a small part of what is possibly be hundreds or even thousands of name variations you’ll encounter. Truth be told, there isn’t any surefire method for anyone to sound out a name with 100% accuracy. Frankly, it’s pretty impossible. 

Dealing with a Difficult Last Name

• When the person introduces him/herself, ask him/her to pronounce it, and actively listen. 
• If you still struggle to remember the correct pronunciation, take advantage of websites that can help you pronounce names such as nameshouts.com and hearnames.com. 

• Once you’re able to pronounce your name, don’t continue to bring up how tough it is. It might only make the person feel uneasy. 
• If you’ve known the person for quite a while and realized you’ve been mispronouncing their last name this whole time, apologize and ask them to teach you how to say it correctly. 

It’s not just about sounding “good” — learning to pronounce last names correctly is a sign of goodwill. It might take time and effort. But it will show other people that you truly want to respect them and help them feel comfortable. 

Every now and then, we hear about people who have names that are only best described as bizarre. Some of those names are so odd that you can’t even believe they’re real, but trust us, they definitely are. If you thought Frank Zappa’s kids found themselves in an interesting name situation — Moon Unit and Dweezil — check out the other names on this list.

25. Cricket

Busy Philipps, a well-known actress, and her husband Marc Silverstein named their second daughter Cricket. After they named their first daughter Birdie, maybe we should’ve seen that coming. But still, we never would have guessed that they’d pick the name of an insect. 

24. Awesome

This name was originally registered in Scotland. Maybe the parents are hoping the kid will grow up to fulfill his or her namesake?

23. Denim

This one would actually have a nice sound to it if it weren’t for the meaning attached to the word. Denim will, of course, always refer to the material that jeans are made of. None of this bothered Toni Braxton when she named her son this, though. 

22. Huckleberry

Bear Grylls, British adventurer famous for “Man vs. Wild,” named his son Huckleberry. His first son is named Marmaduke. 

21. Fanta

In 2017, there were 24 girls with this name. Other popular brands that ended up first names include Tesla, Evian, and Maybelline.

20. Halo

This name is given more often to girls, but many boys have it as well. Perhaps it’s not so different than the slightly more conventional “Heaven,” “Trinity,” “Angel,” and more. 

19. Pharaoh

In 2017, 145 boys had this name. It’s a creative way to name your child something “kingly.”

18. Moroccan 

Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon named their son this. He also has a twin sister named Monroe. 

17. Puma

The singer-songwriter Erykah Badu, who has a common name but spelled in a unique way, named her daughter Puma. Maybe she wanted to bestow her child with a strong and fierce name. At least it wasn’t Cougar. 

16. Darth

Although this name might remind you of the famous character from Star Wars, it was actually a given name far before the movies ever came out — in the 1920s! Though still nowhere near popular, at least ten girls had this name back then. 

15. Sunday

Country star Keith Urban and celebrity wife Nicole Kidman named their daughter Sunday. We already had the name Wednesday (made popular by The Addams Family), so why not other days of the week? Funny enough, Mike Myers also has a daughter named Sunday. 

14. Lemon

Can you believe that at least 25 girls had this as a first name in 2017? It seems an odd choice if you’re going to pick a food. 

13. Envy

This name is especially strange, as you wouldn’t expect parents to use a word known as one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

12. Apple

Another fruit name like Lemon, Gwyneth Paltrow, famously named her daughter this in 2004. Though, it’s kind of cute if you think about it. 

11. Audio

American Actress Shannyn Sossamon gave her son this name. Even odder: his middle name is Science. 

10. Java

While this has a cool sound, the word “java” will probably always be reminiscent of coffee. Josh Holloway named his daughter this.

9. Eureka

Perhaps the parents of these children wanted to feel like they had created an astounding science experiment. 

8. Capone

We’re not sure who would want to name their child after a famous gangster who had about 400 people murdered, but evidently, there are some out there. 

7. Calcifer

This sounds like a cross between “Lucifer” and “Calcium.” 

6. Zorawar

We don’t even know where to start with this one. 

5. Moo

Yep… that’s right. Like the sound a cow makes. And it’s totally real. 

4. Beowulf

This is a name from mythology, but it is just so odd that anyone would pick this for their child. 

3. Moon Unit

Frank Zappa, a famous music artist, gave this name to his daughter in 1967. It made headlines because it was so bizarre. Moon Unit is now an actress. 

2. ABCDE

Yep, you read that correctly. Can you believe there were over 300 girls with this name in the 1990s? The pronunciation is usually “ab-si-dee.”

And finally, last but not least, the most bizarre of them all:

1. X Æ A-12

This name, given to Elon Musk and his partner Grimes’ baby born in May, is so insanely bizarre it’s impossible even to know how to pronounce it without some guidance. Looking more like a name for a high-tech futuristic robot, the pronunciation is supposed to be “ex-ash-ay-twelve.” 

In most countries, people’s names consist of both their first and last names. The first name is usually the given name, while the last name expresses the family name, although the order is reversed in some countries and cultures. Unlike the first name, however, your last name can potentially tell you a story about your ancestors.

In fact, your last name could explain the occupation, physical characteristics, or even the geographical features of your forefathers’ hometown. For instance, some English names like Baker, Brewer, and Clarke allude to—bakers, brewers, and clerks. Other surnames like Wood and Hill give us a little bit of information about the location of where the ancestors used to live.

Some of the world’s most-used surnames are so famous that you might be familiar with them, even if they came from a different part of the planet.

Johnson, one of the most frequent surnames in America

Johnson is a family name that originated from the UK. Johnson means “the son of John.” Going by the same rule, there are also other variations in Europe, including Carlson (the son of Carl) and Hansen (the son of Hans), which came from the Scandinavian subregion.

This type of surname is often called a baptismal name, as the child would be bestowed with these last names when they were baptized at a church. It’s not until the 18th century that the practice of giving children baptismal names was getting more common. Baptismal names are given as the need to differentiate people was becoming more necessary thanks to the community’s growing population.

As for the name “John” itself, it can be traced back to its use in the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible. The root word is “Yôḥānān” or in its longer form “Yəhôḥānān,” meaning “YHWH (Yahweh) has been gracious.” “John” as a name got more popular in Europe as religious figures like “John the Baptist” and “John the Evangelist” became more prominent.

In the US, Johnson is the second most common surname, according to the 2010 census. The 5th name on the list, Jones, is simply a variation of John. As for the most common one, it’s Smith, which we’ll discuss next.

Smith, once among the most well-respected family names in the middle ages

Smith is simply another example of a name that is occupational, or comes from one’s ancestor’s profession in the past. In this case, if your last name is Smith, it’s virtually guaranteed that one of your fore-parents worked as a blacksmith, making weapons as well as selling tools.

The Smith family had an exceptional place in society during the medieval period. Among their works, blacksmiths had a special responsibility to create swords, spears, or any other form of battle equipment for their own kingdom’s knights. Due to this privilege, Smith was considered a prideful family.

As a side note, Smith is derived from the word ‘smite,’ a synonym for ‘hit,’ ‘smack,’ or ‘beat.’

Kim, the most common Korean family name

Kim is arguably one of the most common names in Korea. Not just in its homeland, Kim is also quite popular in the US, ranked at 77, according to the same census mentioned before. This is the case as the Korean-American citizens make up a considerable part of the diverse American population.

You might have also heard the name “Kim” from other sources. Fans of K-Pop are likely more familiar with the name. Well, we can expect that some of your music favorite ‘idols’ bear the surname Kim too.

The current Supreme Leader of North Korea and his predecessors, Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Il-sung, are other examples. Three of them are blood-related and come from the ruling Kim family.

Kim was the name of the family that ruled over Silla, a kingdom of the Korean Peninsula that unified most of the Korean land in 668. This is why Kim become a common name. The word ‘Kim’ can also be transliterated as ‘geum’ for “gold.”

Nguyen, a surname used by about 35% of Vietnamese

Nguyen is another foreign name that is also quite widespread in America, sitting at 38th for the most prevalent last name in the country. Even if Nguyen is used by most Vietnamese, surprisingly, the concept of surname or family name is a relatively new thing for the Vietnamese culture, or at least it’s not something that is considered important by them.

The tradition of family names appeared only during China’s occupation of Vietnam. Basically, Nguyen is a mispronunciation of Ruan, a common Chinese surname. Back then, Chinese imperialists used their own surname—one of which is “Ruan”—to identify people under their own surveillance. This makes it easier to keep a tax record of them.

Somewhere along the way, Nguyen became the most widespread name in the country.

What’s In a Name?

It’s amazing how names are not only an integral part of someone’s identity but can also illuminate the history of one’s heritage. How about you? Do you know the story of your last name?