England Personal Names

Understanding given names and surnames can help you trace your ancestors. The English did not have a specific naming pattern, but they often gave their children family names. Sometimes when a child died, the next child of that sex born into the family was given the same name. Occasionally two or more living children in the family had the same given name.

Surnames
The nobility and wealthy landowners first began using surnames. Merchants and townspeople adopted the custom, as eventually did the rural population. This process took several centuries. Surnames developed from several sources. For example:


 * Occupational (based on a person’s trade, such as Carter or Smith)
 * Geographical (based on a person’s residence, such as Drayton or Debenham)
 * Patronymic (based on a person’s father’s name, such as Jones, son of John)
 * Descriptive or nickname (such as Joy or Child)

Several websites help you map the geography of English surnames. To learn more, see Surname Distribution Maps. GenMap UK (£) helps you create your own United Kingdom surname distribution maps.

Projects that study specific surnames are called one-name studies. The Guild of One-Name Studies is an example of an organization that has identified several thousands such projects.

The British Surnames website can help you learn a wide variety of information about English surnames. Genuki.co.uk maintains a 'Surname List' by county which could prove to be helpful.

Another aspect of English surnames is pronunciation. "A List of Surnames Pronounced Differently from What the Spelling Suggests" (1883), available online, identifies some more unusual examples.

Given Names
When they were christened, children usually received one or two given names. Some were named after parents or other relatives. (see also British Naming Conventions)

For a book describing given names, see:


 * Withycombe, E.G. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names. Third Revised Edition. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1950. (Family History Library book 1950. BYU FHL book CS 2375 .G7 W5 1977.)

Many names in pre-1700 records are in Latin. The Record Interpreter (1892) identifies:


 * 1) Latin Forms of English Surnames
 * 2) Latin Christian Names with Their English Equivalents

A select list of Latin given names with the English equivalent are listed in Volume three of David E. Gardner’s, and Frank Smith’s Genealogical Research in England and Wales. Three Volumes. Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft Publishers, 1956–64. (Family History Library book .)