On Proper Names. 271 



present essay is very far from making any pretensions to supply 

 this striking desideratum, in a manner adapted to satisfy the 

 learned and persevering inquirer*. But it may aflford some 

 useful entertainment to those who have not inclination or op- 

 portunity to examine the subject for themselves, and may serve 

 to direct the attention and guide the inquiries of such as may 

 think it worth their while to enter more minutely into its 

 details. 



I take it for granted that all names, at their original imposi- 

 tion, were, in some way or other^ significant. It is not, I think, 

 to be supposed, that in the task of affixing a name to a child or 

 a stranger, any man, or society of men, ever deliberately sat 

 down to contrive new combinations of letters or syllables with 

 this object It may safely be taken for granted, even if the 

 supposition was not confirmed by actual research, that few 

 persons would choose to take the trouble of such elaborate 

 fabrications ; unless, perhaps, in instances like those of Gulli- 

 ver's Travels, when Swift took the pains of forming such words 

 as Lilliput, Brobdignag, and Houyhnhnms, in accordance, as 

 he supposed, with the extravagant fictions he was about to 

 compose. Whenever a new name was wanted, there is reason 

 to believe some term or combination of terms already in use 

 was universally adopted, though the selection was made from 

 motives which cannot always be traced, and on principles 

 which the lapse of ages has often buried in irretrievable oblivion. 

 The choice was, no doubt, principally influenced by habit and 

 usage, but these usages varied essentially amongst different 

 nations and at different periods. 



In the early periods of society, what we call f surnames, or 

 simames, would, of course, be unknown. The members of a 

 family or a tribe would not be so numerous, that any individual 

 should require more to distinguish him. from others, than a 



• A complete investigation of this branch of knowledge would demand not only 

 a very exact acquaintance with all the Celtic and Teutonic dialects which now re- 

 main, but a careful research into ancient charters, family records, and original re- 

 gisters. Tlie moBt complete success wovdd hardly compensate such various and 

 complicated labours. 



f These two appellations differ from each other (though often confounded) as 

 genus and species. A surname (sur) is an additional appellation of any kind 

 added to the name. Simame {quasi sirename) is an additional appellation derived 

 from the father. 



T2 



