ON NAME AND KACE IN ENGLAND. 
55 
which, though not apparent to, nor systematically intended by, 
those who assumed or conferred the names, was, nevertheless, 
systematic in result. If the names were taken or applied by 
accident, then it should follow that in all the races that made 
up the community the names were indiscriminately mixed. 
If a systematic plan were consciously or unconsciously followed, 
then particular names would be stamped upon and adhere to 
particular races. This latter position is what I believe to be 
the fact : I mean that at the time when surnames became the 
fashion in England, the fashion was varied according to the 
races which then existed. 
To make this theory clear, it is essential to glance at the 
races which existed on the soil at the time when the surname 
became a part of the national history. At this period there 
existed three distinct populations at least. There was the Celtic 
population, which had been driven, by Saxon encroachments, 
from the centre of the island to the mountainous districts, to 
Wales, and to the Highlands of Scotland; there was the Saxon 
population, which held the most dominant sway, and which 
was enormously increased in number and power by the Nor- 
man Invasion ; and there was a Jewish population, the ex- 
tent of which is not known, but which could not have been 
inconsiderable. To these might be added, though I exclude 
them from the present argument, the remains, probably, of a 
Eoman population, and a fragment of a nomadic or gipsy fra- 
ternity. 
Among these three great races, then — Saxon, Celtic, Jewish — 
surnames were introduced, developed, and sent onwards. The 
origin of the names was limited in number, as we have seen, to 
a few heads, while the classification was devised, unconsciously 
perhaps, but, as I believe, methodically, by what may be called 
the peculiarities or idiosyncrasies of each race. 
In respect to names that were personal , it is probable that 
all the races followed to some extent the same rule ; but the 
Jewish race most distinctively followed it, and have held most 
persistently to it, although they have in course of time 
modified some such names, as when they have turned Abraham 
into Braham ; Levi into Lewis ; Jacob into Jacobson ; Moses 
into Moss. 
Names derived from place were, I think, divided mainly 
between the Celts and Saxons ; the Celts especially taking 
names derived from localities. This fact becomes most note- 
worthy when a list of names is taken up, the Celtic nature of 
which is settled by the prefix of Mac or Ap. 
Names derived from inanimate things and from occupations 
were assigned, I think, almost exclusively to the Saxons. This 
was in strict accord with their character as a race. The same 
