8 
Tolman—English Surnames. 
The crusades gave a great impulse to the use of the name 
John, with reference to John the Baptist. John was the most 
common English personal name from 1300 to 1700. The other 
name of the Baptist, Elias, also became very popular; Ellis, 
Elliot, Elkins, etc., show this. The river Jordan, inseparably 
associated with John’s labors, became a popular personal name, 
and then a surname. Judd (giving Judson) is thought to be a 
pet-form of the word. 
Jack (French Jaques , Jacques, from Latin Jcicohus) was not 
properly a pet-form of John, but was always looked upon in 
England as a more familiar form of that most common of names. 
Hence Jack is found everywhere in our common speech, and 
shows us how natural, even instinctive, the process of personi¬ 
fication is to the popular mind. We have Jack everywhere in 
folk-tales, in Mother G-oose, and in popular proverbs. We have 
such words as jackanapes, Jack-o’-lantern (the rival name Will¬ 
iam appears in the rival term Will-o’-the-wisp), Jack-of-all- 
trades, jack-ass, jack-daw, jack-knife, boot-jack, jack-et, and so 
on through an endless list. Jackson is a very common surname. 
Some names are metronymics , or surnames made from the per¬ 
sonal name of the mother. Adoption, posthumous birth, the 
higher rank of the mother, and similar causes explain the 
origin of these names; but undoubtedly they were often applied 
to illegitimate children. Emmett (Em), Sisson (Siss, from 
Cicely, Cecilia), Tillotson (Til, from Matilda), and Nelson, are 
common metronymics. 
The Puritan movement brought in a change in the fashion of 
personal names almost as marked as that following the Norman 
conquest. Old Testament names, the Christian graces, and 
motto-names, which were often condensed prayers (Standfast, 
Livewell), indicate the new fashion. But surnames were already 
fixed, and some additional personal names, such as Josiah, Ra¬ 
chel, Hope, Faith, and Prudence are all that is left us from 
that convulsion in our nomenclature. Said one writer, with 
amusing exaggeration: “Cromwell hath beat up his drums clean 
through the Old Testament; you may know the genealogy of our 
Saviour by the names of his regiment. The muster master hath 
no other list than the first chapter of St. Matthew. ” 
