516 
N A 
nomen, expreffed the particular branch of the tribe or 
clan from which an individual was fprung. Thus, Publius 
Cornelius Scipio : Publius correfponded to our names 
John, Robert, or William ; Cornelius was the name of the 
clan or tribe, as Campbell was formerly the name of all 
the duke of Argyle’s clients, and Douglas the name of 
the retainers of the duke of Hamilton’s progenitors. 
Scipio being added, conveyed this information, that Pub¬ 
lius, who was of the tribe of the Cornelii, was of the 
family of the Scipios, one of the branches or families into 
which that tribe was divided. Refpefling the three names 
which were common among the Romans, we may fay that 
the firft was a name, and the other two furnames. 
In thefe, too, they have been imitated by later times : 
thus, in our Englilh Hiltory, we find that Edgar was 
called the Peaceable; Ethelred, the Unready; Edmund, 
Ironiide; Harold, Harefoot ; William, the Ballard; 
Henry I. Beauclerk ; John, Lackland, See. But, as thefe 
names were never borne by the fons, Camden, and others, 
think it llrange, that Plantagenet Ihould be accounted the 
furname of the royal family of England till Henry VII. 
or Tydur, or Tudor, that from Henry VII. to king James I. 
or that of Steward, or Stuart, from king James I. to king 
George I. or that Valois Ihould be efteemed the furname 
of the late family of French kings, or Bourbon of the 
prefent; or Oldenburg of the kings of Denmark; or Hapf- 
burg of the emperors of Germany. 
Du Chefne obferves, that furnames were unknown in 
France before the year 987, when the lords began to af- 
fume the names of their demefnes. Camden relates, that 
they were firft taken up in England, a little before the 
Conqueft, under king Edward the Confelfor; but he adds, 
they were never fully eftablifiied among the common peo¬ 
ple, till the time of Edward II. Till then they varied with 
the father’s name ; if the father, e. g. was called Richard, 
or Roger, the fon was called Richardfon, RogerJ'on, or 
HodgJ'on; but from that time they were fettled, fome fay, 
by adt of parliament. The oldeft furnames are thofe we 
find in Domefday Book, moft of them taken from places, 
with the addition of de ; as, Godefridus de Mannevilla, 
Walterus de Vernon, Robert de Oyly, &sc. Others from 
their fathers, with Jilkis, as Guilelmus filius Olberni; 
others from their offices, as Eudo Dapifer, Guilelmus 
Camerarius, Giflebertus Cocus, &c. But the inferior peo¬ 
ple are noted, limply, by their Chriftian names ; without 
any furnames at all. 
It was an ancient cuftom in England, that clergymen 
fhould take their furnames from the place where they 
were born, not regarding the name of their father; and, 
among monks and friars, this continued till the fup- 
preffion of the abbeys. Thus William Wickham, biftrop 
of Winchefter, was the fon of one Perot, and called by 
the name of the place where he was born ; and his fuc- 
ceffor, William Wainfleet, was the fon of one Patyn. 
Thomas Rotherham, archbilhop of York, was the fon of 
Scot. Simon Sudbury, archbilhop of Canterbury, was 
the fon of oneTybald, a gentleman of Sudbury in Suffolk ; 
Richard Bury, bifliop of Durham, was the fon of fir Ri¬ 
chard Angerville, of Bury St. Edmund’s ; and John de 
Baconfthorpe, a carmelite, ftyled alfo Refolutus, was the 
fon of fir Henry Bacon, of Baconfthorpe in Norfolk. 
Harleian MSS. 980. 
Surnames feem to have been introduced into Scotland 
in the time of William the Conqueror, by the Englilh 
who accompanied Edgar Atheling when he fled into that 
kingdom. Thefe had their proper furnames, as Moubray, 
Lovell, Lille, ufing the particle de before them ; which 
makes it probable that thefe furnames had been derived 
from the lands which their anceftors or they themfelves 
had poffeffed. In Kenneth II’s time, in 800, the great men 
had indeed begun tocaii their lands by their own names; 
but the ordinary diftindlions then ufed were only per- 
lonal, and did not delcend to fucceeding generations, 
fuch as thofe employed by the Hebrews and Greeks; for 
example, John the fon of William: or the names of office, 
M E. 
as Stewart; or accidental diftindlions from complexion or 
ftation, as Black, White,Long, Short; or the name of their 
trade, as Tailor, Weaver, Sec. 
It was long before any furnames were ufed in Wales, 
except that of fon, as Evan ap Rice, Evan the fon of Rice ; 
Evan ap How'el, Evan the fon of Howel, but many of 
them have at length formed feparate furnames, as the 
Englilh and Scots, by leaving out the a in ap, and joining 
the p to the father’s name : thus Evan ap Rice becomes 
Evan Price ; Evan ap Howel, Evan Powel. We are told, 
furnames were unknown in Sweden till the year 1514; 
and that the common people of that country ufe none to 
this day; and that the fame is the cafe with the vulgar 
Iriffi, and the Poles and Bohemians. 
When we come to inquire into the etymology of fur¬ 
names, we muft allow that many of them were originally 
fignificant in the qualities of mind, as Bold, Hardy, Meek; 
fome of the qualities of body, as Strong, Low, Short; 
others expreffive of the trade or profeffion followed by the 
perfons to whom they were applied, as Baker, Smith, 
Wright; Butler, Page, Marlhal. But the greateft num¬ 
ber, at leal! of the ancient furnames, were borrowed from 
the names of places. Camden fays, that there is not a 
village in Normandy but has given its name to fome 
family in England. He mentions as examples, Percy, 
Devereux, Tankervil, Mortimer, Warren, See. They 
were introduced with William the Conqueror. Several 
have been derived from places in the Netherlands, as 
Gaunt, Tournay, Grandifon ; and many from the names 
of towns and villages in England and Scotland, as Went¬ 
worth, Markham, Murray, Aberdeen. Many have been 
formed from the names of animals, as Lamb, Kid, Colt, 
Bullock, Gofling, Cock, Dove, Partridge; others from 
country occupations; as Shepherd, Cowherd, Farmer, 
Plowman, Gardener: many from grain, trees, plants, 
and flowers; as Corn, Oats, Alh, Birch, Broom, Ivy, 
Violet, Lilly, Primfofe: fome from fruits; as Cherry, 
Strawberry, Nut, Haws, Sweetapple, Crab; others from the 
water; as Lake, Pool, Ford, Rivers, Brooks : and feveral 
from the nature or diftribution of the ground 5 as Hill, 
Dale, Heath, Wood, Greenwood, Lane, Hedges, Acres, 
Meadows, Townlend, &c. “Thus did our ancient fami¬ 
lies diftinguifli themfelves by appellations which betokened 
induftry, innocence, and independency; and which bore 
fome relation to either their lands, their feats, or their 
bufinefs. If moft of the flourifliing modern familes, who 
haunt the town, were to copy after our predeceffors in 
this refpeft; many, who might be ambitious of being 
known by the particular arts of life they cultivated, or 
might be proud of fignifying to pofterity by what induftry 
they happened to thrive in the world, would not be 
thought to arrogate by appropriating to themfelves the 
genteel names of Dice, Hazard, Piquet, Whift, Baflet, 
Punter, Mafker; Gamefter, likewife, and Sharper, are no 
dilreputable nor improper titles, with a hanbibme equi¬ 
page ; and, if any gentleman of the induftrious tribe 
Ihould have a particular fondnefs to a rural denomination, 
he may borrow, from a country-animal, the furname of 
Setter.” Free-Thinker, N° 120. May 15, 1719. 
The fubjedt of furnames is treated much at length in 
the New Monthly Magazine, vol. i. and iii. where they 
are diftributed into eighteen claffes, according to the ob- 
jedts they are derived from. And in the Britannic Maga¬ 
zine, vol. x. there are fome facetious remarks, with which 
we lhall conclude this fanciful article. 
“ As men now take the names of their parents, with¬ 
out taking their manners, qualities, or profeffions, a 
number of very incongruous appellations will offer them¬ 
felves to the recolledfion of every one. Have we not 
feen a tame, meek, fweet-tempered, lady, falfely and 
erroneoufly called Mrs. Fury ? Mrs. Lamb often beats 
her hulband! Then there is Mr. Crofs, the mildeft man 
in the worid. Mr. King is a poor fubjedt. Mr. Prince 
lives in a lodging, without guards and attendants. Mr. 
Goodchild broke his father’s heart. Mrs. Thorogood is 
a name 
