Family Surname Christmas Tree

I would like to wish all my readers a very merry Christmas and all the best for 2015...

June's Interesting Genealogical Blog Finds...

Worldwide Genealogy - A Town Forgotten

An interesting tale of a town long gone, but yet significant in the places which still exist.

Ancestry Blog - Does This Make Angelina Jolie Kate Middleton's Fairy Godmother?

How are Elle Fanning and Kate Middleton related through royalty?

Worldwide Genealogy - Online Trees. Why Have One?

The pros to having an online tree.

Worldwide Genealogy - Why Don't You?? Volunteer, That Is

Why we should all do a the volunteering we can fit around our busy schedules.

Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter - Who Do You Think You Are? (UK version) Announces 10 New Guest Stars

Line up for the next WDYTYA series being shown this summer...

Of Trees & Ink - That's Not My Name

Interesting tale of another genealogist's ancestors who's name regularly changes.

Surname Saturday - Redwood

Surname Saturday is a regular blog post in which I will discuss the origins and geography of the surnames which appear in my own family tree.

This week's surname is REDWOOD

John & Jane Davidson (nee Redwood)

Variants: Readwood, Ridewood, Redewood, Reedwood, 

Redwood is a locational surname for a person who came from the villages of Redworth in Devon or Durham, or even a lost village by the name of "Redwood". It could also have derived from a person who lived near or close to a red wood.

The highest locational density of Redwood families in 1891 was in London with 17% and Devon and Somerset with 15%

My 3x great grandmother was a Redwood, she was called Jane Redwood and married, John Davidson. Jane was born in Herne, Kent and her family were from various towns along this stretch of the Kent coastline. Many of the men were mariners and worked at sea. (You can read more about Jane and her family at the The Davidson Family - Chapters 5-7)


Information from:
SurnameDB - Redwood
House of Names - Redwood
Ancestry Surname Distribution - Redwood

Importance of a person's name?

I read this quote a few days ago and it really got me thinking...

"A person's name:

• REPRESENTS and PERSONIFIES a person's character and sets him apart from everyone else.

When we call someone by their name we are declaring something over that person's life..."

...every time someone calls my name "RUTH" which means "friend; companion; vision of beauty" they are declaring that I am a friendly, companionable, beautiful person and unique. HOW COOL IS THAT!!!

Have you ever looked into the meaning of your name?

Information from: Baby Name Meanings - Ruth (accessed 25 Feb 2014)

Surname Saturday - Binns

Surname Saturday is a regular blog post in which I will discuss the origins and geography of the surnames which appear in my own family tree.

This week's surname is BINNS.

Variants: Bins, Binnes, Binn, Binz

The surname is derived from the Olde English binn meaning 'manger' or 'bowl'.

The surname could be:

• Topographical, to describe a person who lived in a hollow or close to a manger
• Occupational, to describe a person who made mangers or troughs
• Locational, to describe a person who lived in a farmstead or a lost village or hamlet called Binns
• Patronymic, from the Middle English given name BINNE or Old English name BYNNI
• Or, an Anglicised version of the German surname BINZ

Manger
(Photo Link - FlickR, Angela (Blondie5000), 21 Nov 2010)

The surname is predominantly located in West Yorkshire around the towns of Haworth, Bradford & Keighley, where there was a small hamlet called High Binns near the village of Oxenhope, West Yorkshire.

The surname is not a common surname is predominantly from Yorkshire. In 1891, 71% of the Binns' families were residing in Yorkshire and 16% in Lancashire, with a small scattering of the others around the country. 

Based on the high percentage of Binns' families in West Yorkshire it is therefore not a surprise to tell you that the Binns's in my family tree are from Cowling nr Keighley in West Yorkshire. My great, great grandmother was Grace Ellen Binns born in c1869 nr Shipley, West Yorkshire. Her father John Binns was born in nr Cowling, West Yorkshire and was a weaver, as was his own father, David Binns c1816, also from Cowling, West Yorkshire.

Information from:

SurnameDB - Binns

British Surnames - Binns

Ancestry.co.uk - Binns

GenForum - Binns

British Surnames - Binns - 1881 census

Surname Saturday - Wright

Surname Saturday is a regular blog post in which I will discuss the origins and geography of the surnames which appear in my own family tree.

This week's surname is WRIGHT.

Variants: Right, Rite, Wraight, Wraighte, Wrate, Wreight, Wrighte, Write or Wryght

Wright is an occupational surname for a person who made things. "Wright" is derived from the Old English wyrhta or wryhta meaning a craftsman. There were different kinds of wrights depending on whether the craftsman had a speciality craft such as:

• Wheelwright - a person who makes wheels
• Shipwright - a person who builds boats 
• Playwright - a person who makes or writes plays

Wright is the 13th most common surname in the UK and the reason behind this is most villages would have had a "wright" - a local village handyman, who was talented at making things with his hands.

In 1891, 14% of the Wright family's were located in Yorkshire, 14% in London and 13% in Lancashire.

As it is a common surname, it is not a surprise that this surname appears in at least two different families in my family tree:

1. My great, great grandmother, Mary Wright, married George Presswood. She was born c1838 in Elksley, Nottinghamshire but I know very little about her background or family...more research to be undertaken.
2. Another of my great, great grandmothers was a Wright (see photo below). Born Lucy Ann Wright she married William Thompson in Leeds. She was the daughter of a groomsman named John Wright and the family originated from the Church Fenton & Ulleskelf area but they also lived in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Chapel Allerton, Leeds and Garforth areas.

My great, great grandparents, William & Lucy Ann, and
 their 3 eldest children, Harold, Cyril & Alice (my great grandmother) Thompson

Information from:

Family tree magazine 131 - Anthony Adolph - July 2013

SurnameDB - Wright

BritishSurnames - Wright

Ancestry.co.uk - Wright

Surname Saturday - Kay

Surname Saturday is a regular blog post in which I will discuss the origins and geography of the surnames which appear in my own family tree.

This weeks surname is KAY...

Variants: Kaye, Key

Key
(Image link: www.wikipedia.org, Author: Robert Lawton, 2006)

The surname Kay may be derived from:

• the Olde English caeg meaning key and used as an occupational surname for a key-bearer of an aristocratic household or even a key maker. 
• The Old French kaye meaning quay and a topographical surname for someone who resided close to a wharf or quay.
• The Celtic given name, Welsh cai or Cornish key as a patronymic surname.
• The Old Norse ka meaning jackdaw as a nickname for a person.
• The Danish kei meaning left, again as a nickname for a left-handed or clumsy person.

55% of the family's with the surname Kay lived in Lancashire at the time of the 1891 census and 20% in Yorkshire.

76% of the family's with the surname Kaye lived in Yorkshire at the time of the 1891 census.

Two variants of the surname Kay and Kaye are found in my family tree. The latter was my aunts maiden name and the surname Kay goes back a few generations to my great x4 Grandmother Ann Kay born c1804 in Burton Pidsea, East Yorkshire to Ralph Kay born c1775 in Keyingham, East Yorkshire and Hannah Ellis c1775.

To read a little about my Kay family you can read more on The Davidson Family - Chapter 12.

Information from:

Ancestry - Kay

Ancestry - Kaye

SurnameDB - Kay

Copyright © 2013 Ruth Hogan

Surname Saturday - Poole

Surname Saturday is a regular blog post in which I will discuss the origins and geography of the surnames which appear in my own family tree.

This week's surname is POOLE.

Variants: Pool, Pooley, Pole, Pull, Paul, Paule

My great, great Poole grandparents 

The surname is a topographical surname derived from the Anglo-Saxon pol meaning pool which is used to describe a family which live near a pool of water. It can also be a locational surname from the villages around the UK named Pool or Poole, eg Pool in Wharfedale, West Yorkshire or Poole, Dorset. 

In the 1890 census, 10% of the Poole families lived in Lancashire, 7% in Yorkshire, 14% in London and 9% in Staffordshire. 

My grandmother was born Mary Verona Poole in Rawdon, West Yorkshire. Her family was mainly from Shipley and Bradford also in West Yorkshire. I have often wondered whether her surname was derived from the small township of Pool-in-Wharfedale near to the north of Bradford and Leeds. Will need to continue researching to find out. There is a grave to my great, great grandfather and great, great, great grandmother at Nab Wood Cemetery near Shipley, West Yorkshire, which can be found at FindAGrave.com.



Information from: SurnameDB - Poole
Ancestry - Poole

Copyright © 2013 Ruth Hogan

Common nicknames or Abbreviations

I was inspired by my grandmother to start researching my family history as she would talk about Cousin May, Aunty Polly married so and so....etc. As I started to research for Aunty Polly, I became rather confused, there were no Polly's in that family! When I looked further I started to realise there were a number of relatives all called Mary (which was also my grandmother's name too), one was known as May, another Polly, another Aunty Mary and Cousin Mary to distinguish who she was talking about. My grandmother only had one sister and she was often just referred to as "Aunty" without the need for using her given name, but everyone knew who they were talking about.

Another example was my grandad's brother was married to Aunty Lena, everyone knew her as Aunty Lena but yet it was not until her funeral where the extended family discovered she was actually Selina.

Listed below are some common nicknames and name abbreviations to help you with your research but as you talk with elderly relatives and you think they're using a nickname ask them "what was their Sunday name?" as it may help you unlock some doors later on.

MALE

Aaron = Ron, Ronnie
Albert = Bert, Bertie
Alexander = Alex, Sandy, Alec
Alfred = Fred, Freddie, Alf
Andrew = Andy, Drew
Anthony = Tony
Benjamin = Ben, Bennie, Benji, Benjy
Charles = Charlie, Chas
Christopher = Chris, Kit, Kester, Kristof, Xr, Xtopher,
Daniel = Danny, Dan
David = Dave, Davy
Edward = Ed, Teddy, Eddy or Eddie, Ted, Ned
Edwin = Ed, Eddie, Ned
Francis = Frank, Frankie, Fran
Frederick = Fred, Freddie, Rick, Ricky
George = Georgie
Gregory = Gregg
Harold = Harry
Henry = Harry
Herbert = Bert, Bertie
James = Jim, Jimmy, Jamie, Jas
John = Jack, Jacky, Jonny
Jonathan = Jno (as John)
Joseph = Joe, Joey, Jody, Jos
Joshua = Josh
Matthew = Matty, Matt
Michael = Mike, Mikey
Nicholas = Nick, Nicky
Peter = Pete
Philip = Phil, Pip
Richard = Rick, Ricky, Dick, Rich, Richie
Robert = Rob, Robbie, Bob, Bobbie, Robin, Bert
Ronald = Ron, Ronnie
Samuel = Sam, Sammy
Steven or Stephen = Steve
Terence = Terry
Timothy = Tim, Timmy
Thomas = Tom, Tommy, Thos
Tobias = Toby
William = Bill, Will, Willy, Billy

FEMALE

Agnes = Aggie, Ness, Nessie
Aileen = Lena, Allie
Alexandra = Alex, Alexa, Sandra, Sandy
Alison = Ali, Ally, Allie
Amanda = Mandy
Amelia = Amy, Millie

Ann/e or Anna = Nancy, Annie, Nance
Beatrice or Beatrix = Bea, Trixie, Beattie, Trissy
Caroline or Carolyn or Carolina = Carrie, Carol, Carly, Lynne, Lyn
Cassandra = Cassie, Sandy, Sandra
Catherine = Cathy, Cath, Cate, Cat, Kit, Cassie
Charlotte = Charlie, Lotty, Chattie, Lota, Lola
Christine or Christiana or Christina = Chris, Chrissie, Tina, Christy, Chrissa
Deborah = Debra, Debbie
Dorothy or Dorothea = Thea, Dot, Dottie, Doll, Dolly, Dora, Dee
Edith = Edie, Dee
Eileen = Lena
Eleanor = Ellie, Nellie, Nell, Nora
Elizabeth = Beth, Betty, Liz, Lizzie, Eliza, Bet, Betsy, Bess, Bessie, Ellie, Lisa, Elisa, Libby, Elsa
Emily = Millie, Emmie, Em
Emma = Em, Emmie
Esther = Hetty, Essie, Ettie
Florence = Flo, Florrie, Flossie, Flora
Francis = Fan, Fanny, Fran, Franny, Francy, France, Franky, Fran
Georgina = Nina, Georgie, Gina
Hannah = Ann, Anna, Annie, Nana, Nanny
Helen or Ellen or Helena = Nell, Ellie, El, Nellie, Lena, Lallie
Henrietta = Ettie, Etta, Hetty, Netty
Janet or Jane = Jenny, Nettie, Netta
Katherine, Kathleen, Kathlyn = Kate, Katy, Katie, Kathy, Kat, Kay, Kit, Kath
Margaret or Marguerite  = Daisy, Maggie, Marge, Margery, Margie, Madge, Margot, Margo, Magsie, Maisie, May, Meg, Megan, Peggy, Greta, Rita
Martha = Matty, Marty, Pat, Patty

Mary = Molly, Mol, May, Mae, Polly, Minnie
Patricia = Pat, Patty, Tricia, Trisha, Trish, Trissie, Patsy
Roberta = Robbie, Bobbie, Bob, Berta, Bertie, Robyn
Rosemary = Rosie, Rose

Sarah = Sally Sal, Sadie
Selina = Lena
Virginia = Ginny, Ginger, Jenny, 

For some other nicknames see: Women's names, Men's names & Traditional Nicknames

Copyright © 2013 Ruth Hogan

Traditional English naming pattern

Given names or the first name of a baby born today is often thought deeply about by the parents-to-be for the whole nine months before the birth. We name our children after friends, family, famous people, choose name we like, which sound good with our surnames, try to pick something unique, etc. But about 200 years ago things were very different, there was a "traditional" naming pattern which many families (but not all!) followed. The traditional naming pattern used in England in the 1700s and early 1800s was:

1st son named after father's father (paternal grandfather)
2nd son named after the mother's father (maternal grandfather)
3rd son after the father
4th son after the father's eldest brother (eldest paternal uncle)
5th son after the mother's eldest brother (eldest maternal uncle)


1st daughter named after mother's mother (maternal grandmother)

2nd daughter named after father's mother (paternal grandmother)
3rd daughter after mother
4th daughter after mother's eldest sister (eldest maternal aunt)
5th daughter after father's eldest sister (eldest paternal aunt)


Common exceptions are found:

• Occasionally the father or grandfather's name may be gender changed for the daughters - eg Roberta for Robert, Edwina for Edwin etc.
• The naming pattern may have not been used if the family had a significant friend or relative whom they wished name their child after, eg a good friend or an aunt who played a significant role in the life of the mother or father.
• The opposite of the latter may have been a "strained" family relationships between a family members in which they chose not to name a child after, so they skipped a family members name.
• Locational variations can be found.
• Sometimes families had their own naming pattern.
• Occasionally there was an unusual name in the family which was carried through the generations, such as Hephzibah or Mordecai.

I cannot say that I have noticed this naming pattern followed in my family's but perhaps I have not gone back quite far enough with my research to notice the patterns.

In the Seddon family which is part of my Davidson ancestry I notice that the first born children to John and Elizabeth Seddon, were named after the parents, John and Elizabeth, the grandfather's name, Mordecai, was used for the 3rd and 5th born son. Presumably the first son named Mordecai passed away, but it is interesting as the given name "Mordecai" in this family pops up in nearly every generation for 3 or 4 generations. (To find out more about the Seddon family see my Davidson page - Chapter 11).

Also in my Davidson family, in 4 generations the first born son was given the first name "John", so whether they were following a different naming pattern or just wanted to name the first born of each generation after the father, or that it had become a family tradition, it would be interesting to know. (More can be read about my Davidson family on the Davidson Page of this blog).

Does anyone have any interesting naming patterns in their families which they can follow down the generations? If you do I would be really interested to hear from you.

Some of this information came from the website: DiggingForAncestors

Copyright © 2013 Ruth Hogan

Origins of Surnames in the UK

I love discovering the meaning of names as I believe that we are not given names by chance, but our names impress on our identity of "who we are" and who we become.

Surnames started to become more commonly used from the Middle Ages when the population of the UK grew and there would often be many people known by the same forename, eg John, William, Sarah, Elizabeth etc. In conversation people needed to be able distinguish between which John you may have been conversing about. Perhaps we were talking about John the son of William - John Williamson, John from Bradford - John Bradford or even perhaps John the baker - John Baker.

Surnames are derived in different ways and these are the most common types of surname:

• Patronymic - name of the father. 
• Metonymic - occupational surname.
• Matronymic - name of mother. 
• Locational - named after the place a family came from.
• Topographical - names derived from geographic features perhaps near where they lived.
• Sobriquet - nickname Redhead, Littlejohn may have derived from someone who was very tall, Caesar meant "hairy", Armstrong
• Papponymic - grandfather's name - often Irish in origin "Ua, Ui or O" & grandfather's name

Patronymic surnames are derived from the name of their father.

Davidson Crest

(Image link: www.wikipedia.org,
Author: Celtus,  6 Sept 2008)

Many of the patronymic surnames are obvious as they end with -son if they are derived for the English, for example, John's son = Johnson or William's son = Williamson. Sometimes spelling have been altered and changed, for example, Thomas's son = Thompson or Thomasson.

There are a number of patronymic surnames in England which are also derived from other languages.

• From the French and the Norman Conquest, these often begin with Fitz- which is derived from the French "fils" meaning "son". For example: Fitzjohn = son of John & Fitzgerald = son of Gerald.
• From Gaelic, especially found in Scotland and Ireland, names beginning with Mac- or Mc- as "mac" is the Gaelic for son. For example, MacGregor or McGregor = son of Gregory.
• From Old Irish, the prefix O'- means descendant (or grandson - see Papponymic). Originally it was written in Irish as an O with an accent above it but when the names were anglicised it was mistaken for an apostrophe.
• From the Welsh, we have "ab" or "ap" meaning son which in many cases was dropped altogether but there are a few examples in which it remains, ab Owen = Bowen, ap Rhys = Price or ap Richard = Pritchard. The more modern patronymic names from the Welsh solely added an "-s" at the end of a name, for example, Edwards, Williams or Jones which are all really common surnames in Wales even today.
• From the Cornish, similarly to the Welsh or originally from the "Breton" language, "map" was used as prefix like "ap" as above but also in Cornish is found the suffix "-kin" as in Tompkin = Thomas's son.

It is common for Jewish families to have Patronymic surnames, often in England they have been anglicised over the years - David's son = Davidson, from David in the Old Testament.

Fletcher - arrow maker

(Image link: www.wikipedia.org, Author: Frank Vincentz,
18 Feb 2011)

Metonymic surnames are occupational. They are derived from the person's occupation, which may seem simple with names such as Baker, Smith or Farmer, but what about the older occupations we know longer have such as Fletcher = person who made arrows or Fowler = bird catcher.

There may also be spelling variations for the same surname such as Smith, Smythe, Smithe, Smithie, Smyth etc, but they are all derived from the same root.

Smith is the UK's most common surname as most villages or even towns would have only had one smith who would have been well known by many of the villagers. In conversation in the Middle Ages if we would have referred to John the smith, most people would have known who you were talking about. The occupation was probably passed down through the family from father to son as well, so the trade would have been in one family, the Smith family.

Matronymic surnames are derived from the name of their mother. These are much fewer than the patronymic surnames but some survive.

• Ibbetson = Ibb's son, Ibb being the shorten nickname for people named Isabel.
• Beaton derived from the first name Beatrice.
• Megson = Meg's son, Meg being the shorten form of Margaret.

Locational surnames are names which are derived from place names. There are a few different types of locational surnames:

Bolling Hall, East Bowling, Bradford, West Yorkshire
(Image link: www.wikipedia.org, Author:
David Spencer, 18 July 2005, accessed 15th Feb 2014)

• A person who moved to live a different area was named after the place they were originally from. For example, John Bradford may have been from the city of Bradford in West Yorkshire or the many other little towns and villages throughout the country which take this place name. The place name Bradford is originally derived from the "Broad-ford". Another example of this is, Granville a name derived from a place in France called "Grainville-la-Teinturiere" which is thought was brought to England during the Norman Conquest.
• The other type of locational surname might be someone who owned the land of a certain place. For example the Lord of Manor of Bolling Hall in East Bowling, Bradford was named William Bolling in 1316. The name Bolling has derived to Bowling over the years.

Topographical surnames are names derived from geographical features such as Hill or Underwood. Some topographical names might not be so obvious, for example:

• Penver is derived from the Cornish for "big hilltop".
• Lund is derived from the Norse for "grove".
• Dale a name which is derived from the Scandinavian "dalr" meaning valley, but even today "Dale" is still a commonly used word in some local northern dialects to mean valley.

Sobriquet surnames are names derived from nicknames.

• Some may be literal nicknames such as "Redhead" for someone who has red hair.
• Some may be a little more sarcastic in tone such as "Littlejohn" for someone who may have been actually very tall.

Papponymic names are from their grandfather's name. Often the Irish in origin, "O'-" meant grandson, so O'Brien, is either a descendant of Brian or a grandson of Brian.

We do not understand where many surnames are now derived from as their meanings have been lost or been distorted by accents, dialect, differences in spellings and even differences of language (Welsh, Gaelic, English, Norse, Manx, Cornish).

Some surnames are more common in different parts of the country than others, which could denote that the name commenced in that particular area of the country. There are surname distribution maps available online to search for your surnames on, to discover which areas of the country the name was more common in at different points in history. These can be found at: RootsUK, PublicProfiler & Ancestry.

The knowledge of whether your surname is Norse or Cornish etc in origin can also help you know whereabouts in the UK your surname may have originated from.

To find out the origins of some of the surnames in my family, see the Davidson page - prequel for the name Davidson, Chapters 5 for the surname Redwood, Chapter 9 for the surname Hair, Chapter 11 for the surname Seddon & Chapter 12 for the surnames Kay & Peacock.

Copyright © 2013 Ruth Hogan

Surname Distribution

I find the meanings of names very interesting. Especially, my own names and surnames in my family tree.

Today, I have been looking at meanings of some of the surnames in my family tree. In the process of this I  discovered an exciting webpage where you can search the distributions of surnames in England from the 1891 census.

Check it out...www.ancestry.co.uk

I was fascinated to find only 72 families with the surname Presswood (my maternal grandmother's maiden name) in the whole of England and Wales in 1891!!  For more information about my Presswood family, take a look at my Presswood family page.


Copyright © 2012 Ruth Hogan