WHERE TODAY'S BRITISH SURNAMES COME FROM

What's in a surname? Dictionary reveals how 13th century nicknames about jobs, appearance or religion have become the surnames we use today

A Dictionary Of Surnames lists the origins of more than 100,000 names

Lexicographers Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges say use of last names became more prevalent as society became more bureaucratic

People were identified by a characteristic, a job, or where they lived

Swift means 'fast runner', while Blunt referred to someone with blond hair

Names handed down from fathers to children as families became more stable

Bass - A short man
Belcher - Someone with a fair or lovely face
Blunt - Someone with blond hair
Cannon - Someone living in a clergy house
Cocker -  A bellicose person
Cruise - Bold or fierce
Dolittle - A lazy manHart - A nickname meaning stag
Fairfax - Someone with beautiful, long hair
Loach - A nickname from a small fish

Lovell - A nickname from lou, meaning wolf;
PHOTO - James Lovell, astronaut

Newcombe, Newman - A new arrival in a place
Palmer — Someone who had been on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
Read - A person with red hair or a ruddy complexion
Savage - A wild or uncouth person;
Swift - A fast runner
Thewlis - An ill mannered person
Twigg - A thin person
Vaisey - A cheerful person (from enveisie, meaning playful, merry)
Wight - Strong-willed or brave

Read more -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2677527/Whats-surname-Dictionary-reveals-13th-century-nicknames-jobs-appearance-religion-names-use-today.html

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