Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/136

128 NAMES Arabic ibn, meaning son, as Solomon ben Ga- birol, and Abraham ibn Ezra. Among the Saxons we find in A. D. 804 Egbert Edgaring, ing denoting descent; and to this origin are attributed such names as Browning, Dering, Whiting. In Wales the surnominal adjunct ap was used in the same sense, as David ap Howell ; and even in the 17th century combinations were carried up through several generations, so that a man carried his pedigree in his name, as Evan ap Griffith ap David ap Jenkin ap Hugh ap Morgan ap Owen. Sometimes, in- stead of any patronymic syllable, the father's name was taken in the possessive case, as Griffith William's, or as now written Williams ; to which origin may be traced many names ending in s. The prefix mac was used in a similar manner by the Gaelic inhabitants of Scotland and Ireland. The Irish also used for the same purpose oy or 0, signifying grand- son, as O'Hara, O'Sullivan. The use of fitz, son, has already been mentioned; while the word "son" added to the father's name gave rise to a great number of names, as Adamson, Johnson. Subsequently convenience dropped the patronymic syllable, or prevented its repe- tition, and the father's name was taken with- out alteration as a surname. Thus many origi- nally Christian names have become surnames. The general European system by which the son inherits the father's name still has its excep- tions. The present royal family of England has never adopted an unchangeable surname. The same thing is true of many other distin- guished houses, as those of Saxe, Nassau, Bour- bon, and Orleans. In Spain the wife does not change her surname on marriage, and the son calls himself by the names of both parents, connecting them with the conjunction y, and, as Pi y Margall, or chooses either of them alone. Surnames, having been first an indi- vidual distinction, were retained by the chil- dren for the sake of retaining the honor which they marked. That which was originally a mark of rank was soon imitated and became general. The use of hereditary surnames was established in England by the middle of the 14th century, the system being consolidated by a statute of Henry V. requiring that the name and description of the party should be exactly set forth in any writ or indenture. It was formerly usual in England to obtain a spe- cial act of parliament to authorize a change of name, and subsequently to obtain a royal license ; but legal authorities have decided that there is nothing in the law to prevent any one from changing his name as he may choose. The origin and signification of surnames can be traced in very many cases, although some mean- ings have become obscure, being derived from words now obsolete. Many are local. To this class belong most English names beginning with the French de, which retain the name of the old home in Normandy ; such names as Burgoyne, from Burgundy; Attemoor, from at and moor; Byfield; Underbill; Barrow, a NAMUR hill ; Applegate, from garth, an orchard. With these should be classed names from the signs of houses, as Thomas at the Dolphin, Will at the Bull, George at the Whitehorse, &c., after- ward becoming hereditary, and dropping for convenience the connecting words. Such names as Lyon, Hawke, Raven, and Heron are either local like the above, or have been taken from devices on shields. Many names originated in office or occupation. In Domes- day Book occur Guilielmus Oamerarius (Wil- liam the Chamberlain) and Radulphus Venator (Rodolph the Hunter). The most notable name of occupation is Smith, from the Anglo-Saxon smitan, to smite, and originally of much wider meaning than now, including wheelwrights, carpenters, masons, and smiters in general. The "Saxon Chronicle" speaks of "mighty war smiths who overcame the Welsh." Many names of this class have the Anglo-Saxon femi- nine termination, as Baxter or Bagster, the feminine of baker; Webster, of Webber or weaver. It is said that the trade of weaving has been carried on by a Sussex family named Webb since the 13th or 14th century. Spencer is from dispensator or steward; Grosvenor from gros veneur, grand huntsman. The ter- mination ward indicates a keeper, as Durward, doorkeeper; Hay ward or Hereward, keeper of the town cattle ; Woodward, forest keeper. Various personal characteristics often gave ori- gin to names ; as Paulus, little ; Calvus, bald ; White, Black, Brown, Gray; Read, Reed, or Reid, old spellings of red; Lightfoot; Duff, Welsh for black ; Vaughan, little ; Gough, red. The names of the ancient Saxon population of England were nearly all descriptive of some quality of mind or body. Thus Edward is truth-keeper ; Edmund, truth -mouth ; Alfred, all-peace. Some names have become great fa- vorites, and some much used at particular pe- riods have afterward become very unusual ; as Patience, Prudence, Faithful, Thankful. There are only about 53 Christian names of men that can be used without appearance of sin- gularity, of which 32 are taken from the Bible. The number of surnames now extant in Eng- land is about 40,000. In Scotland there are fewer in proportion to the population, certain names being remarkably frequent in particular localities, from the clansmen having taken the name of their chief. See Salverte, Essai his- torique et philosophique sur les noms (Paris, 1824: English translation, London, 1862); Lower, "English Surnames" (London, 1842); Pott, Die Personennamen (Leipsic, 1853) ; and Ferguson, "English Surnames" (London, 1858), Patronymica Britannica (1860), and " The Teutonic Name System " (1864). NAMIR. I. A province of Belgium, bound- ed N. by Brabant, N. E. by Liege, E. by Lux- emburg, S. by France, and W. by Hainaut; area, 1,413 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 314,718. The principal rivers are the Meuse, Sambre, and Lesse. The surface is very much diversified, and the soil is in general fertile. Iron, lead,