Nook of Names

I’ve been hunting through English surnames a while now, plucking out those which I think could make the cross-over to first name status pretty well.

So far, however, I’ve left out those surnames which are identical to existing words in the English vocabulary, to save for later.

Well, later is now upon us!

A fact often overlooked in the debate about the use of “word names” is the fact that a great many of these names are also surnames.

In many cases, they represent simply the adoption of the word as a surname (back in medieval times).

In others, the resemblance belies a different origin. Sometimes, it is pure coincidence that a surname has come to look the same as a word. On other occasions, the switch was deliberate.

All these “word name” surnames are responsible for the vast majority of the apparent adoption of “word names” as first names prior to the late nineteenth century.

They account for the more curious monikers sometimes encountered in that period, which would have been very strange choices if plucked from the dictionary.

There are literally thousands of them. Some are now already quite established as first names. Others also have great first-name potential.

Here’s my first batch for your perusal, the good, the bad and the ugly. Unlike in my English Surnames series, these include surnames of Welsh, Irish and Scottish origin too.

They can all be found in use as given names (though often as middle names) since at least the nineteenth century…