Surname List
I've always thought these Surname Lists are a little dull. Or, maybe I've just accumulated more information than I really know what to do with. Either way, the actual List is at the bottom. Up here is a little disortation on Surnames themselves that I have pillaged & pieced together from other sites. I suppose I gathered this information in the unreal expectation that at some point I would cross that line when people just didn't have surnames. Having no idea what time period that was, I did some digging. True surnames, in the sense of hereditary appellations, date in England from about the year 1000 AD. Largely, surnames were introduced from Normandy, although there are records of Saxon's having surnames prior to the Norman Conquest. During the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), there were Saxon tenants in Suffolk bearing such names as Suert Magno, Stigand Soror, Siuward Rufus and Leuric Hobbesune (Hobson). The Domesday Record of 1085-1086 shows surnames in still more general use as well as exhibiting some curious combinations of Saxon forenames with Norman family names. By the end of the 12th century hereditary names had become common in England. But as late as 1465, they were not universal in England. During the reign of Edward V a law was passed to compel certain Irish to adopt surnames as a method to track and control them more: "They shall take unto them a Surname, either of some Town, or some Color, as Black or Brown, or some Art or Science, as Smyth or Carpenter, or some Office, as Cooke or Butler." as late as the beginning of the 19th century, a similar decree compelled German and Austrian Jews to add a German surname to the single names they had previously used.
In thinking along the same "where did the surnmaes come from" vein, I quickly ended up thinking "what do they mean?" Again, pilligaing from the largess of the internet, here are a few choice surnames.
BARKER: A polygenetic name (coming from more than 1 origin) As a variation of the German surname Berg, it describes the man who lived on or by a hill or mountain. As a French cognate form of the English surname Barker or Anglo-Saxon french Bercher, it means a shepherd. During the Middle Ages, -er was pronounced as -ar turning Bercher into Barker. Barker is also the occupational name of a leather tanner. The Middle English word "barken" meant "to tan." At that time, tree bark was instrumental in the tanning process.
McDonald and McDonell are variations of the same surname: both Scottish Patronymic names derived from the Gaelic Mac Dhamhnuill meaning 'son of Donhnall.' Based on the Gaelic elements of the name dubno=world + val=rule.
Nelson is an English Patronymic name derived from the given name Nell or Neil (both of which originated from the Irish given name Niall). Nelson would literally be Niall's son. Niall may have eluded to being a 'champion.'
Phillips/Philips was an extremely popular name in medival times because Philip was an apostle. Four French kings were named Philip from the 11th to the 13th century. The name was carried from France to England at the time of the conquest. Phillips is also a variation of the Greek name Philippos where philein=to love + hippos=horses.
Turner was simple the name for the man who made small objects by turning them on a lathe.
Some of the surnames I have encountered are very common, others are a bit more obscur. The 1990 census page shows exactly the "commoness" of a name (I am not sure if the same thing is set up for the 2000 census). By going to their website, you can find out the Frequency & Rank of the name. Nelson seemed to be one of the more common names possessing .162% of the population and ranking 39th overall. Banks places a respectable 215 followed by Barker at 316. Further down the ladder are Mueller - 587 and Sutter - 3624. Rounding out the bottom are names such as Hanning -14606, Hartin-16513, and Scriver-17151.
I hope this has been a bit interesting to you. If you are interested in more info of this nature, try the following websites.
Frequency of Names in 1990 Census
, , Ackert , Adair , Adams , Agnew , Alkart , Allan , Allen , Alward , Anderson , Antworth , Armour , Ashman , Ault , Averill , Babbitt , Bacon , Bailey , Baker , Ball , Banks , Banks-Sawrey , Barker , Barnes , Barriner , Barry , Bartlett , Bassette , Batdorff , Bates , Beattie , Beaulieu , Becker , Belden , Bell , Belyea , Benson , Biekrest , Billings , Bishop , Bisson , Bittle , Blanchard , Bolster , Bolton , Bond , Boon , Boone , Bouchard , Bowley , Boyer , Brachett , Bradstreet , Bramwell , Branscombe , Brewer , Britton , Brodie , Brown , Bruce , Bulley , Burger , Burlock , Burnham , Burns , Burtt , Bustin , Butler , Byron , Caldwell , Callahan , Campbell , Capen , Carmichael , Carpentar , Carpenter , Carr , Carruthers , Casey , Caverhill , Chambers , Churchill , Clark , Clarke , Collins , Cone , Cook , Cordova , Corey , Cornelisse , Cote , Cowan , Cowperthwaite , Crabtree , Craine , Cramm , Crandlemire , Cray , Crecelius , Cremeb , Cronkehite , Crossman , Crowley , Cullins , Cummings , Cyr , Dale , Darnell , Davenport , Davies , Dawson , Day , de Hoodges , Debroski-Palmero , Decker , Dederick , DeGraaf , DeLaskey , Delong , deMaistre , DeMerchant , Depow , Dewitt , Deyo , Dhorety , Dibblee , Dickinson , Dicky , Diederich , Dietrich , Dillen , Dixon , Donahue , Donnely , Doucette , Doughtey , Douin , Dow , Drake , Drew , Driscoll , Du Mond , Dufort , Dufty , Dugay , Duncan , Durling , Dye , Dykeman , Earle , Eastabrook , Eastman , Ebbett , Ekker , Elias , Ellis , Elting , Emerson , Emery , Esterbrooks , Estey , Fairbanks , Farley , Farraher , Farrell , Ferris , Field , Finnamore , Finnemore , Fisher , Fitzpatrick , Flanagan , Flegeler , Flemming , Fletcher , Flewelling , Footer , Foster , Fowler , Fraleigh , Freer , Friel , Froeligh , Fuller , Fullerton , Gaddi , Galbraith , Gallant , Gamble , Garden , Garvin , Gavin , Gebhardt , Gero , Giberson , Gilman , Gilmor , Glidden , Gove , Graham , Grant , Grass , Grasse , Gray , Green , Grey , Griffen , Groh , Gue , Guiggey , Gurrier , Hagedorn , Hall , Hamilton , Haney , Hanning , Harding , Hartin , Hartley , Hartt , Harvey , Hathaway , Hawthorne , Hay , Hayes , Hayward? , Hearsey , Hebert , Hedland , Henderson , Herald , Herron , Hogan , Hood , Hooghlandt , Horn , Hotham , Hovey , Howard , Howell , Hoyt , Hubbard , Huber , Hufham , Hughes , Hull , Hunter , Huston , Huybertsen , Irvine , Ives , Ivey , Jackson , James , Johnson , Jones , Keary , Keaton , Keeser , Kelley , Kennedy , Kimball , Kingsbury , Kinney , Kip , Knight , Knowlton , Knudson , Koch , Krebser , Kunst , Laballois , Lagere , LaJeunesse , Laler , Lambertse , Lambertsen , Lambertzen , Lane , LaPlant , Lariviere , Larsan , Laskey , Laurmannin , Lauze , Laverty , Lawrence , Leary , Lee , Leet , Levasseur , Lewis , Lingley , Lobdell , Lockhart , London , Lovien , Lynch , MacDonald , MacFawn , MacPherson , Mallory , Manning , March , Marston , Martin , Marvin , McAfee , McAnn , McBride , McCartney , McCleary , McDonald , McHoney , McIntosh , McIntyre , McIsaac , McKinnon , McLean , McPherson , McQuade , Mead , Merserau , Mersereau , Michaud , Milheron , Miller , Mills , Minervino , Mitchell , Montross , Moores , Morang , Morgan , Morse , Mosher , Mueller , Mueller Beattie , Munro , Murphy , Nash , Nehring , Neish , Nelson , Newell , Nickerson , Niles , Norgaard , O'Brian , O'Donnell , O'Leary , Odell , Omphrey , Orser , Ostrum , Page , Palmer , Parent , Pass , Patch , Patrick , Patterson , Pawling , Payne , Pelkey , Pellum , Penner , Peno , Perkins , Perrigo , Pesce , Peters , Peterson , Philips , Phillips , Picard , Porter , Post , Potter , Pottle , Pratt , Prevatte , Price , Prior , Prosser , Pryor , Pullen , Putnam , Ramagen , Raudin , Raymond , Reid , Reynolds , Rich , Rideout , Riorden , Roberston , Roberts , Robinson , Rockwell , Rodney , Ross , Roy , Royer , Rumley , Rupee , Rusby , Russell , Ryzmek , Sanborn , Sargent , Sauter , Scheever (Schafer, Scheffer, Shaver) , Schnitz , Schoeler , Schott , Schreiber , Schriber , Schriver , Schryver , Schultz , Scott , Scriver , Scryver , Scullion , Seely , Sercheni , Sewell , Shanklin , Sharp , Shaw , Shorey , Shriver , Sickener , Siegler , Signer , Sipperel , Slater , Slipp , Smith , Smyth , Snow , Snyder , Sowash , Spannenberg , Spellman , Stackpole , Stairs , Stanlake , Steenberg (Steinberg) , Stetson , Stevens , Steward , Stitham , Stithem , Stoddard , Stoutenberg , Straight , Strout , Suitter , Swerdel , Swimm , Sylvester , Taylor , Teed , Temple , Ten Broeck (Timbrook) , Terpening , Terpenning , Terrill , Thomas , Thompkins , Thompson , Tibbetts , Tidd , Tilton , Tompkins , Tracy , Traver , Trombley , Troughton , Tupper , Turmelle , Turner , Tweedie , Upton , Van Benschoten , Van Dyck , Van Dyk , Van Etten , Van Steenberg , Van Vredenbergh , Van Vredenburgh , Van Wagenen , van Wagenen , Van Wagenen , Victory , Vose , Walker , Wallace , Wanty , Watkins , Watson , Webb , Weger , Weir , Welch , Wellington , Wharton , White , Whitney , Whitten , Wiggins , Wilcox , Wilkinson , Williams , Willis , Wilson , Winegar , Winship , Withers , Wolf , Wood , Woodburn , Woodland , Woodward , Worthley , Wright , Wyatt , York , Zarzynski , Zettigren
