The Blacingas were among the early settlers. Blecca was the name of a governor of Lincoln, A.D. 627; Blaca is an early name in the _Liber Vitæ_, and Blac is a name in _Domesday_. I am inclined to take Black, along with Blake, to be (of course as an ancient name) the same word as _blic_, found in some Old German names, and to find the sense concerned in A.S. blican, to shine (which indeed is the root of _black_), hence to give it, like Bright, the sense of "illustrious." Hence I take our Blacker and the French Blacher to be the same as an O.G. Blicker (_hari_, warrior)--the ancient family of Blacker, I believe, trace their origin to Nancy. I further take Blank and Blanchard (_hard_, fortis) to be a nasalised form of the above, and to have the same meaning. The stem will be found in more detail p. 46. I take White, so far as it may be of ancient origin, not to be from colour; in some cases it may be from _wid_, wood, and perhaps in others from _wit_, wisdom. In Anglo-Saxon names it is spelt _wiht_, as if from _wiht_, man--Cf. O.G. Witgar, A.S. Wihtgar, O.G. Witleg, A.S. Wihtlæg, O.G. Widrad, A.S. Wihtræd, though, as I take it, it is the same word common to the Teutonic system. The Brownings (Brûningas) were also among the early settlers, and Brûn frequently occurs in after Anglo-Saxon times; among others there is a Brûn bydel, "Brown the beadle," in a charter of manumission. Bruno also occurs as an Old German name, and Brûni was not an uncommon name among the Northmen. I am rather disposed to question the derivation from brown, _fuscus_, and as in the case of Black, to take the sense contained in the root, which seems to be that of burning or brightness. One of the Northmen, called Brûni, was surnamed "the white," so that in his case, at any rate, the name was not derived from complexion. Dunn is another name that is found among the early settlers, and also in after Anglo-Saxon times. It seems to me to be at least as probably from O.N. _duna_, thunder, as from _dun_, fuscus. The Grægingas (A.S. _græeg_, grey) are also found in the list of early settlers, though the name does not seem to figure much in after Anglo-Saxon times. There are Old German names Grao and Grawo, and various compounds. The root-meaning seems to contain the sense of "horror," which may be that which is present in names, the idea being of course that of one who is a terror to others. As well as Gray, we have Gregg, and perhaps as another form Craig,[58] and the Germans have Grau. The Myrcingas among the early settlers may perhaps be represented in our Murch and Murchie (whence Murchison), possibly also in S(mirke). Whether the name is from A.S. _mirc_, dark, mirk, may be uncertain; Professor Skeat thinks of _marc_, limes, for the Myrcingas, who are probably the same as the Myrgingas of the "Traveller's Song." _Names apparently from Scriptural Personages._