As a rule it will be found that, while most of our counties have given
family names, sometimes corrupted, e.g. Lankshear, Willsher, Cant,
Chant, for Kent, with which we may compare Anguish for Angus, the
larger towns are rather poorly represented, the movement having always
been from country to town, and the smaller spot serving for more exact
description. An exception is Bristow (Bristol), Mid. Eng. brig-stow,
the place on the bridge, the great commercial city of the west from
which so many medieval seamen hailed; but the name is sometimes from
Burstow (Surrey), and there were possibly smaller places called by so
natural a name, just as the name Bradford, i.e. broad ford, may come
from a great many other places than the Yorkshire wool town. Rossiter
is generally for Rochester, but also for Wroxeter (Salop); Coggeshall
is well disguised as Coxall, Barnstaple as Bastable, Maidstone as
Mayston, Stockport as Stopford. On the other hand, there is not a
village of any antiquity but has, or once had, a representative among
surnames.
NAMES PRECEDED BY DE
The provinces and towns of France and Flanders have given us many
common surnames. From names of provinces we have Burgoyne and Burgin,
Champain and Champneys (Chapter II), Gascoyne and Gaskin, Mayne,
Mansell, Old Fr. Mancel (manceau), an inhabitant of Maine or of its
capital Le Mans, Brett and Britton, Fr. le Bret and le Breton,
Pickard, Power, sometimes from Old Fr. Pohier, a Picard, Peto,
formerly Peitow, from Poitou, Poidevin and Puddifin, for
Poitevin, Loring, Old Fr. le Lohereng, the man from Lorraine,
assimilated to Fleming, Hammy, an old name for Hainault, Brabazon, le
Brabancon, and Brebner, formerly le Brabaner, Angwin, for Angevin,
Flinders, a perversion of Flanders, Barry, which is sometimes for
Berri, and others which can be identified by everybody.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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