Chapter Vi. Tom, Dick and Harry

"Watte vocat, cui Thomme venit, neque Symme retardat, Betteque, Gibbe simul, Hykke venire jubent; Colle furit, quem Geffe juvat nocumenta parantes, Cum quibus ad dampnum Wille coire vovet. Grigge rapit, dum Dawe strepit, comes est quibus Hobbe, Lorkyn et in medio non minor esse putat: Hudde ferit, quem Judde terit, dum Tebbe minatur, Jakke domosque viros vellit et ense necat."

(GOWER, On Wat Tyler's Rebellion.)

Gower's lines on the peasant rebels give us some idea of the names which were most popular in the fourteenth century, and which have consequently impressed themselves most strongly on our modern surnames. It will be noticed that one member of the modern triumvirate, Harry, or Hal, is absent. [Footnote: The three names were not definitely established till the nineteenth century. Before that period they had rivals. French says Pierre et Paul, and German Heinz and Kunz, i.e. Heinrich and Conrad.] The great popularity of this name probably dates from a rather later period and is connected with the exploits of Henry V. Moreover, all the names, with the possible exception of Hud, are of French introduction and occur rarely before the Conquest. The old Anglo-Saxon names did survive, especially in the remoter parts of the country, and have given us many surnames (see ch. vii.), but even in the Middle Ages people had a preference for anything that came over with the Conqueror. French names are nearly all of German origin, the Celtic names and the Latin names which encroached on them having been swept away by the Frankish invasion, a parallel to the wholesale adoption of Norman names in England. Thus our name Harvey, no longer usual as a font-name, is Fr. Herod, which represents the heroic German name Herewig, to the second syllable of which belongs such an apparently insignificant name as Wigg.

MEDIEVAL FONT-NAMES

The disappearance of Latin names is not to be regretted, for the Latin nomenclature was of the most unimaginative description, while the Old German names are more like those of Greece; e.g. Ger. Ludwig, which has passed into most of the European languages (Louis, Lewis, Ludovico, etc), is from Old High Ger. hlut-wig, renowned in fight, equivalent to the Greek Clytomachus, with one-half of which it is etymologically cognate.

Some of the names in Gower's list, e.g. Watte (Chapter I), Thomme, Symme, Geffe (Chapter VI), Wille, Jakke, are easily recognized. Bette is for Bat, Bartholomew, a name, which has given Batty, Batten, Bates, Bartle (cf. Bartlemas), Bartlett, Badcock, Batcock. But this group of names belongs also to the Bert- or -bent, which is so common in Teutonic names, such as Bertrand, Bertram, Herbert, Hubert, many of which reached us in an Old French form. For the loss of the r, cf. Matty from Martha. Gibe is for Gilbert. Hick is rimed on Dick: (Chapter VI). Colle is for Nicolas. Grig is for Gregory, whence Gregson and Scottish Grier. Dawe, for David, alternated with Day and Dow, which appear as first element in many surnames, though Day has another origin (Chapter XIX) and Dowson sometimes belongs to the female name Douce, sweet. Hobbe is a rimed form from Robert. Lorkyn, or Larkin, is for Lawrence, for which we also find Law, Lay, and Low, whence Lawson, Lakin, Lowson, Locock, etc. For Hudde see Chapters I, VII. Judde, from the very popular Jordan, has given Judson, Judkins, and the contracted Jukes. Jordan (Fr. Jourdain, Ital. Giordano) seems to have been adopted as a personal name in honour of John the Baptist. Tebbe is for Theobald (Chapter I).

THE COMMONEST FONT-NAMES

Many people, in addressing a small boy with whom they are unacquainted, are in the habit of using Tommy as a name to which any small boy should naturally answer. In some parts of Polynesia the natives speak of a white Mary or a black Mary, i.e. woman, just as the Walloons round Mons speak of Marie bon bec, a shrew, Marie grognon, a Mrs. Gummidge, Marie quatre langues, a chatterbox, and several other Maries still less politely described. We have the modern silly Johnny for the older silly Billy, while Jack Pudding is in German Hans Wurst, John Sausage. Only the very commonest names are used in this way, and, if we had no further evidence, the rustic Dicky bird, Robin redbreast, Hob goblin, Tom tit, Will o' the Wisp, Jack o' lantern, etc., would tell us which have been in the past the most popular English font-names. During the Middle Ages there was a kind of race among half a dozen favourite names, the prevailing order being John, William, Thomas, Richard, Robert, with perhaps Hugh as sixth.

Now, for each of these there is a reason. John, a favourite name in so many languages (Jean, Johann, Giovanni, Juan, Ian, Ivan, etc.), as the name of the Baptist and of the favoured disciple, defied even the unpopularity of our one King of that name. The special circumstances attending the birth and naming of the Baptist probably supplied the chief factor in its triumph.

For some time after the Conquest William led easily. We usually adopted the W- form from the north-east of France, but Guillaume has also supplied a large number of surnames in Gil-, which have got inextricably mixed up with those derived from Gilbert, Gillian (Juliana), and Giles. Gilman represents the French dim. Guillemin, the local-looking Gilliam is simply Guillaume, and Wilmot corresponds to Fr. Guillemot.

The doubting disciple held a very insignificant place until the shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury became one of the holy places of Christendom. To Thomas belong Macey, Massie, and Masson, dims. of French aphetic forms, but the first two are also from Old French forms of Matthew, and Masson is sometimes an alternative form of Mason.

Robert and Richard were both popular Norman names. The first was greatly helped by Robin Hood and the second by the Lion-Heart.

The name Hugh was borne by several saints, the most famous of whom in England was the child-martyr, St. Hugh of Lincoln, said to have been murdered by the Jews C. 1250. It had a dim. Huggin and also the forms Hew and How, whence Hewett, Hewlett, Howitt, Howlett, etc., while from the French dim. Huchon we get Hutchin and its derivatives, and also Houchin. Hugh also appears in the rather small class of names represented by Littlejohn, Meiklejohn, etc. [Footnote: This formation seems to be much commoner in French. In the "Bottin" I find Grandblaise, Grandcollot (Nicolas), Grandgeorge, Grandgerard, Grandguillaume, Grandguillot, Grandjacques, Grand-jean, Grandperrin (Pierre), Grandpierre, Grandremy, Grandvincent, and Petitcolin, Petitdemange (Dominique), Petitdidier (Desiderius), Petit-Durand, Petit-Etienne (Stephen), Petit-Gerard, Petit-Huguenin, Petitjean, Petitperrin, Petit-Richard.] We find Goodhew, Goodhue. Cf. Gaukroger, i.e. awkward Roger, and Goodwillie. But the more usual origin of Goodhew, Goodhue is from Middle Eng. heave, servant, hind. Cf. Goodhind.

Most of the other names in Gower's list have been prolific. We might add to them Roger, whence Hodge and Dodge, Humfrey, which did not lend itself to many variations, and Peter, from the French form of which we have many derivatives (Chapter III), including perhaps the Huguenot Perowne, Fr. Perron, but this can also be local, du Perron, the etymology, Lat. Petra, rock, remaining the same.

The absence of the great names Alfred [Footnote: The name Alured is due to misreading of the older Alvred, v being written u in old MSS. Allfrey is from the Old French form of the name.] and Edward is not surprising, as they belonged to the conquered race. Though Edward was revived as the name of a long line of Kings, its contribution to surnames has been small, most names in Ed-, Ead-, e.g. Ede, Eden, Edison, Edkins, Eady, etc., belonging rather to the once popular female name Eda or to Edith, though in some cases they are from Edward or other Anglo-Saxon names having the same initial syllable. James is a rare name in medieval rolls, being represented by Jacob, and no doubt partly by Jack (Chapter IV). It is--

"Wrested from Jacob, the same as Jago [Footnote: Jago is found, with other Spanish names, in Cornwall; cf. Bastian or Baste, for Sebastian.] in Spanish, Jaques in French; which some Frenchified English, to their disgrace, have too much affected" (Camden).

It appears in Gimson, Jemmett, and the odd-looking Gem, while its French form is somewhat disguised in Jeakes and Jex.

FASHIONS IN FONT-NAMES

The force of royal example is seen in the popularity under the Angevin kings of Henry, or Harry, Geoffrey and Fulk, the three favourite names in that family. For Harry see Chapter III. Geoffrey, from Ger. Gottfried, Godfrey, has given us a large number of names in Geff-, Jeff-, and Giff-, Jiff-, and probably also Jebb, Gepp and Jepson, while to Fulk we owe Fewkes, Foakes, Fowkes, Vokes, etc., and perhaps in some cases Fox. But it is impossible to catalogue all the popular medieval font-names. Many others will be found scattered through this book as occasion or association suggests them.

Three names whose poor representation is surprising are Arthur, Charles and George, the two great Kings of medieval romance and the patron saint of Merrie England. All three are fairly common in their unaltered form, and we find also Arter for Arthur. But they have given few derivatives, though Atkins, generally from Ad-, i.e. Adam, may sometimes be from Arthur (cf. Bat for Bart, Matty for Martha, etc.). Arthur is a rare medieval font-name, a fact no doubt due to the sad fate of King John's nephew. Its modern popularity dates from the Duke of Wellington, while Charles and George were raised from obscurity by the Stuarts and the Brunswicks. To these might be added the German name Frederick, the spread of which was due to the fame of Frederick the Great. It gave, however, in French the dissimilated Ferry, one source of our surnames Ferry, Ferris, though the former is generally local. [Footnote: "For Frideric, the English have commonly used Frery and Fery, which hath been now a long time a Christian name in the ancient family of Tilney, and lucky to their house, as they report." (Camden.)]

If, on the other hand, we take from Gower's list a name which is to-day comparatively rare, e.g. Gilbert, we find it represented by a whole string of surnames, e.g. Gilbart, Gibbs, Gibson, Gibbon, Gibbins, Gipps, Gipson, to mention only the most familiar. From the French dim. Gibelot we get the rather rare Giblett; cf. Hewlett for Hew-el-et, Hamlet for Ham-el-et (Hamo), etc.

DERIVATIVES OF FONT-NAMES

In forming patronymics from personal names, it is not always the first syllable that is selected. In Toll, Tolley, Tollett, from Bartholomew, the second has survived, while Philpot, dim. of Philip, has given Potts. From Alexander we get Sanders and Saunders. But, taking, for simplicity, two instances in which the first syllable has survived, we shall find plenty of instruction in those two pretty men Robert and Richard. We have seen (Chapter VI) that Roger gave Hodge and Dodge, which, in the derivatives Hodson and Dodson, have coalesced with names derived from Odo and the Anglo-Sax. Dodda (Chapter VII). Similarly Robert gave Rob, Hob and Dob, and Richard gave Rick, Hick and Dick. [Footnote: I believe, however, that Hob is in some cases from Hubert, whence Hubbard, Hibbert, Hobart, etc.] Hob, whence Hobbs, was sharpened into Hop, whence Hopps. The diminutive Hopkin, passing into Wales, gave Popkin, just as ap-Robin became Probyn, ap-Hugh Pugh, ap-Owen Bowen, etc. In the north Dobbs became Dabbs (p. A. Hob also developed another rimed form Nob cf. to "hob-nob" with anyone), whence Nobbs and Nabbs, the latter, of course, being sometimes rimed on Abbs, from Abel or Abraham. Bob is the latest variant and has not formed many surnames. Richard has a larger family than Robert, for, besides Rick, Hick and Dick, we have Rich and Hitch, Higg and Digg. The reader will be able to continue this genealogical tree for himself.

The full or the shortened name can become a surname, either without change, or with the addition of the genitive -s or the word -son, the former more usual in the south, the latter in the north. To take a simple case, we find as surnames William, Will, Williams, Wills, Williamson, Wilson. [Footnote: This suffix has squeezed out all the others, though Alice Johnson is theoretically absurd. In Mid. English we find daughter, father, mother, brother and other terms of relationship used in this way, e.g. in 1379, Agnes Dyconwyfdowson, the wife of Dow's son Dick. Dawbarn, child of David, is still found. See also Chapter XXI]

From the short form we get diminutives by means of the English suffixes -ie or -y (these especially in the north), -kin (Chapter IV), and the French suffixes -et, -ot (often becoming -at in English), -in, -on (often becoming -en in English). Thus Willy, Wilkie, Willett. I give a few examples of surnames formed from each class

Ritchie (Richard), Oddy (Odo, whence also Oates), Lambie (Lambert), Jelley (Julian); [Footnote: Lamb is also, of course, a nickname cf. Agnew, Fr. agneau]

Dawkins, Dawkes (David), Hawkins, Hawkes (Hal), Gilkins (Geoffrey), Perkins, Perks (Peter), Rankin (Randolf);

Gillett (Gil, Chapter VI), Collett (Nicholas), Bartlett (Bartholomew), Ricketts (Richard), Marriott, Marryat (Mary), Elliott (Elias, see