History of Surnames - Charlie Haylock

 'History of Surnames'  Charlie Haylock

Report - Nov 2024

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Foxearth History Society hosted a jam-packed evening with the ever-popular raconteur Charlie Haylock, who spent the evening exploring the fascinating world of surnames. Having recently been awarded an honorary doctorate from Suffolk University for his work on the history of the English Language, it was a pleasure to hear Dr Haylock’s account of how hereditary surnames were introduced into England.

Dr Haylock explained that it all dated back to the arrival of the Normans in 1066. Prior to this, there were no hereditary surnames and in fact most people were identified by their nicknames, which might help others know your profession, place in society or the place you originated. One example was that names including Elf or Wolf denoted a person who was a noble and respected fighter and Dr Haylock referenced Alpheton, which was a town created by such a noble warrior. 

One interesting fact was that occupational names were not as large a category as might be believed and that nicknames were more likely to be based on looks or the place where you originated, as you would only be named this after you left. So if someone moved from Clare to Foxearth, they would  be known as Charlie de Clare, to help identify them. These ‘bynames’ however were not passed down to the next generation and could be picked up, dropped or changed at whim.

This changed following the Norman invasion as the arriving king wishing to swell his coffers, brought in hereditary taxation. Charlie explained that during the early stages of William’s reign it was decreed that if a person had produced a will naming their descendent as the beneficiary, the land and money would be passed on, however if there was no will clearly naming the beneficiary, all monies would be forfeit to the crown. This meant that it was essential to be able to identify the correct person to inherit. In 1085 William also commissioned The Domesday Book to record land ownership across England and this was completed in 1086. Following this, Charlie explained that there was much confusion as surnames no longer helped identify professions or where someone was from and Charlie recounted a very confusing and amusing tale of Burt the Baker and his family! But by the 1300s most people now held hereditary surnames across England, though these were often very much surnames of a particular area, for example Suffolk surnames would be Hatt, Palgrave, Walpole, Haylock and Kersey to name but a few.

Charlie went on the explain why it is sometimes difficult to track family surnames back, as sometime in 1400s to the 1600s, there was the ‘great vowel shift’, where the pronunciation of all Middle English long vowels altered, as did some consonant sounds, specifically becoming silent. These changes meant that the spellings of surnames could be very fluid, and as many people were unable to write surnames were often written down phonetically. Charlie went through a range of changes including the letters V U W and F, and the vast ways these could be pronounced. As such he suggested that when tracking a family tree prior to 1700, it would make sense to be flexible about the spellings and look at similar surnames or names where letters may have been pronounced differently. As he summed up ‘The only consistent thing about the English language is its inconsistency!’ but he also explained that this is what makes English the richest language in the world as we are open to adapting and adopting words from all languages.

Charlie then went through the different types of surnames:

Occupation: Smith, Fletcher, Cooper, Carter, Clark

Nicknames: Armstrong, Little, Blacklock, Beard, White

Sons and family of: This is a more complex set, as the adding of an s at the end of a name could indicate either the widow of, or the child of: Richards, Hicks. Old English names could also have ‘son’ added: Anderson, Sanderson; ‘ing’ or ‘kin’ added: Hodgin, Simkin; Norman names could end in ‘ett’, ‘ott’ or ‘itt’ Bennett, Wilmott; or ‘fitz’ again meaning  ‘son of’: Fitzwilliam, Fitzgerald; ‘Mc or Mac’ for the Scottish, McTavish, Macintosh; ‘o’ for Irish O’Deal, O’Hara and finally aP for Welsh, Apugh, 

Oath names: where surnames were given when an oath was sworn to the king, master or God, e.g. Pardieu.

Finally, Charlie went through the surnames of those in attendance and explained where and how all the surnames had originated, which was fascinating. Overall, it was a superb evening with a wonderful mix of humour and historical detail and it certainly left the crowd wanting more!