England Understanding Names in Family History - International Institute
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The original content for this article was contributed by The International Institute of Genealogical Studies in June 2012. It is an excerpt from their course English - Understanding Names in Genealogy by Dr. Penelope Christensen. The Institute offers over 200 comprehensive genealogy courses for a fee ($). |
Change Over Time
It is sometimes possible to document a gradual change over time, for example that of Hotton to Horton to Orton as described by Danielle C. Gregg (A Change of Name in a Middlesex Family. Metropolitan (London and N. Middlesex FHS) Vol 18 #2, pages 60-62) who ascribes a possible motive of pecuniary gain, but it could equally be just because the current family preferred it pronounced and said this way. Other gradual changes have been noted:
- Akehurst to Akers to Acres
- Channing to Chowing
- Durknole to Dartnell
- Gauble to Cobbold
- Palgrave to Pedgrift (Palgrave 1992)
- Tideswell to Titsall toTittensor (Tittensor)
Phonetics and Spelling
Accepted Pronunciation Differs from Spelling. There are many cases well known in England:
| Written form |
Pronounced as |
| Beauchamp |
Beecham |
| Cholmondeley |
Chumley or Chumleigh |
| Featherstonehaugh |
Fanshaw |
| Fiennes |
Fines |
| Grosvenor |
Grovener |
| Mainwaring |
Mannering |
| Marjoribanks |
Marchbanks |
| Menzies |
Mingis |
| Molluigheadley |
Mewdly |
| Mountford |
Mumford |
| Postlethwaite |
Poslet |
| St. John |
Sinjun |
| Wolstenholme |
Woosnam |
A long list of similar boobytraps for the unwary can be found in Family Tree Magazine April 1991, and help can be found inForster’s Pronouncing Dictionary of English Place-Names.
Accepted Short Forms
| Accepted Short Forms These will commonly be found as abbreviations in documents: | |
| Northton |
Northamptonshire |
| Sarum |
Salisbury |
| Sennock, Sunnock |
Sevenoaks |
| Soton or Southton |
Southampton |
| Two Accepted Spellings Such spellings have been current for generations and are now accepted as true variants. | |
| Appledram |
Apuldram |
| Gloucester |
Gloster |
| Oakham |
Okeham |
| Whitkirk |
Whitechurch |
| There are also accepted alternative names such as North Britain for Scotland | |
| Unique Renditions | |
| Aptrick |
Appletreewick |
| Averstowey |
Over Stowey (which may be in the gazetteer as Stowey, Over) |
| Churness |
Sheerness |
| Deeyell |
Dalziel |
| Hazeboro |
Happisburgh |
| Hobless, Hobbles, Hoblis |
Little Hautbois |
| Horsfield |
Alstonfield |
| Kister |
Christopher |
| Lovell Abbey |
Luffield Abbey |
| Meppam |
Meopham |
| Rootham |
Wrotham |
| Sister |
Cirencester |
| Wright |
Allwright |
| Such manglings of words are a family historian’s nightmare; it’s best to keep an open mind and engage in plenty of lateral thinking for a correct interpretation. Further discussion can be found in Litton (1998-1). | |
Abbreviation of Compound Surnames
An interesting case was quoted by Henry Jones of the proclivity of North Carolina clerks to abbreviate compound surnames by reducing the first word to an initial. Examples might be:
| Southwood |
to |
S.Wood |
| Lawford |
to |
L.Ford |
| Armstrong |
to |
A.Strong |
Thus Helen Lawford was written as Helen L. Ford and Arthur Armstrong as Arthur A. Strong. This is another useful trick to remember when the trail goes cold as it may well have been used in other parts of the world.
Misreading Poor Writing
A very wide field for study! A few common examples where the modern reader, transcriber or indexer may have difficulty are given next:
| Lower Case Letters | ||
| nn and rr |
Penny |
Parry |
| g and y |
Hilbery |
Helberg |
| m and or |
Thom |
Thorn |
| ei and ri |
Weight |
Wright |
| edk and ank |
Fredk |
Frank |
| ckl and dd |
Pocklington |
Paddington |
| ll and tt |
Hattersley |
Hallersley |
| orn, arr, and am |
Cornfield, Carrfield, Camfield |
|
| old ss looks llike Fs |
Bass |
Bafs |
| old letter Y. (called a thorn and pronounced th) read as Y not Th |
Ye, Yat |
The, That |
| Upper Case Letters | ||
| M, W, and H | Maddams - Wadhams - Haddems | |
| F and T | Twrot - Frost | |
| H and S | Haynes - Stanes - Slains | |
| L and S | Lawyer - Sawyer | |
| C and O | Cliffe - Oliffe | |
Mishearing by the Clerk
In the good old days when few could read and write we can only guess at how many errors were made in the written record by misunderstandings. Occasionally the error is discovered later and an affidavit made-out and attached to the original, which alerts the researcher. Thus, in Portsea, Southampton on 26th October 1827 a child was baptized John Lawrence Watson son of Samuel and Mary Ann Watson. An affidavit filed on the 3rd November 1836 by the grandmother, Louisa Lawrence, has been filmed along with the parish register in which it was placed, as all such papers are by GSU photographers. In it she attests that the child is named John Watson Lawrence and is the son of Samuel and Mary Ann Lawrence and the register is so corrected and annotated.
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Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course <a href="http://www.genealogicalstudies.com/eng/courses.asp?courseID=190">English - Understanding Names in Genealogy</a> offered by <a href="http://www.genealogicalstudies.com">The International Institute of Genealogical Studies</a>. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at <a href="mailto:wiki@genealogicalstudies.com">wiki@genealogicalstudies.com</a> <br>
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