United Kingdom

United Kingdom bibliography of personal names

This selective bibliography is based upon extracts from the three standard bibliographies on naming:

• Elsdon Smith Personal Names: a bibliography Detroit: Gale, 1965.
• Edwin Lawson Personal Names and Naming (link) Greenwood Press, 1987.
• Edwin Lawson More Names and Naming (link) Greenwood Press, 1996.

Where available, I have included either Lawson’s or Smith’s shortened comments on the scope of a work. On the shoulders of Professor Lawson’s and Smith’s monumental work, I have added a few later references which do not yet appear in any standard bibliographies.

If you are interested in furthering an interest in personal names, I would urge you to seek out these excellent bibliographies. They are comprehensive in their coverage of English-language material on the subject.

Professor Lawson has gracefully allowed me to reproduce many of his citations and comments.

Also see Royal Historical Society Bibliography (link).

United Kingdom

Personal and family names : a beginner’s guide. Matlock: Derbyshire Record Office, 1994.

Anderson, William. Genealogy and surnames : with some heraldic and biographical notices. Edinburgh: William Ritchie, 1865.

Arthur, William. Etymological dictionary of family and christian names. Gordon Pr, 1972.

Barber, Henry. British family names : their origin and meaning with lists of Scandinavian, Frisian, Anglo-Saxon and Norman names. London: Stock, 1903.
Abstract: Lawson1: "gives Domesday names, Old Norse, and personal names. Major part of the book is an alphabetic list of British surnames and meanings with attention to Scandinavian and Frisian names." But Smith: "An essay with a dictionary of British surnames. Inaccurate- Fair"

Baring-Gould, S. Family names. Senate, 1996.

Beddoe, John. The races of Britain: a contribution to the anthropology of Western Europe. Bristol: Arrowsmith, 1885.

Bowman, William D. Story of Surnames. Omnigraphics Inc., 1998.
Notes: Reprint: 1st published 1931.

________. What is your surname? : surnames their origin and history. London: Faber, 1932.

Charnock, Richard. Ludus Patronymicus: or, the etymology of curious surnames. Detroit: Gale, 1968.
Notes: originally published 1868.

Clark, Thomas. Clerical surnames as now existing in the British Isles : to which is added a metrical enumeration of the Churches in Brighton connected with the establishment and the names of the… . Brighton: E. Lewis, 1860.

Clifford, S. C. "Origins of surnames [I]." Family Tree Magazine , no. April(1987).

________. "Origins of surnames [II]." Family Tree Magazine , no. May(1987).

Cottle, B. Penguin dictionary of surnames. 2nd ed.Penguin, 1978.
Abstract: Lawson1: "surnames of the British Isles and those of British stock in the US. Surnames derived from first names, location, occupation and other sources. Includes over 8000 surnames. 30refs."

________. Names. London: Thames and Hudson, 1983.
Abstract: Lawson1: "a wide-ranging, witty and entertaining coverage of many aspects of names. Three of the 10 chapters deal with words from names, first names and surnames."

Dark, Arthur. Beginning genealogy., Surnames and One-Name Studies. London: Hillingdon Family History Society, 1998.

Devereux, Lilian. The story of surnames. Oxford: Blackwell, 1967.

A short introduction to the origin of surnames, 104. Patrick Dudgeon. Edinburgh: D. Douglas, 1890.

Dunkling, Leslie. Dictionary of surnames : From Abbey and Mutton, Nabbs to Zouch. Harper-Collins, 1998.

Ewen, Cecil L’Estrange. Additions and corrections to A History of Surnames of the British Isles with a prefatory rebuke to Dr. Mary S. Serjeantson, Professor Ernest Weekly and other, and a pertinent suggestion for the attention of editors of reviews. Paignton: 1946.
Note: Smith: "Fair"

________. A guide to the origin of British surnames. London: John Gifford, 1938.
Abstract: Smith: "A very clear explanation of English surnames, their evolution, development, variation, corruption and classification. A most comprehensive and complete elementary textbook on the subject. Good"

________. A history of surnames of the British Isles : a concise account of their origin, evolution, etymology, and legal status. New York: Macmillan, 1931.
Notes: reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Company, 1968
Abstract: Smith: "A comprehensive account of British surnames, their history and evolution, together with their legal status and laws re change. Good"

Finlayson, James. Surnames and sirenames : the origin and history of certain family and historical names: with remarks on the ancient right of the Crown to sanction and veto the assumption of names, etc. London: Simpkin Marshall, 1863.

Freedman, Terry. Wordsworth dictionary of surnames. Wordsworth Editions, 1997.

Freeman, J. Discovering surnames. Aylesbury: Shire Publications, 1973.

Gold, D. L. "Epistolae ." Verbatim 18, no. 1 (1991): 9-10.
Notes: Response To Dunkling, Leslie Remarks On A Dictionary Of Surnames

Hanks, Patrick. "The present day distribution of surnames in the British Isles." Nomina 16 (1992): 79-98.
Abstract: Describes the database of surnames derived from the UK telephone directories (mid 1980’s to 90’s) which formed the basis of the OUP’s Dictionary of Surnames

Harrison, Henry. Surnames of the United Kingdom : a concise etymological dictionary. London: Eaton Press, 1912.
Notes: Issued in parts: v. 1, pts. 1-17, 1907-1912; v. 2, pts. 1-21, 1909-1918; the t.p. and the covers of pts. 17-21 of v. 2 have imprint: London, the Morland Press, ltd.; t.p. of v. 2 … "Assisted by Gyda Harrison." Contents: I. Forespeech [Dec. 1911] A-L. II. List of original subscribers. Forespeech II [Aug. 1918] Abbreviations, etc. Surnames (verses by James Smith) The origin of our surnames. The indexing of surnames. M-Z

Hassall, William Owen. History through surnames . London: Pergamon, 1967.
Abstract: Lawson1: "draws from Ekwall’s Oxford Dictionary of place-names, Withycombe’s Oxford dictionary of English Christian names, and Reaney’s Dictionary of British surnames. Directed primarily at "younger readers". Describes the development of mostly British surnames through historical periods. Gives information and meaning of approximately 16,000 names and variations. Index. 4 refs."

Klein, Shelley. Stufflebeem, Brockway & Sturt : the origin of our surnames. Michael O’Mara, 2002.
Notes: 180pp
Publisher’s Abstract: With over 1500 entries, their meanings and associated anecdotes, the reader can answer the question "What’s in a name?" This text offers information about ancestors: where they lived, what they looked like, what they did, even their morals, personal habits and important events in their lives”.
Note: Has received poor reviews

Martin, Charles Trice. The record interpreter :a collection of abbreviations, Latin words and names used in English historical manuscripts and records. Dorking: Kohler and Coombes, 1976.
Notes: 1st published in 1892 by Reeves and Turner
Abstract: Contains a section listing: ‘Latin Forms of English Surnames in Great Britain and Ireland’.

Mckenna, L. B. Surnames : their origin and nationality. Quincy, Illinois: The Author, 1913.
Notes: 73pp
Abstract: Focuses primarily on names from the British Isles, with short sections on German and Scandanavian names

Mckinley, Richard. "Hereditary names and the chronology of their evolution." Family History , no. 11(1981): 275-83.

________. A history of British surnames London: Longman, 1990.
Note:The standard history
Reviewed in Nomina 15 (1991-92)

Park, Tracey. Names and how they came about. Aberdare: Family History Club, 1994.

Pine, Leslie Gilbert. The story of surnames. London: Country Life, 1965.
Abstract: Lawson1: "general introduction to British surnames. In addition to patronymic, location, occupation and nickname types of surnames, includes chapters on Norman, Welsh, Scottish and Irish surnames"

Reaney, Percy Hide. A dictionary of British surnames Corrector and additions R. M. Wilson. Revised 3rd edition ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Notes: Reviewed in ‘Nomina’ 1

Schlebecker, John T. The many names of country people : an historical dictionary From the Twelfth Century Onwards. New York: Greenwood, 1989.

Schofield, Roger. "A list of peculiar surnames in England and Wales." Local Population Studies ?, no. ? (?): 68-69.

Titford, John. Searching for surnames. Countryside Books, 2002.
Abstract: A guide to the history and diversity of surnames, both common and rare

Verstappen, P. The book of surnames: origins and oddities of
popular names. London: Pelham, 1980.
Abstract: Lawson1: "gives backgrounfd information on 76 of the most common English surnames and their variations. Theses surnames account for 50% of the population. Thus for the name Moore ("dark-complected"), there are 16 variations, including Morecraft, Morley, Moorcock, and Mocking

Voitl, Herbert. "A computer archive of present-day British and early modern English family names." In: The study of the personal names of the British Isles, 87-110. editor Herbert Voitl. Erlangen, Germany: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg .
Abstract: Lawson1: "describes a computer archive with 2 main parts : modern British family names from a number of sources (last 100 years) and selective listings of names from the early modern period beginning with 1598"

Weekly, E. Romance of names. London: J.Murray, 1914.

Weekly, E. Surnames. London: Murray, 1936.
Note: 3rd ed

Yule, Valerie. "Party names." British Psychological Society Bulletin , no. 32(1979): 455-56.
Abstract: Lawson2: "Comments on the surname mix of Parliament in 1964 and 1979"