Guild of One-Name Studies
One-name studies, Genealogy
This study is no longer registered with the Guild, but this profile page has been retained at the member's request. Please note that neither officers nor members of the Guild are able to answer any questions about this study.
The spelling of modern day surnames must be viewed as the result of a process of evolutionary change. Filtered thru language, dialect, transcription and interpretation, names would often change to such a degree as to be almost unrecognizable when compared with their historical antecedents. The Dangerfield surname illustrates this point. The 13th century spelling was most often represented as De Angervil(le). By the 14th and 15th century the preposition had become fused and the spelling was frequently expressed as Daungervil. By the 16th century Daungervil had become Daungerfield. With the introduction of Parish records (1538) the spelling appeared in its modern form, Dangerfield. Transcriptions would occasionally add an "e" to the end, or invert the i and the e, but these variations were not consistently expressed, and likely represent transcription errors.
The first IGI record of the Daingerfield variant can be found in 1564 in Thornbury Gloucestershire. Evidence of the variant taking hold begins in 1601 with the birth of RICHARD DAINGERFIELD in Kings Stanley Gloucestershire. Between 1601 and 1650 39 occurrences of the Daingerfield variant can be found in England of which 25 areto be found in Kings Stanly and neighboring Leonard Stanley. The remaining four occur in Thornbury. By the late 19th century this variant had disappeared in England but is still to be found in America where it appeared in Virginia as early as the 17th century.
There would appear to be consensus within the literature concerning the origin of the Dangerfield surname. William Arthur suggests the surname is:
'French, A corruption of D'Angerville, that is, from Angerville, a town in the province of Orleans, France.'
In a similar vein the Dictionary of American Family Names describes the origin as:
'English (of Norman origin): habitational name, with fused preposition d(e), for someone from any of the various places in northern France called Angerville, from the Old Norse personal name Ásgeirr (from áss 'god' + geirr 'spear') + Old French ville 'settlement', 'village'. In England the surname is now found chiefly in the West Midlands.'
The Dangerfield One Name Study DNA study is now underway. If you are a male Dangerfield or know of someone who is, we would welcome participation in this important initiative.The goals of the study will be three fold.
An examination of the surname distribution suggests that Gloucestershire in the United Kingdom is the point of origin of the surname. Are the secondary locations of the West Midlands, Wiltshire and London genetically linked to the suspected heartland of the surname?
A significant issue concerns the origin of the West Midland family complex. Recently evidence has been developed by several researchers that demonstrate the earliest Dangerfields in Darlaston were most certainly Dashfields. Did subsequent in migration add to the diversity of the Dangerfield origins in that area? Were the Dashfields originally Dangerfields?
The question of the origins of populations in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and America will potentially be addressed. It is known for example that Dangerfields were among the earliest settlers in Virginia. Early Virginians bore both the Daingerfield and Dangerfield surname variants. Daingerfield was a common spelling in Gloucestershire. Can these two populations be shown to be related?
DNA Heritage is the agency thru which the study is being coordinated. In order to participate an individual should be a male whose line of decent is thru male Dangerfield ancestors.
If you would be interested in participating in the study or be kept informed of the study developments contact the Webmaster thru the link to the left.
To learn more about the role of DNA in genealogy studies follow the following links:
Guild of One Name Studies member Chris Pomoroy's DNA Portal is an excellent primer on the role of DNA testing in genealogy http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~allpoms/genetics.html