AUCKLAND TELEPHONE

Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 158, 5 July 1924, Page 11

AUCKLAND TELEPHONE

DIRECTORY.

A STUDY IN SURNAMES.

HOW NAMES ORIGINATE

(By R.G.N.)

When looking at a page of the Auck- . land Telephone Directory the other aay, while awaiting response to a call through the exchange, I was struck with the peculiarity of *some of the names of subscribers, and further examination disclosed many examples, interesting j and informative, of surnames that have come down to us from past generations. Why and how, for instance, was one man named Sly, and another Smart; one man, Day, and another Knight? In due course I found that the study of surnames may be regarded as a harmless pastime or as a branch of learning, according to the point of view of the investigator, but it is true that a good deal of attention has been given to the subject, and several volumes testify to great diligence and research on the part of their authors. A Selection from the Book. The current issue of the Auckland Telephone Directory gives us as good examples of the various kinds of surnames as any other collection, perhaps, and we can trace many that may be placed under each of the five heads referred to. Occupative names, for instance, aro represented by such names as Sawyer, Slater, Dyer, Miller, Carpenter, Tanner, Butcher, Thatcher, Cook, Cooper, Draper, Carter, Fisher, Baker, Potter, Mason, etc. We have colours in Black, White, Gray, Brown, Green and Scarlett. Therd are a Singer and a Player, and Long and Short both appear as 'subscribers to the telephone this quarter. Then we find a Gale and a Breeze, a-s well as a King and a Prince, and Day and a Knight. Snowball, Snow, Snowden and Frost indicate that the forefathers of several present residents of Auckland lived in a cold portion of the country, while Adam, Kane aud Abel are surely indicative of long lineage. Wake, Wakera and Wakeman, with Smallbone, Smallfield and Cutfield are other names that are characteristic of a class, and we have also Sly and Smart, Reed and Wright, Wallnutt and Almond, Cotton and Silk, Honeycombe, Bacon and Fry, Fish, Gill and Finn. Whisker, Wigg, Hair and Beard were certainly bestowed in a personal sense, and in another category we have Pool, Puddle, Pond and Luke; Wine, Beer and Barr; Kirk, Church, Pope and Parsons. Nicknames of early times are plainly perpc- , tuated as surnames of to-day, and we have only to think of our school days to appreciate the sticking capacity of this class of name. Birds are represented by Dove, Swallow, Raven, Wren, Swan, Partridge, Peacock, Hawk, Gosling and Drake; the animal kingdom was drawn upon for Buck, Fox, Kidd, Wolf, Lamb and Hogg; and the vegetable kingdom for Bush, Plant, Heather, Garlick, Budd, Berry and Beech. Other names that appear in the list, and are distinctive I include Cork, Dray, Glass, Stone, Ironside, Ring, Hope, Pain, Small, Footc, I Tongue, Sweet, Blood, Sweetapple, Court, Hill, Field, Choyee, Pennycook, etc., so that it is apparent that even a comparatively small collection of names, like the Auckland Telephone Directory, offers to the student of surnames an interesting field.

Origin of Names.

The origin of many surnames is very simple, of course, for Sam the Baker easily became Sam Baker, and William's 6on, Wilson, but it is quite obvious that from the earliest times no definite process was followed in the bestowal of surnames (that is, names "added" to' Christian or baptismal names), and if a person retain the name of his forbears his cognomen is just as likely to be one which was bestowed originally in a whimsical sense as one that may be deemed in our vanity to betoken distinguished lineage and to be classed as high-sounding. During the passage of nine or ton centuries there have been so many changes that there is some excuse for those numerous instances in ; which men bear names that seem to |be very ill-fitting, but there is no easy means of altering the system now, and we must continue all the incongruities and look forward to many more as time goes on. Physical appearances alter so greatly in succeeding generations that they will always bo apt to belie the surnames of individuals, and some years ago a writer was inspired to write a set of verses humorously dealing with the fact, the first eight lines being as follows: — Men were once surnamed from shape or estate (You may all from history worm lt) ; There was Lewis the Bulky and Henry the Great, John Lackland and Peter the Hermit. But now where the doorplates of Misters and Dames Arc read, each so constantly varies From the owner's trade, figure and calling, surnames Seem given by the rule of contraries. Variations in Spelling. The spelling of names has become more settled, mainly owing to tho education of the people and the advance of civilisation in general. The law in England and America never prevented a person from using any name chosen, ; and occasionally to-day we see changes of spelling introduced, names contracted or compounded, a hyphen dropped or inserted to conform to some whim or to avoid disconcerting confusion, but in a broad sense we can regard our list !of surnames as fairly complete and I capable of meeting all the demands of 1 present-day civilisation. The difficulties in olden days are well exemplified by : the story of the man who jocularly explained that his name was spelt Chomondeley and pronounced Beauchamp, and did not Dickens make old Welter say that the family name was spelt with a "Wee"? Orthography was not at all sound in early times when 6urnaro.es were being introduced generally, and no less than twenty-six different spellings of the poet Shakespeare's name are to be found in the works of writers since his day, variations appearing almost to the absolute capacity of letters to change place and produce a sound approximating to that of the name as pronounced. What arc regarded as four genuine signatures of the poet are spelt "Shakspcre" and two others "Shakespeare," so that it would appear that even he exercised a pleasant option and demonstrated that correct spelling in his generation had not the important bearing it has in many directions today.