NAMES of persons in the very earliest ages no doubt had some significance and mean ing, but no record is handed down to us. The Old Testament names are almost all original, that is, (Oven in the first instance to the individ ual bearing them, and either originated in some circumstance of birth as an expression of some religious sentiment, thus — Jacob (sup planter), Isaac (laughter), Isaiah (salvation of Jehovah), etc. The names of women had equal significance: Rachel (ewe), Hannah (favor), Deborah (bee), etc. In Old Testament times the name was often changed on the occasion of an important event in one's life, Abram be coming Abraham, Jacob becoming Israel, and so on. Neither the Hebrews, Egyptians, Assyr ians, Babylonians, Persians nor Greeks had sur names; and in the earliest period of their his tory the same may be said of the Romans. In course of time, however, every Roman citizen had three, the pramomen or personal name, which was placed first, and commonly written with one or two letters, for example C. for Gains, Cn. for Gneius, for Marcus, Q. for Qwntus, and so on. Then followed the nomen, the name of the Bens or clan, as Cornelius, Julius, Fabius, from the Cornelian, Julian and Fabian gentes. Lastly came the cognomen or family name, as Cicero, Caesar, Scipio, etc. Con querors were occasionally complimented by the addition of a fourth name or agnomen, com memorative of their conquests, as Coriolanus, Al ricanus, Germanicus, etc. While the earliest Greek names were expressive of some quality in high estimation, as Callimachus (excellent fighter), Apollodorus (gift of Apollo), the Roman names were less dignified and ambitious in their origin; thus Porcius (swineherd), Cicero (vetch grower) ; some from personal peculiarities, as Naso (longnosed), Paulus ( little), Crassus ( fat), Codes ( one-eyed ). Celtic and Teutonic names had often equal sig nificance, as Gottfried (God's peace), Conrad (bold in counsel), Bertha (brightness), Ethel (noble), etc. Times of great public excitement have had a very considerable influence in modi fying the fashion in names. Thus the English Puritans preferred Old Testament names and such as directly expressed religious sentiment. Among the Scottish Covenanters Old Testa ment names were also prevalent. At the French Revolution the names of the most famous Greek and Roman republican heroes were in general favor. Among primitive races, names of famil iar objects were first given to clans, local groups, and finally very loosely to individuals.
The principal of the modern system of per sonal nomenclature now adopted in most coun tries in Europe is to have one name for the individual (Christian or baptismal name) joined to a second name which is common to the family to which he belongs (surname). It is impossible to state with any degree of certainty when this system became general. No instance is known, we believe, of any Anglo-Saxon fam ily bearing a surname from generation to gen eration. They were introduced by the Norman adventurers, but were for centuries confined to the upper classes. Surnames became general in Scotland about the 12th century. In some of the wilder districts of Wales they can hardly be said to have been adopted even yet. The principal sources from which surnames are de rived are personal characteristics, rank, or pro fession, localities, animals, or natural objects, and patronymics. Thus from the first source,
personal characteristics, we have Black, Brown, Grey, Green, Whyte ; Little, Long, Short, Broad head, Lightfoot, Cruickshank. From rank or profession we have King, Prince, Pope, Bishop, Abbot, Prior, Stewart or Stuart, Smith, Wright, Carpenter, Taylor, Baker or Baxter, Weaver or Webster, Falconer, Fletcher (arrow-maker), Glover, Bowman, Chapman or Marchant, Mil ler, Brewer or Brewster, Shepherd. From lo calities, animals or natural objects, come Hill, Dale, Wood, Forest, Brookes or Burns, Grove, Shaw; Bird, Lyon, Hogg, Crabbe, Fox, Roe buck, Bull; Stone, Tree, Flint, Steele. From patronymics arc derived Andrews, Anderson, Alexander, Sanderson, Sandison; James, Jame son, Jamieson; Jones, Johnson, Jonson, Jack son; Williams, Williamson, Wills, Wilson; Thom, Thomson; Roberts, Robertson, Robinson. Surnames in many other languages are derived from like sources; thus Black, Whyte, Brown, are with the Germarks Schwartz, Weiss, Braun; with the French, Lenoir, Leblanc, Lebrun; the Gaelic prefix Mac, the Irish 0', the Norman French Fitz, the German affix -shun or -son, the Scandinavian -sen, the Russian -witch, are all equivalents of the English affix -son. The He brews, as already stated, had no surnames proper, nor had the Arabians; but to distinguish two men of the same name the former used the form Solomon ben David (Solomon son of David), and the latter Abraham ibn Esra (Abraham son of Esra). The Welsh used the word ap in the same way; Evan ap Richard (John son of Richard). In most nations the wife changes her surname on marriage to that of her husband; in Spain, however, she retains it, while the son may adopt either the paternal or maternal name. In Great Britain a man may now change his Christian name and surname without an act of Parliament, royal license or even public advertisement; but there is no law to compel third parties to use the new name. In the United States names can only be changed by special act of State legislatures.
Nicknames of persons are most difficult to classify owing to the great variety of origins. Physical peculiarities, complimentary (as Strongitharm), derogatory, as Spindleshanks, Sheepshanks, Crookshanks, Heavisides, etc.; mental attributes, as Grave, Stern, Wise, Sage, Moody, Proud, Courteous (Curteis), on one hand, and on the other Blythe, Gay, Foolhardy, Jolly, Meek, etc.; nicknames from complexion and color of the hair, as Black, White, Brown and Browning, Ruddy, Readman, Hoare, Grey, etc.; nicknames from peculiarities of dress, Curtmantel, Shorthose, etc.; from social posi tion, as Bastard, Lacklands and so on; from the animal and vegetable kingdoms, from birds and fishes. Then compounds were made by ap plying a sobriquet to a Christian name, as Micklejohn, Littlejohn, Brownjohn; if he was a comely, well-made fellow, he was Properjohn.
These names appear again in Norman guise, as Grosjean, Petijean, Bonjean, from which comes Bunyan — so that when we speak of good John Bunyan we are (perhaps unconsciously) only translating the name of "the inspired tinker." See NATIONAL NICKNAMES. Consult Barber. 'British Family Names' (1894); Bardsley, 'Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames' (1901) ; Innes. 'Concerning Some Scotch Sur names' (1860); Yonge, 'History of Christian Names' (1863).