Surnames, as we know them today, did not always exist. In celtic times, names usually consisted of a single name with the appendage relating to 'son of'. With the growing population and small number of Christian names then in use, surnames were introduced in France in the 11th century. It was not until much later, as taxation became more widespread, that they came into use in England. Various methods were used in giving surnames: the placename or geographic location in which a person lived, one's occupation (Carpenter, Mason, Chapman -- a travelling salesman), the employer's name, physical characteristic (Redhead, Armstrong) or even a nickname. Dr. Stoate has written that, certainly in West Cornwall, the father's Christian name was sometimes used as a surname for a son; he quoted the 1522 "Subsidies" which showed a Richard Jacka and a John Richard living at the same address in St. Keverne. By 1524 they had become Richard Jacka and his son John!
Celtic nations have an unusually large number of surnames stemming from a first name e.g. Andrews, Arthur, Edwards, Harry, Jane, Johns, Martin, Peters, Richards, Sarah, Thomas, Williams, etc.
From an analysis of the 19th century censuses and parish registers, the most common surname in Cornwall is WILLIAMS.
- The Cornwall OPC pages have a useful guide to Common Family Naming Patterns in Cornwall.
- Cornish Surnames.
- A useful guide to Cornish surnames is contained within A HANDBOOK OF CORNISH SURNAMES by G Pawley White. (ISBN 0 950643 19 X).
- Cornish Surnames - wikipedia
- The Salamanca Corpus; A Glossary of Cornish Names 1869-1871 by Rev. John Bannister
- A list of free genealogy databases of Cornwall are available from the Free Surnames Search website.
- Cornwall Genweb - Surnamer Registry
- Names being researched by members of the Cornwall FHS are also listed in the Members Area.
- Some useful information on the origins, development and use of surnames in Cornwall is available from www.cornishsurnames.com.
- A personal names index to a large number of documents amassed by Malcolm McCarthy of Padstow has been compiled. The index which principally relates to the area around Bodmin, but includes many other parishes, can be accessed.
- Family names of the UK
- Malcolm McCarthy, and his team of helpers, have transcribed numerous documents relating to people who have lived in St Breock and surrounding parishes. The alphabetical index of surnames in the documents are available on-line. Apart from personal names, this index incorporates place and field names commemorating former occupiers as well as some strays. The latter often relate to war-time refugees from Greater London.
- English names generally did not develop from Latin but rather the principles of Latin were applied later; variations in these 'Latinized' forms are therefore to be expected. Remember that letters 'i' and 'j' as well as 'u' and 'v' were used interchangeably, so that Jacobus (Jacob) often appears as Iacobus and Avicia as Auicia, for example. Information on these variations is also available.
- It was particularly common in Cornwall for first names to be used interchangeably. For example, the names JANE and JENNY are frequently used interchangeably.
