What is a Name?
Memorial Day is a time of remembrance. Many people honor family and friends who are no longer alive while others look back further to uncover their family’s lineage. I became interested in the history of my parent’s surname and was surprised at what I found.
What is in a name? “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” wrote William Shakespeare in the 1600s. What he said is not necessarily so. For commercial reasons, roses have been given specific names that denote color as well as odor. There was a time when human brains may have been geared more towards detecting smells for survival. It helped primitive man avoid certain poisonous plants and caves inhabited by dangerous predators. Today, smell connections are primarily a matter of nostalgic memory. People reach for scents with names that bring a sense of well-being-lavender, lemon, forest/pine, and sea breeze. In our litigious world, we can even trademark names used to remember objects and attributes. In earlier eras, names were used to recognize what was important to the society of the time.
The sources from which names are derived include an endless number of physical attributes, places of origin, trades, heraldic symbols, trees, and almost any object one can think of. In hunter-gather societies, people were commonly distinguished by an event, a characteristic, or religious connotation. Before the Norman conquest, Britains were known only by singular personal names or nicknames. Communities were small, and there was no need for hereditary surnames. As the population grew and people were more difficult to identify, second names such as William the Short, John the Tailor, Roger son of Peter ‘the Bald’, and Mary of Wales were added. The Norman barons introduced Smith, Green, and Johnson, names that began to stick. Between the 11th and 16th centuries in England, they began to be passed on from one generation to the next. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England, it was known as a Poll Tax.
Countries added to the stockpile with names like French, Fleming, Beamish (Bohemian), Lubbock (from Lubeck a port in NW Germany), and Moore (Morocco). Wang, a common Chinese surname meaning ‘King’ was royal. Other names were derived from landscapes of hills, woodlands, and trees. As in the game whispering down the lane, adaptations of the original name were added to the litany of available surnames. Moore became Morris and Maurice.Hill became Hull, Holt, and Knoll. Wood turned into Greenwood, Woodman, and Attwood. Trees offered names such as Leaf, Bark, Root, Maples, and Oakley. Yang, a type of tree, was the royal surname during the Zhou Dynasty in China.
Names ending in —man or —er usually imply they were influenced by trade. Chapman was a shopkeeper, Leech a physician), Goldsmith a jeweler), and Baker—well, you can guess. By the 14th century, building skills were represented by Wright, Leadbeater, Carpenter, Plummer, and Smith, the most common name in English-speaking countries. From the military came Knight, Squire, Archer, Bowman, and Fletcher (arrow maker). Zhang, the Chinese word for archer came after the invention of the bow and arrow. The arts led to Painter, Fiddler, Piper, Harper, and the church added Pope, Bishop, Monk, and Abbott.
Spanish surnames originated as a way to distinguish between two men with the first name by using the name of their father or mother as the second. Examples include, Leon Alvarez (Leon, son of Alvaro) and Pedro Velazquez (Pedro, son of Velasco). Some names derived from geographic areas like Rcardo de Lugo (Ricardo from the town of Lugo) and others derived from occupations like Lucas Vicario (Lucas, the vicar). Hispanic people occasionally use two last names, one from each parent, though the practice is dying out.
Social class and culture had a strong influence on what people were called. Those of lower social status with less control often had their names handed to them by aldermen, lords, and other authorities. They weren’t always kind and included names like Dullard, meaning a hard conceited man, and Shakespeare (masturbator), though there were others emphasized good qualities like Kind, and Triggs (trustworthy). A Schiller was cross-eyed, Armann, a poor man, and Bechard a gossip. Those of higher status bore less common names like Baskerville, Darcy, Montgomery, Byron, and Percy. They indicate you come from a wealthy family, perhaps of royal blood.
My married name, Eichinger, is German in origin. It was first recorded in Austria’s medieval, feudal society. The name later emerged as a noble family with great influence, noted especially for its involvement in social, economic, and political affairs. Variations of Eichinger include Aiching and Aychinger.
I was previously married to a Rosenberg. He too bore a German name, one of the very first names on record to \be recorded. The name refers to one who resides by a place or area of roses. In medieval times, names were often based upon good feeling, mythical situations, or, as in Romeo and Juliet, a pleasing scent. An adaptation of Rose is found in every European country and varies from Roze in France, Rosette in Italy, to Ruzek in Czechoslovakia.
My partner for the last thirty years is a Losey whose family name can be traced back to Lueneburg in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands as early as 1277. Losey’s migrated throughout Europe adding variations like Loseke and Loosman. Early American Losey’s worked on the Erie canal.
My mother’s father, a Friedman, was also Austrian-Germanic in origin. He was born in East Prussia before immigrating to America. My maiden name, Katzen, is one of the many forms of Katz. It derives from the Jewish words, ’kohen tsedek” meaning a priest of righteousness. Its earliest known use was in Germany in 1252. Since I cannot escape a Germanic heritage, I must remain a righteous person.
Over the weekend, why not look into the origin of your family’s name? The ten most common in the United States may surprise you. They are Smith (English), Johnson (English, Scottish), Williams (English, Welsh), Brown (English, Scottish, Irish), Jones (English, Welsh), Garcia (Spanish), Miller (English, Scottish), Davis (English, Welsh), Rodriguez (Spanish), and Martinez (Spanish). Those of European descent can search a free internet surname database site: https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/. Sites for those of African, Hispanic, or Chinese are listed in the reference section below. Have fun and a relaxing Memorial Day discovering your past.
References:
Ericsson, Lena (2015) What’s in a Name? Valea Technology and Law. retrieved from https://www.valea.eu/en/news/2015/whats-name-which-we-call-rose-any-other-name-would-smell-sweet-quote-romeo-and-juliet
Blake, P. (2011) What’s In a Name” Your link to the Past. BBC. retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/get_started/surnames_01.shtml
Hall of Names. retrieved from the website at https://www.hallofnames.org.uk/surname-meaning/?v=79cba1185463
Common US Surnames and Their Meanings ( ranks from the 2000 and 2010 U.S. Census. retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/common-us-surnames-and-their-meanings-1422658
Powell, K. (2019) The Meanings and Origins of Spanish Surnames. thoughtCo. retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/spanish-surnames-meanings-and-origins-1420795.
Koon, W. (2016) The Complex origins of Chinese names demystified. Post Magazine. retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2046955/complex-origins-chinese-names-demystified
Website, (2020) 120 Most Popular African Last Names or Surnames. MomJunction. retrieved from https://www.momjunction.com/articles/most-common-african-last-names-surnames_00457713/
Art is always for sale. Floating Free is 29” by 23”, framed / acrylic on canvas/ flowers appear to be floating on ice. $425. For information, contact me at marilynne@eichingerfineart.com.
If you discover something interesting about your family’s name, do share it on my blog site.
