Have you ever wondered where your last name came from ? If you ’re a Baker or a Smith , it ’s in all probability passably obvious . But what about theLongbottoms , Boobiers , andWeinersamong us ?
A newfangled projectfrom the University of the West of England ( UWE Bristol ) in the UK has sorted through a database of surnames in the UK and Ireland with the aim of tracing their lingual origin , history , and geographical dispersion .
They managed to study 45,600 of the most frequent mob names in the UK and Ireland , include 8,000 family unit names that have never been explained . Many of these reflect the diverse cultures of immigrants that have settled in the UK over the hundred , including French , Dutch , Scandinavian , Judaic , Indian , Arabic , Korean , Japanese , Chinese , and African influence .
you’re able to check out their inquiry and find your own surname through the newOxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Irelandwebsite , which is free to the populace until the end of November with username “ fanbi ” and the watchword “ onlineaccess ” . The database contains every family name that currently has more than 100 bearer in the UK and Ireland .
In order , they found the most common surnames to be : Smith , Jones , Williams , Brown and Taylor , Johnson , and Lee .
Their project also explain the origin of the surnames , which have increased in late decades through immigration . For example , Patel is a particularly plebeian name among British Asians , with an forecast 100,000 holder in the UK . It originated as aHindu and Parsi word for a hamlet headman .
Professor Richard Coates , project leader , explains:“There is widespread pastime in family name and their history . Our inquiry uses the most up - to - date grounds and technique so as to create a more elaborate and accurate resource than those currently available . We have bear particular attention , wherever potential , to linking house names to location .
“ Some surname have origin that are occupational – obvious examples are Smith and Baker ; less obvious 1 are Beadle , Rutter , and Baxter . Other names can be link up to a blank space , for instance Hill or Green ( which relates to a settlement dark-green ) . Surnames which are ' patronymic ' are those which earlier enshrined the father ’s name – such as Jackson , or Jenkinson . There are also name where the origin key out the original pallbearer such as Brown , Short , or Thin – though Short may in fact be an ironic ' nickname ' family name for a tall person . ”
