CLAS224 Word Elements. Monmouth College Monmouth, Illinois

Instructor: Thomas J. Sienkewicz (toms@monm.edu)

SURNAMES

Four Kinds of Identification in Surnames: Patronymns, Personal Characteristics, Places, and Occupations.

Ten Most Popular Surnames in the U.S.

Variants of the Name John

During the Middle Ages, before the formation of cities (12th C), one name identification was the common practice: Henry, Eric, Martha, Eleanor.

Surnames---Four Identification Approaches:

I. Patronymics:

Johnson - son of John

Andersen - son of Anders

Dickens - son of Richard

Lopez - son of Lope

O'Connor - son of Connor

Common prefixes meaning 'son of': O-, Mac-, Mc-, Fitz-, B-, and Di-, as in O'Brien, MacDonald, Fitzpatrick, Bowen, and Di Carlo.

II. Personal Characteristics:

Sharp, Hardy, Grim(m), Stout, Wiseman, Moody, Klein, Armstrong, Brown, Dunkel

Red Hair: Reed, Reid, Roth, Russell, Rosso, Rosano, Rossini, Rodrigo

III. Places:

Bradley - broad lea (wide field)

Fairbanks - lovely edge of a stream

Lincoln - from county by that name

Ackley - oak field

Steinway - stone road

Zagorski - from the hill

Others: Churchill

Hilton

Thornton

Buckingham

Steinberg, Berger

Atwood, Woods

Common prepositions meaning 'from' or 'of': von, de (De Gaulle)

IV. Occupations:

Smith (also: Schmidt, Faber, Ferrer, Ferrier, Le Fevre, Ferraro, Ferron, Kovac, Kovar, Goff, Gow)

Cutler, Thatcher, Bottler/Butler, Weaver/Webster, Bauer, Cantor, Lambert (lamb herder), Wainright (wagon maker), Cooper, Hunter (Jaeger, Yager)

Back to the Top

According to the list of Social Security card holders, the ten most used surnames in the U.S. are:

Smith

Johnson

Williams

Brown

Jones

Miller

Davis

Martin/Martinez

Green

Wilson

Back to the Top

Alphabetized list of other forms of the name John as it may appear in non-English sources.

NAME	LANGUAGE/AREA	SURNAME
Evan Giovanni Hans Ian Iban Ivan Jan Jannis Jean Jehan Johan Johannes Jon Juan Sean Shane Yochanan Yohanna Jack Jock Jankee/Jankin\	Welsh Italian German or Danish Scotch Basque East Europe Northern Europe Greek French Belgian Norwegian German French or Dutch Spanish Irish Irish Hebrew Arabic English variant Scotch variant Dutch variant	Evans, Evanston d'Giovanni Hansen Ianson, McIan Ibanez Ivanov, Ivanovitch, Ivanowicz Jansen, Janczyk, Jamson, Jantzen Jannipolus, Jannatis Dujean, Lajean Johansen Jonson Juanez, Juarez O'Sean, O'shean McShane Yochanan Jackson, Jaxon Yankee

Back to the Top

Monmouth College Classics Dept Homepage