What's in a Name?
Many American names come from England. But where did most English names come from?
Centuries ago, most people in England had only one name-- their first name. In the 11th century, five or six of the 50 people in a village might be named William, and it was easy to get confused. But in the Middle Ages, people found a way to describe each person exactly. If there were four Williams in one village, one might be referred to as William the son of John. A second might be called William from the hill. A third, William the blacksmith(铁匠). And a fourth, William the brown haired. In conversation, people might refer to the four Williams as William John's son, William hill, William smith, and William brown.
It was 300 or 400 years before the extra(附加的) names gradually developed into last names, or surnames. They were passed on from generation to generation. By the 1300s, Robert, the son of William smith, had the name Robert smith, even if he was not a blacksmith like his father. As the last name became widely accepted, the first letter was capitalized, as in Robert Smith. By the 15th century, most people of the upper and middle classes had surnames.
Many surnames were based on father-son relations. The "son of" part was added to the father's first name, like Johnson, meaning John's son. Sometimes it was shortened to just "s", as in Jones or Evans.
Surnames like Hill described the place where a person lived. They are the most common type of surname. A third kind of surname was based on a person's job. Forester was someone who looked after the forest. In the Middle Ages, occupation names such as Baker, Carpenter, and Miller became common. The fourth kind of surname was nickname(绰号). A man whose surname was Bear might be as fierce as a bear.
Have you ever wondered why some surnames are so common? The most common surname in the English language is Smith. Being able to make metals(金属)into tools was an important skill in the Middle Ages, and many people were trained as blacksmiths. The most common American surnames are Smith, Johnson, William and Brown.
