The family name Attenborough has become world-famous, but its origins lie in a small village in the Midlands, and like many family names it is still commonest near its original home.
Family-name stories
Why study family names?
Few of us have chosen our own names; we have either inherited them or have been given them by others. It is natural to want to know why we are named the way we are and where our names come from. In Britain and Ireland, most personal names are ancient and have no obvious English sense, or their apparent sense is not true of their bearers. What do (or did) Edward, Alison, Simon, Robert, Gladys, Duane, Sykes, Hancock, Stoppard, Starbuck, Wetherspoon, Guinness or Patel mean, if anything? Why are people surnamed Cornish, Taylor, Fox, or Donaldson when they are none of these? How, why and where have nicknames been coined? Researching the answers reveals stories about ourselves and our ancestors, individually and communally, and offers unique insights into a wide range of contemporary and historical issues: family origins and social mobility; changes in culture, customs and religious belief; the impact of conquest by Anglo-Saxons, Normans and others; the linguistic diversity of Britain and Ireland; vanished words and meanings; long-lost occupations; patterns of economic migration; the assimilation of refugees. We study personal names, old and new, because they are windows into understanding our shared history and humanity. You can read more about these topics in the family-name stories below.
