The use of the father's name as a surname for his children is found in many cultures – such as the English surname Johnson, meaning son of John. These are known as patronymic surnames.
Less commonly, there are matronymic surnames with the mother's name.
Less commonly still, are surnames for the daughters of a father or mother – like the Icelandic Jónsdóttir, and Gaelic NicGregor
Contents:
In England, this initially took the form of
Robert son of John
which evolved into the surname
Robert Johnson
In the late 12th/13th century, the full names of men of families who owned land, were in transition, changing from
son of
to
de .... (name of estate)
Generally, in this period, a man was called son of while his father was alive, or until he reached a mature age, and then de ..... after that. In a number of cases, the old tradition of son of continued to be used right through life, as appears to be the case with John de Stansfeld, who still appears in the late 1260s/1270 as John son of Elias de Stansfeld.
| English surnames |
This form of surname was common in the Danelaw. A great many surnames have this origin, including
Norman-French patronymics use fitz, a form of the French fils de = son of, followed by the father's name. For example
| Welsh surnames |
In Wales, a similar process took place using the Welsh word for child, map or ap. This initially took the form of
Wyn ap Richard
which evolved and became anglicised into the surname
Wyn Pritchard
A great many Welsh surnames have this origin, including
Surnames ending in S – as discussed above – are also found in Wales
| Scottish surnames |
In Scotland, a similar process took place using the Gaelic word for child, mac. This initially took the form of
John mac Donald
which evolved into the surname
John Macdonald / John MacDonald
The female equivalent – nic – daughter of – is also found:
Siobhan nic Gregor
which evolved into the surname
Siobhan NicGregor
| Manx surnames |
Surnames in the Isle of Man were very much like the Scottish ones above, using the prefixes Mac & Nic. These forms disappeared by the 1600s, but in some cases, the K sound was retained, producing forms beginning with C, K & Q, such as
| Irish surnames |
Gaeilge, the form of Gaelic spoken in Ireland, is very much like the Scottish form. Some minor differences for our present purposes are
| Matronymic surnames |
Matronymic surnames are those which show the name of the child's mother
See Locational surnames and Occupational surnames
Page Ref: X2090
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