Beautiful surnames in English for girls. English surnames

A surname is a family hereditary name. It indicates that a person belongs to the same genus, which originates from some common ancestor. Most people have a generic name foreign languages Of course, the British are no exception. If you try to sort out popular English surnames piece by piece, you can learn a lot of interesting things both about the history and culture of Great Britain, and about the English language.

Origin of English surnames

The origin of modern British surnames has deep roots and is closely connected with the culture and history of the country in general and the English language in particular. For a long time, foreign, like Russian, family names, even the most beautiful ones, came from nicknames that were given to certain people. When exactly did nicknames become family names It is impossible to establish exactly; it is only known that first of all this happened among the feudal lords. Family names can be divided into several classes:

1. Ottoponymic or derived from foreign place names (names of counties, cities, provinces, villages, hills, etc.)


2. Oanthroponymous or derived from personal names.


3. Formed from nicknames - epithets (common nouns). Most often such nicknames were described appearance, behavior, similarity of a person with someone/something, or even hinted at the scope of his activity.

List of English surnames in a table

There are a lot of surnames and we will not try to list them all here. Some generic names are heard more often than others, while others are very rare. We have prepared for you a table with sixty generic names, many of which will probably seem familiar to you.

The most common English surnames

There are common surnames in every country. Just like Russians Ivanov Smirnov and Kuznetsov, some British family names are more common than others.

The most common American surnames

American surnames have their roots in nicknames that Americans began to come up with for each other when calling people by their names (which many had the same) became difficult. List of the most common American surnames In many ways it duplicates British family names, but there are also differences. We have prepared for you a list of the 10 most common American surnames.

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Over the course of many centuries, a system of surnames in England was formed, which is based on the history of the country and individual families, the history of the English language and nationality. The first attributed names can be seen in chronicles dating from the 9th-12th centuries. The first English surnames appear most often in the Domesday Book, but they are presented in the form of nicknames. The first to receive assigned names were representatives of the highest nobility, large landowners and representatives of the clergy.

In the era of developed feudalism, XI-XV centuries, the socially distinctive function of assigned nicknames is significantly enhanced. Thus, they often began to have a mocking or humorous meaning, were ironic, or were a collection of epithets. At the same time, unflattering nicknames also appear, sometimes even vulgar ones. Some English surnames were endowed with deep meaning. It is unknown when nicknames turned into inherited names. There is information that representatives of the feudal nobility were the first to receive them.

5 centuries of long formation of the family system

The modern dictionary of English surnames contains a variety of them. Male hereditary nicknames began to spread throughout Great Britain after the Norman Conquest. The eldest son was left the land as an inheritance, and then the nickname of the landowner father began to be passed on. Research has shown that the most active inheritance of nicknames occurred in the 12th-14th centuries; in the 15th century, nicknames were inherited everywhere, regardless of class.

There are 3 classes of nicknames, which were divided on semantic grounds. The first group includes surnames derived from place names in English, French, German origin. For example, Richard de Cestersir from the name Cheshire. The second group includes surnames based on proper names, for example Arnold Williamsone (William, Williamson).

The third group includes common English surnames formed from a common noun (nickname-epithet).

The root base often means either the profession of the founder of the clan, or the name of some animal, or another memorable sign of a person, such as a beard. Here such beautiful hereditary nicknames stand out as Baron, Barun, Wilde, Black, Bunch and so on.

Beauty in English

Beautiful male hereditary names are found in all three groups. The most famous in the first group are represented by surnames - Ford, Breadley, Everset. The list of English surnames presents all the most beautiful family nicknames for both men and girls. They are listed in alphabetical order. Surnames no less popular in their beauty are of anthroponymic origin. Everyone hears about these beautiful examples, like Robins/Robinson, O'Brion or Adam.

No less beautiful hereditary designations come from nicknames. Here you can give examples such as Longman, Young, Wolf, Starling, Bulloc and others. It is worth saying that women's hereditary nicknames are no different from men's. The most popular foreign actresses, such as Demi Moore, Sarah Douglas, Saffron Burrows, Elsa Lanchester and Kelly MacDonald, apparently have exactly the same surnames. At first glance, this seems unusual, but the hereditary names of girls do not decline, as happens with Russians.

A girl's hereditary name is no different from a man's

As noted above, the surnames of girls are practically no different from the surnames of men. The only exception, perhaps, concerns those “nicknames” that have the suffix –son, which means son. Sometimes the mother's surname was also awarded this suffix. So, according to the father, the surname could end in –son, but for the daughter this ending was shortened to the suffix –s. An example would be the surname Roberts, when it was originally Robertson.

Often, women’s assigned “nicknames” came from proper names without any additions - Constance, Cartwright, Clement, Bruce, and so on.

But toponymic surnames are no exception - Blackwood, Makshera, Kingston and others. A dictionary of English surnames provides full list hereditary names. There may also be family names that are unusual for Great Britain - Lee, Lo, Lay, Le and Day.

Who was the ancestor of the family?

Male hereditary names can tell not only the history of the family, but also tell who the ancestor was, what appearance he had and how he was remembered by those around him. Of course, if the history of a family begins with a large feudal lord, then his surname will most likely indicate this, such as Blackshear, Hoggart, Blomfield, Clifford and others.

Quite unusual ones are often found among male names - Nash, Neil, Cook, Day, Peacock, Youmanz or Young. It is quite interesting, knowing the meaning of surnames, to correlate them with their owners. Old man with the surname Young may well bring a smile. IN modern world the most “in demand” surnames are associated with the personalities with which they are endowed. So, today many English people wanted their last name to be Sherlock - in honor of the name of the famous fictional detective.

Beautiful male surnames wear famous actors Kurt Russell, Jack Nicholson, Eric Roberts. Currently, it is difficult to say whether certain names have American or English roots, and the origin of English surnames also does not answer this question.

Famous owners of interesting surnames

Many famous Englishmen have quite unusual surnames. Thus, the British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who is gaining popularity, is distinguished by not the simplest generic name. It is difficult for a Russian person to pronounce it, but for a German it will be easier than ever. The 71st Prime Minister of the state, Margaret Thatcher, also had a far from common surname. Today, one can increasingly hear the once-forgotten surnames Shakespeare and Fox.

Among the unusual names, the famous family name Mercury stands out; the surnames Dickens, Cromwell, McCartney, Wilde and Faraday are not inferior to it in terms of interest.

It is rare to see someone with a name like Pankhurst in Britain today. Wilberforce, More, Attenborough are also practically forgotten. Today, English surnames are increasingly influenced by America. The most popular ones often have American roots. For example, there are a lot of Collinses, Blakes, Harrisons and Smiths in the country.

Popularity follows the owner

Surnames become in demand after their owners are glorified. So, many strive to get a well-known family name. The most widespread in Great Britain are about 25 surnames, which are not particularly new. The most common of them are: Anderson (son of Anders), Clark, Cooper, Brown, Hill and Carter. As you can see, the root stem comes from a common noun, in other words, an epithet with which the ancestor was endowed.

The dictionary of English surnames also includes a number of other common examples. These include the surnames Patterson, Spencer, Miller, Morgan, Johnson (son of John), Jones, Jackson, Lee, Taylor, Richardson and Smith. Wilsons, Youngs, Parkers, Martins and Harrisons are no less common on English soil.

The emergence of English surnames.

History of English surnames begins in the 12th century, when English nobility there was a need to secure inheritance rights to land. Surnames in the modern sense did not exist then; a personal nickname was simply added to the name of the landowner, which became hereditary. Gradually, the need for hereditary naming began to be felt in all segments of the population in order to distinguish between owners of the same names and to designate the circle of members of the same family. By that time, the nicknames had lost their original meaning. If Cook was not a cook, Red was not a redhead, and Hill did not live on the hill, then we could no longer talk about nicknames, but about surnames. The formation of surnames in England continued for several centuries and completely ended in Scotland and Wales in the 17th century.

Dictionary of English surnames does not allow one to understand whether this is a male or female surname - they have no gender differences. Declension of English surnames in Russian it obeys general rules- surnames of men ending with a consonant are changed by case, similar surnames of women do not change. Surnames with a vowel at the end (except for “a”) are not declined.

Differences in surnames according to their meaning.

Interpretation of English surnames in person. This indicates their different origins. In one group, personal names are used unchanged as surnames (Owen, Thomas). Sometimes the particle -son is added to them, which means “son of so-and-so” (Thompson). More than a half English surnames have the so-called “local” meaning. These surnames were formed from the names of the area where their first bearers were from (Hill Hill, Moor Heath, Swamp). About 20% of English surnames arose from the names of professions and positions (Smith the blacksmith, Taylor the tailor). Finally, there are surnames that describe the special characteristics of their first owners (Bigg-big, Brown-dark).

Non-standard English surnames.

It should be noted that some English surnames are derived from shortened given names, e.g. famous surname Tolkien - from short form named Anthony. List of English surnames alphabetically may surprise you with the presence of surnames with a diminutive meaning (Hewett - little Hugh). Scottish, Irish and Welsh surnames occupy a special place in this list. They all have their distinctive features. For example, Scottish surnames can be distinguished by the prefix "Mac" (McGregor), Irish surnames are recognized by the initial "O" (O'Neill), and Welsh ones are most often written with a hyphen (Lloyd-George).

List of English surnames allows you to find out which surnames are most popular in England.

Popular beautiful English surnames and their meanings

The list below contains the most common English surnames for men and girls.
Smith– blacksmith

Jones- John's son

Williams- son of Guillemin

Taylor- tailor

Brown- brown

Davies- son of David

Evans- Evan's son

Wilson- Will's son

Thomas– twin

Johnson- John's son

Roberts- Robert's son

Robinson- Robin's son

Thompson- Tom's son

Wright- builder

Walker– fabric felter

White- white

Edwards- Edward's son

Hughes- Hugh's son

Green- green

Hall- big house worker