Late 14th Century English Bynames Indicating Relationships

© 2000-2010 by Kathleen M. O'Brien. All rights reserved.
Version 2.1, updated 07 April 2010

Introduction

Bynames indicating relationships such as 'wife', 'daughter', 'brother', and others, existed in English in the time when literal bynames were the standard. This type of byname vanished for the most part as literal bynames were replaced by inherited surnames. The notable exception to this trend were bynames indicating a 'son' relationship. A large number of these survive today as inherited surnames such as Jackson, Johnson, Nicholson, Richardson, Wilson, etc.

This article contains a continually growing list of English relationship bynames I have run across while doing other research. As I find more examples, I will update this list.

Bynames from this period which indicated a 'son' relationship have mostly survived as inherited surnames and, so, are easier to find in surname dictionaries such as Reaney and Wilson's Dictionary of English Surnames (to name just one example). Since 'son' names are so much easier to look up, I am not planning on including examples of 'son' relationship bynames at this time.

Bynames indicating other types of relationships are listed sorted by type in the table below. The majority of these bynames that I have found so far tend to be in the late 14th century in Yorkshire. A significant reason for this grouping is the sheer number of these bynames that exist in the poll tax records that survive from Yorkshire. Reaney & Wilson (pp. l-li) say:

The West Riding Poll-tax of 1379 (19,600 names) provides material quite unlike that found in the south and paralleled only by the East Riding Poll-tax of 1381. The filius-type name is much less common than in 1327; that in -son much more common. What is noticeable is the frequency of names in -wyf, and -doghter and those of servants in -man, -servant, -woman, -mayden, besides names indicating other relationships in -brother, -cosyn, -syster, -stepson.

Over time, I have run across a handful of other examples of this type of byname from other years and other areas in England. I have included those bynames here, but intentionally left the title of this article as "Late 14th Century..." because the vast majority of the examples we have for these bynames date from that period.

I have also included a list of sources where I have found these types of bynames so far.

Byname Construction Sorted By Type

Byname for a:	Formed:	Relation's Given Name	Relation's Patronymic Byname	Relation's Given Name And Patronymic Byname	Relation's Descriptive Byname	Relation's Locative Byname	Relation's Occupational Byname
wife	using husband's	given name	patronymic byname	given name and patronymic byname			occupation
daughter	using father's	given name	patronymic byname		descriptive byname	locative byname	occupation
	using mother's	given name
stepson	using stepfather's	given name
child	using father's	given name
sister	using sibling's						occupation
brother	using sibling's						occupation
father	using son's						occupation
cousin	using cousin's	given name
female servant	using master's	given name	patronymic byname		descriptive byname	locative byname	occupation
male servant	using master's	given name			descriptive byname	locative byname	occupation

Medieval Scotland | Medieval Names Archive | Late 14th Century English Bynames Indicating Relationships

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