Hello and welcome to the Naylor One-Name Study, which I started in December 2019.

I decided to begin my research in the places where my Naylor families lived, and eventually work towards a worldwide study. My paternal Naylor’s lived in and around Durham, England, and my maternal Naylor’s worked in the Nailer factories in Dudley, Staffordshire, England. My aim is to find out whether there was a link between the two families over a hundred years ago.

The name Naylor is an occupational surname; it describes a ‘Maker of Nails,’ and originated in the 13^th century in Northern England when there was a guild of specialised makers. The word comes from the Olde English pre-7^th century word ‘Naegel’ used with or without the addition of the suffix ‘-er’ meaning a ‘worker in’. Over the centuries there have been many variants of spelling, which include Nail, Naile, Nailer, Nayler and the more modern Naylor.

The first recorded spelling of the name was believed to have been Stephen le Nailere, in the year 1231. It was found in the ‘Calendar of the Patent Rolls’ in London during the reign of King Henry 3rd, from 1216-1272. Some early examples of the surname include: William Nayl of Berkshire in 1255, James le Nayler of Yorkshire in 1273, and John le Naylere of Northumberland in 1292.

Forebears.io ranks Naylor as the 11,296th most common surname in the world, with approximately 49738 people bearing the surname as of 2014.