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Guild of One-Name Studies

One-name studies, Genealogy

Is your surname here?

    • 2,588 members
    • 2,350 studies
    • 8,286 surnames

Surnames

The more unusual your surname, the easier it may be to research. As well as providing a key to other records, the name itself will have a story to tell. See also the page on Variant and deviant surnames.

There are eight main types of surname:

  • Locative : derives from the place where someone came from or lived. This is the most common type of surname in England. Sub-categories of locative are:
    • Topographical : derived from a distinctive geographical feature, e.g. Green, Hill, Langridge, Townsend.
    • Toponymic : derived from a place name, e.g. Beckham, Helmsley, Stepney.
  • Occupational or metonymic : derives from the occupation of the bearer, e.g. Abbot, Cheeseman, Draper, Shoesmith, Thatcher.
  • Postholder : derived from holding a particular post, e.g. Hayward, Bailey.
  • Patronymic : derived from the forename of the father. There are different patterns found in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, e.g. Bowen, Eriksdottir, Fitzgerald, Johnson, Jones, MacDonald, Quayle, O’Brien, Pritchard, Richardson, Williams.
  • Matronymic : derived from the forename of the mother, e.g. Beaton, Margetson, Tillotson.
  • Diminutive forename : A forename altered to be used as a surname. In medieval times this was often with the addition of -cock, -lett, or -kin, e.g. Bartlett, Dykin, Miskin, Towcock.
  • Genitive : A name implying ownership by someone, e.g. Squires, Manners.
  • Nickname or Physical Appearance : e.g. Cruikshank, Fox, Longfellow, Redhead, Toogood.

If your surname has multiple origins, it may also have multiple meanings. For a more extended discussion of the different types of surnames and their different distributions in the Anglophone world, see the papers from a conference held in 2004 on Surnames as a quantitative resource: the geography of British and Anglophone surnames.

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One-Name Studies

  • One-Name Studies
    • Surnames and variants
    • Registering a one-name study
    • Data collection
    • Analysis
    • Synthesis
    • Publicising your study
    • Responding to enquiries
    • Publication of results
    • Preserving your study
    • Data sources
    • Recording data
    • Storing data
    • Study Associates

The Guild Vision

The Guild will strengthen its position as the centre of excellence for surname studies by educating the public and worldwide genealogical community in one-name studies and empowering members to preserve their knowledge and share their expertise.

Other Guild Websites

You may find our other Guild websites of interest:

  • Members’ Websites Program
  • Surname Cloud
  • Guild Members’ records on FamilySearch
  • Guild Marriage Locator

Contact Us

Email: Guild General Contact
Postal address:
c/o Secretary
Edendale, 113 Stomp Road
Burnham, Berkshire, SL1 7NN, U.K
Call us free on:
UK: 0800 011 2182
US & Canada: 1-800-647-4100
Australia: 1800 305 184

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© 2013–2023 Guild of One-Name Studies CIO. Registered Charity in England and Wales, No. 1197944.