surnames where do they come from

[oldcrone]

Surnames SMELLIE, CRAPP, TROLLOPE and PRATT.....

No, I'm not being rude; these are surnames which I've come across in my lifetime. 

A lady (quite a posh one) that my mum knew whose surname was Smellie.  A girl I was at school with in the 70s whose surname was Crapp (she was not a happy bunny).  Another girl in the year below me whose surname was Trollope - her parents made sure she was doubly burdened by giving her the christian name of Griselda; and Pratt, the name of a certain Sid who used to board at my grandma's house - always the butt of family jokes...

Obviously, these names have an origin... but thankfully, I've personally avoided them! 

Clara

[MrsLizzy]

Toplady is a good one - I read this originates as a description of a man who, if he were a woman, would be called all sorts of opprobrious names!  (i.e. he was a bit of a devil with the ladies!)

[hepburn]

more unhappy bunnies.nobbs,crapper,winkle,clapp,and fluck

[MrsLizzy]

I met a Belgian once by the name of Moron

[oldcrone]

Like that one, Mrs Lizzy! 

I remember the Bogie family as well (they pronounced it BO-JAY) 

I also like surnames which obviously must have been given hundreds of years ago to actually describe what people looked like: eg the Longbones - these really were a tall, long-limbed family I remember from a while back!  And surnames which have been anglicised, like Pardew, and probably Boys (one of my own), for that matter....

Clara

[MrsLizzy]

I was told that during the last War, one of my Noquet cousins was a cultural attache to the embassy in Moscow and that at a very posh reception, he and his wife were introduced as Monsieur Nocketoff and Madame Nocketover (i.e. Knock It Off and Knock It Over!)  How much truth there is in this I don't know.

[prozac]

I love finding out where surnames come from.  My surname and my mothers madien name both just mean 'son of' so it gets a bit boring!

What about Burrows?  What would that have been? There are so many Burrows in my tree!  And I dread to think where Hardman came from.

The best surnames I've come across are Duckfield and Cakebread..heh. 

[hepburn]

I like that one,Ihave a Scalley and a Knee in my tree

[oldcrone]

Well, thought I'd actually see if I could find the meanings of those names which I was jesting about:

SMELLIE: A Scots name referring to someone who smiled alot - Smiley is another derivative

CRAPP: From the Old English meaning 'cropp' meaning cut.  Quite common in Lancs.

TROLLOPE: Norman name 'trois loups' meaning 3 wolves

PRATT: From the Old English 'praet' meaning 'a trick' - it referred to someone who was a trickster or practical joker.

So perhaps old Sid had the last laugh on us....

Clara