The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland

[Berlin-Bob]

A new dictionary of 50,000 surnames and their origins has just been published.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/nov/17/dictionary-of-50000-surnames-and-their-origins-published

+ The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland is published in hardback print format (four volumes), ebook format and for library subscription online via Oxford Reference for a UK retail price of £400.

The dictionary will be accessible for free via public libraries that purchase the resource. Members of the public can request that their library purchase the dictionary by completing a form at https://global.oup.com/academic/library-recommend/

and another 15,000 still to come !

It does not end here. AHRC has awarded UWE Bristol a further grant to continue the project so that another 15,000 surnames with just 20 current bearers or more can be included.

[Ray T]

Clearly a bargain at only £400 but it does come in four volumes.

Is anyone prepared to buy a copy and do llok-ups for us?

[a-l]

We could always have a whip round for an RC copy !

[Andrew Tarr]

I think it should go on-line.  I suppose Wikipedia will answer quite a few queries.

[relatedtoturnips]

If you have been wanting to access this book, but cant because of cost (£400!), or your library doesn't have a copy, I have found a workaround (sort of)

Click the link below to go to google books

https://tinyurl.com/zyyrj6f

On the left hand side of the screen, you will see a box with a GO button next to it. Clear any text that is in the box, and then type in your surname, and then click on GO.

Look through the results, and click on the relevant page. You can zoom into the text, and then take a screenshot of the relevant entry.

Im not sure if all pages are available to preview, but I found most of my surnames using this method.

Good luck.

[Andrew Tarr]

I'm not sure if all pages are available to preview, but I found most of my surnames using this method.

They weren't for me.  Wherever I looked in the alphabet I was told 'Pages xxx to xxz are omitted from this extract'.