Читать книгу Collins Dictionary Of Surnames: From Abbey to Mutton, Nabbs to Zouch - Leslie Dunkling - Страница 18

Cadbury descendant of someone who came from one of the places so named because it was ‘Cada’s fortress.’ The Old English personal name Cada probably meant ‘lump,’ and was perhaps applied to a fat person.

In the 1820s the Quaker John Cadbury sold tea and coffee in his Birmingham shop. He began grinding cocoa beans to supply a few special customers and went on to make chocolate.

Caldwell, Calwell, Caudell, Caudle, Caudwell, Cauldwell, Cawdell (Eng, Scot, Irish) A fairly common place name meaning ‘cold well, spring.’ Ancestors of those bearing these names could have come from any one of them.

A member of the American Name Society, some years ago, amused himself by matching surnames with various sports. Caldwell was considered to be suitable for a baseball umpire. Other links were made between LONGFELLOW and FOWLER, basketball; FIELDING, cricket; SITWELL, hunting; UPDIKE, mountaineering. Such a list could be considerably extended.

Caller, Callear, Callier, Callmaker, Caul, Caule, Caules (Eng) Occupational name for a maker of ‘cauls,’ head-dresses made of net-work.

Callister, Callistron see ALEXANDER.

Callmaker see CALLER.

Calwell see CALDWELL.

Cambell, Camble see CAMPBELL.

Cameron (Scot) In the Highlands a nickname from Gaelic cam sròn ‘crooked nose.’ As a Lowland surname it indicates an ancestor who lived near a ‘crooked hill,’ or in a place which itself had been named because of the presence of such a hill.

Campbell, Cambell, Camble (Scot) A nickname from Gaelic cam beul ‘crooked mouth.’ Popular legend derives the name instead from de campo bello ‘of the fair field’ and equates it with French Beauchamp, but this etymology has no justification.

Cannon, Cannons, Canon, Channon (Eng) Descendant of a canon, a clergyman who lived in a communal house with others of his profession. Perhaps also a nickname for someone who acted like a canon.

As with most surnames, a more individual explanation of its origin is possible. Arnold Bennet writes, in Hilda Lassways, that ‘Mrs Gailey had married a French modeller named Canonges, and in course of time the modeller had informally changed the name to Cannon, because no one in the five towns could pronounce the name rightly.’

Cape, Cope (Eng) Occupational name for someone who made capes, or a nickname for someone who wore a particularly noticeable one. From the Old English cape, retained in northern dialects, or from cope, its Middle English development.

Capelen, Capelin, Capeling, Caplen, Caplin see CHAPLIN.

Capern, Caperon see CAPRON.

Capp, Cape, Capes, Capmaker, Capman, Capper, Capps (Eng) Occupational name of a maker and seller of caps.

Capron, Capern, Caperon, Chape, Chaperon, Chapron (Eng, Fre) Occupational name of a maker of hooded cloaks, of the type worn by monks.

Capstack, Capstick see COPESTAKE.

Card, Carde, Carder (Eng) Occupational name of someone who carded (untangled) wool.

Mr Valentine Frank Henry Card, of Chelmsford, Essex, was born on February 14. He once told a Daily Mail reporter that he was obliged to take his birth certificate to work on Valentine’s Day every year to prove that he really was a living Valentine Card.

Cardrick see CARTWRIGHT.

Care see KERR.

Careless, Carless, Carloss (Eng) A disapproving nickname for someone who acted in a carefree or careless manner.

Chambers, in his Book of Days, quotes an amorous poet who addressed the following to a Miss Careless:

Careless by name, and Careless by nature;

Careless of shape, and Careless of feature.

Careless of dress, and Careless in air;

Careless of riding, in coach or in chair.

Careless of love, and Careless of hate;

Careless if crooked, and Careless if straight,

Careless at table, and Careless in bed;

Careless if maiden, not Careless if wed.

Careless at church, and Careless at play;

Careless if company go, or they stay;

Oh! how I could love thee, thou dear Careless thing

(Oh, happy, thrice happy, I’d envy no king.)

Were you Careful for once to return me my love,

I’d care not how Careless to others you’d prove.

I then should be Careless how Careless you were;

And the more Careless you, still the less I should care.

Carleton, Carlton (Eng) Someone who came from one of the several places so-named because they were ‘settlements of free peasants.’

Carloss see CARELESS.

Carlyon (Eng) Someone who came from one of the Cornish places bearing this name, probably because of nearby ‘earthworks of slate or shake.’

Marie Corelli says of one of her characters in Delicia: ‘He was absolutely devoid of all ambition, save a desire to have his surname pronounced correctly. “Car-lee-on,” he would say, with polite emphasis, “not Car-ly-on. Our name is an old, historical one, and like many of its class is spelt one way and pronounced another”.’

Carne (Eng) Descendant of someone who originally lived near a carn, a pile of rocks. This word is a common element in Cornish place names.

Carpenter (Eng) Occupational name of a carpenter.

Carr see KERR.

Carré see QUARRY.

Carrington (Eng, Scot) Someone who came from one of the several places so-named because it was ‘Cora’s settlement.’

Carroll, Carrol, Carvil, MacCarroll, MacKarrill, O’Carroll, O’Carrowill, O’Carvill, O’Carwell (Irish) Descendant of Cearbhall, a Gaelic personal name of uncertain meaning, though suggestions include ‘hart, stag’ and ‘hacking.’

Carswell see Creswell.

Carter, Charter (Eng) Occupational name of a carter, who transported goods.

Nick Carter is the fictional American detective who appears in over 500 stories, written by many different authors. He is able to disguise himself even more effectively than Sherlock Holmes. He was created as long ago as 1886.

Carton see MACCARTNEY.

Cartwright, Cardrick, Cartrick, Cartridge, Kortwright (Eng) Occupational name for a maker of carts.

Carvil see CARROLL.

Casewell, Casswell, Caswall, Caswell, Caswill see CRESWELL.

Catcher see CATCHPOLE.

Catchlove, Cutliffe, Cutloff, Cutlove (Eng) Occupational name of a hunter. The ‘love’ in this name is from Old French loup or love ‘wolf’. Hunters or trappers of wolves could also be known as PRETLOVE, PRITLOVE, PRYKKELOVE ‘prick, kill wolf;’ TRUSLOVE, TRUSLOW, TRUSSLER ‘carry off wolf; BINDLESS, BINDLOES, BINDLOSS, BYNDLOES ‘bind wolf’; SPENDLOVE, SPENDLOW, SPENLOW, SPINDLOWE ‘disembowel wolf’; HACHEWOLF ‘hack wolf’.

Catchpole, Catchpoll, Catchpool, Catchpoole, Catchpoule, Chacepol (Eng) Literally, a man who was allowed to ‘catch fowl’ to offset someone’s taxes or other debts. A nickname for a bailiff. He might also be known more simply as a CATCHER or KETCHER.

Cater, Cator, Chaytor (Eng) Occupational name for someone who purchased provisions for a large household. Such an official was known in French as an acheteur or by the Norman French variant acatour ‘buyer.’ The word caterer is from the same source.

Catesby (Eng) Someone who came from a place so-named because it was the ‘settlement of Kati’s people.’

Caudell, Caudle, Caudwell, Cauldwell see CALDWELL.

Caul, Caule, Caules see CALLER.

Cavalier see CHEVALIER.

Cawdell see CALDWELL.

Cawker see CHALK.

Caxton (Eng) Someone who came from a place so-named because it was ‘Kakkr’s settlement.’

Chacepol see CATCHPOLE.

Chalk, Cawker, Chalke, Chalker, Chalkman, Chaulk (Eng) These names clearly refer to chalk in one way or another. The name-bearers may have been suppliers of chalk, since it was used for various purposes, eg as a whitewash and as a hardening agent by potters. The names could also indicate someone who originally came from one of the many English places named for its chalky soil.

Chamberlain, Chalmers, Chamberlaine, Chamberlayne, Chamberlen, Chamberlin, Chambers, Champerlen (Eng) An occupational name originally designating someone who managed the private chambers of his employer, normally a nobleman or perhaps the king himself. At the highest level he was a very influential official. Later chamber-attendants operated at a much humbler level and were more like chamber-maids.

Popular newspapers were delighted to report on the wedding, in the 1970s, of a Mr Chambers to a Miss Potts. It was inevitably described as ‘a marriage of convenience.’

L.G. Pine writes, in The Story of Surnames: ‘Chamberlain, not in most cases derived from any office of great profit or standing, but from the inn chamberlain, who looked after the arriving guests. The German name, now acclimatised in England, ZIMMERMAN, brings it out better – room man, the fellow who allotted the guests their rooms in the inn.’ A German Zimmermann is more likely to have helped build a bedroom or the bed itself. The name means ‘carpenter.’ Zimmer does indeed mean ‘room’ in modern German, but in the Middle Ages it would have been Zimber, a form showing its connection with ‘timber.’

Chambly see CHOLMONDELEY.

Champerlen see CHAMBERLAIN.

Chance see HAZARD.

Channon see CANNON.

Chape see CAPRON.

Chaperlin, Chaperling see CHAPLIN.

Chaperon see CAPRON.

Chaplin, Capelen, Capelin, Capeling, Caplen, Caplin, Chaperlin, Chaperling, Chaplain, Chapling (Eng) Occupational name for the servant of a clergyman.

Charles Chaplin, in My Autobiography, writes: ‘I started schooling and was taught to write my name “Chaplin.” The word fascinated me and looked like me, I thought.’

Chapman, Chapper, Cheeper, Chipman, Chipper (Eng) Occupational man for a trader, a man who bought and sold articles. The first element in Chapman is from Old English ceap, which led to the words ‘chap,’ ‘cheap’ and ‘chop’ (as in ‘chop and change.’)

Chapron see CAPRON.

Charlton (Eng) Someone who came from one of the several places so-named because it was a ‘settlement of free peasants.’

Charter see CARTER.

Chasselove see LOVE.

Chatham (Eng) Descendant of someone who originally came from one of the places so-named because it was a ‘homestead near a forest.’

Chatterton (Eng) Probably someone who came from a place named Chadderton, ‘settlement near a hill.’

Chatterley, the name made famous by D.H. Lawrence in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, has much the same meaning. Lawrence was presumably being ironic when he gave his heroine the first name Constance.

Chaucer, Chauser (Eng) Occupational name of a maker of leather leg-wear. Ernest Weekley disliked complicated explanations of a name when a simple one was available, and he agreed that the evidence for the origin of this name from French chauceor ‘hose-maker’ was convincing. He nevertheless suggested that some families of this name might have an ancestor who was a chauffecire, literally a ‘heat wax.’ Some English writers (though only from the 17th century onwards) used the term ‘chafe-’ or ‘chaff-wax’ to describe the Chancery official who prepared wax that was used to seal official documents. Weekley also suggested that a Chaucer, Chauser might have been a ‘chalicer,’ a maker of drinking cups or goblets. Of these various possibilities, ‘hose-maker’ remains by far the most likely.

Chaulk see CHALK.

Chauser see CHAUCER.

Chaytor see CATER.

Cheater, Chetter (Eng) Occupational name of an official escheater. He supervised the reversion of estates to the feudal lord when a tenant died without heir. In many cases, surnames accidentally resemble normal words, but in this instance a Cheater really deserved his name, inasmuch as the verbs escheat and cheat were at one time interchangeable. The development of a new meaning for cheat, namely to ‘deprive someone of something by deceit,’ was a reflection on the dishonesty of the medieval officials. However, Weekley thought that in some instance this name might be a variant of CATER.

Cheeper see CHAPMAN.

Cheesewright, Cheesright, Cherrett, Cherritt, Chessman, Chesswright, Cheswright (Eng) Occupational name for a maker/seller of cheese.

Cheever, Cheevers, Chevers, Chivers (Eng) Occupational name of a goat-herd (from French chevre, ‘goat’), or a nickname for someone who was thought to be goat-like in behaviour.

Chegwyn, Chegwidden, Chegwin (Cornish) Descendant of someone who originally came from a place named because of its ‘white house.’

Cherrett, Cherritt, Chessman, Chesswright see Cheesewright.

Chesterton (Eng) Someone who came from a place so-named because it was a ‘settlement near a Roman camp.’

Cheswright see CHEESEWRIGHT.

Chetter see CHEATER.

Chevalier, Cavalier, Chevallier (Eng) A ‘knight,’ commenting on the fact that he rode a cheval ‘horse.’ This was probably an occupational name for someone who worked for a knight. The noblemen themselves usually had names linked to estates.

Chevers see CHEEVER.

Chilton (Eng) Someone who came from a place so-named because it was a ‘settlement with children.’

Chipman, Chipper see CHAPMAN.

Chivers see CHEEVER.

Cholmondeley, Chambly, Cholmeley, Chumley, Chumbly (Eng) Descendant of someone who originally came from the Cheshire place, so-named because it was ‘Ceolmund’s wood.’

Weekley remarks that it is ‘curious’ that a name of this type (ie a very ordinary transferred place name) should have ‘acquired an aristocratic flavour.’

Lower, in his Patronymica Britannica, pauses to say: ‘I cannot refrain from reprobating the curt and absurd pronunciation of this name – Chulmley or Chumley. Strange that some of our most aristocratic families, who would not willingly concede one jot of their dignity in other respects, should be willing to have their ancient names thus nicked and mutilated. Why should the ST JOHNS submit to be Sinjen’d, the MAJORIBANKS to be Marchbank’d, the FITZ-JOHNS to be Fidgen’d, or the CHOLMONDLEYS to be Chumley’d? Why should the contractions of illiterate “flunkeys” be accepted in the places of fine old chivalrous sounds like those?’ See MARJORIBANKS.

Chopin, Choppen, Choppin, Chopping (Eng, French) Nickname for a heavy drinker. Old French chopiner meant ‘to tipple,’ the verb being derived from a liquid measure called a chopine, ‘the quantity held in a large ladle.’ In France the name also led to Chopine, Chopinel, Chopinnet. Another Old French word chopin ‘heavy blow’ could also have led to this surname, indicating someone who was violently pugnacious.

Chrisp, Chrispin see CRISP.

Christian, Christ, Christey, Christie, Christin, Christine, Christison, Christy (Eng) Descendant of Christian, a given name of obvious meaning. Christ is a rare form of this name, likely to cause problems for its bearers.

Mr Jay F. Christ, of the University of Chicago, reports that he soon discovered that having a visiting card which simply said “J. Christ,” or signing his name in that way, could cause offence.

Christmas, Chrismas (Eng) Descendant of someone born during the Christmas season.

A Surrey publican of this name is said to have thrown a midsummer ‘Christmas party,’ inviting all those who shared his surname to come along for a free drink.

Christy see CHRISTIAN.

Chubb (Eng) A nickname derived from the fish, which is known to be short, fat (chubby) and sluggish. See BUGG.

Chumley, Chumbly see CHOLMONDLEY.

Churchard see CHURCHYARD.

Churchill (Eng) Descendant of someone who came from any of the places, especially in the West Country, which bear this name because of a ‘church on a hill.’

Churchyard, Churchard (Eng) Occupational name of a man who worked in a churchyard or indicating an ancestor who lived near one.

Chuzzlewit (Eng) This is a well known name because of Dickens’s Martin Chuzzlewit. Dickens managed to make it look like a corrupt form of a place-name containing the common Old English element ceosol ‘gravel, shingle.’ He had rejected along the way a number of other possibile names, such as Sweezleden, Sweezleback, Sweezlewag, Chuzzletoe, Chuzzleboy, Chubblewig and Chuzzlewig. In the novel occurs the passage: ‘Then Martin is your Christian name?’ said Mr Pinch thoughtfully. ‘Of course it is,’ returned his friend: ‘I wish it was my surname, for my own is not a pretty one, and it takes a long time to sign. Chuzzlewit is my name.’

There is also a discussion in the novel about the family’s history. Toby Chuzzlewit is asked ‘Who was your grandfather?’ to which he replies ‘The Lord No Zoo.’ This is offered as proof that the family is connected to ‘some unknown noble and illustrious House.’

Clapham (Eng) Descendant of someone who originally came from one of the places so-named because it was a ‘homestead on or near a hillock.’

Clark, Clarke, Clarkin, Clarkson, Clarkstone, Clarson, Clerk, Clerke (Eng) Occupational name of a man, usually a member of a minor religious order who had not taken vows of celibacy and was therefore able to marry, who performed secretarial duties. Later the name came to mean any literate man (in a period when most people, at all levels of society, could neither read nor write). Many of the clerics or clerks, as we would now call them, were in fact only semi-literate by modern standards, often employing their own idiosyncratic spelling systems. Nevertheless, the frequency with which the name now occurs shows that it had high status and was borne proudly as a family name. Some compound names contain ‘clerk’ as an element. BEAUCLERK is a Norman name that describes a ‘handsome cleric’ or one who had especially good handwriting. BUNCLARK was a bon clerc ‘good priest.’ MAUCLERC, by contrast, (also recorded as MANCLARK and MOCKLER) was a ‘bad priest or clerk.’

Andrea Newman, in An Evil Streak, writes: ‘Christopher Clark – the very name has a fine solid English ring to it. Lacking the affectation of a final ‘e,’ it suggests the courage of its own convictions. Insert the prefix ‘Dr’ and you have a pillar of society, the dependable middle-class professional man, dedicated to doing good and making money, and seeing no contradiction between the two.’

A curiosity about the name Clark is that it appears in correct sequence in the Periodic Table. Elements 17–19 inclusive are Cl (chlorine) Ar (argon) and K (potassium). See DUCK.

Clay, Claye, Clayer, Clayman (Eng) Occupational name for someone who worked in a claypit.

Claybrook, Claybrooke (Eng) Descendant of someone who originally came from the Leicestershire place, so-named because of its ‘clayey brook.’

Claydon, Clayden (Eng) Descendant of someone who originally came from one of the many places so-named because it was on a ‘clayey hill.’

Claye, Clayer, Clayman see CLAY.

Claypole, Claypool (Eng) Descendant of someone who originally came from the Lincolnshire place, so-named because of its ‘clayey pool.’

Clayton (Eng) Someone who came from one of the several places so-named because it was a ‘settlement on clayey soil.’

John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, is otherwise known as Tarzan in the stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Clement, Clemans, Clemence, Clemens, Clemenson, Clements, Clementson, Clemerson, Cleminson, Clemm, Clemmans, Clemmens, Clemmett, Clemmey, Clemmitt, Clemmow, Clemons, Clemonts, Clempson, Clemson, Climance, Climey, Climpson, Clyma, Clymer (Eng) Descendant of Clement, from a Latin word meaning ‘merciful.’ The name is mentioned only once in the Bible, but it was the name of an early saint and several popes.

Clerke, Clerke see CLARK.

Clifton (Eng) Someone who came from one of the several places so-named because it was a ‘settlement on a hill slope.’

Climance, Climey, Climpson see CLEMENT.

Clocksmith see SMITH.

Clog (Eng) Occupational name of a clog-maker. Names like PATTEN and PATTIN belong here, pattens being a kind of clog worn especially by ecclesiastics.

Clout, Clouter, Cloutman, Cloutt (Eng) Occupational name of someone who used ‘clouts’ or ‘patches’ to repair holes in clothes or utensils.

Clyma, Clymer see CLEMENT.

Cobham (Eng) Descendant of someone who originally came from one of the places so-named because it was ‘Cobba’s or Coffa’s homestead.’

Cock, Cockarill, Cockerell, Cockerill, Cocking, Cocklin, Cockling, Cockrell, Cockrill, Cocks, Cox, Coxe, Coxen, Coxon (Eng) Comparing a young man to a cockerel gave rise to one of the commonest nicknames in medieval times. We might still say that such a person was acting in a ‘cocky’ way. A cock was also much used as a house sign in the days when most people were illiterate, and the numbering of houses was not yet usual. Cock could therefore refer to someone who lived ‘at the sign of the Cock.’ In words like ‘haycock,’ cock means a ‘heap, small hill.’ The word in this sense could have been used as a nickname for a fat man. The fact that there is a type of small ship’s boat called a ‘cock’ means that the name could have referred to someone who was professionally involved with it. Other possible derivations are from a ‘cook,’ or from Welsh coch ‘red,’ or from an Old English personal name Cocca, the meaning of which might be almost any of the above. It is almost impossible, clearly, to say that a family bearing a form of this name derives it from a particular source. One meaning which is not possible is ‘penis,’ since cock only acquired this slang meaning long after the surname-formation period.

Basil Cottle mentions the Coxe spelling only to say that it is ‘very rare and affected.’

Thackeray had long before commented, in Cox’s Diary: ‘Mr Coxe Coxe (that’s the way, double your name, and stick an “e” to the end of it, and you are a gentleman at once). ‘

Codner, Corden, Cordner, Cordon, Cordwent, Corwin (Eng) Occupational name of a ‘cordwainer,’ a leather-worker who took his name from the Spanish town of Corduba, where the leather was made from tanned goat-skins. In the Middle Ages he would have been employed by the wealthy to make shoes.

Cohen, Coen, Cohan, Cohn (Jewish) From Hebrew kohen ‘priest.’

Cointance see QUAINTANCE.

Colcock see NICHOLAS.

Coldtart see COLT.

Cole see NICHOLAS.

Coleman, Colman, Coulman (Eng, Irish) Irish families of this name had an ancestor named Colmán, a diminutive form of Columb, from Latin columba ‘dove.’ The name was very popular in the Ireland of the Middle Ages, thanks to various saints named either Columba or Columban. In an English context the name refers to the occupation of a charcoal burner, or to the servant of a man named Cole.

Colin, Colkin, Coll, Collard, Colle, Collens, Collerson, Collet, Collete, Collett see NICHOLAS.

Collar, Colleer, Coller see COLLIER.

Colley, Collie (Eng) Nickname for a person with ‘coal-black’ hair.

Collier, Collar, Colleer, Coller, Colliar, Colliard, Collyear, Collyer, Colyer (Eng) Occupational name of a charcoal burner.

Coleman can also have this meaning.

Collin, Collins, Collinson, Collison, Collisson, Colls, Collyns see NICHOLAS.

Collyear, Collyer see COLLIER.

Colman see COLEMAN.

Colt, Coldtart, Coltart, Colter, Coltman, Coult, Coultate, Coulthard, Coulthart, Coultman (Eng) Occupational name of a colt-herd, though Colt may occasionally be a nickname for someone who behaved like a colt.

Colyer see COLLIER.

Comfort, Cumfort (Eng) Nickname of someone who provided comfort, probably in the form of support and encouragement. Names of similar meaning are SOLACE and SOLLAS. In some instances Comfort is a later development of Comport, formerly a place name in Kent and Surrey.

Comper (Eng) A reference to someone who was a gossip.

Compton (Eng) Someone who came from one of the several places so-named because it was a ‘settlement in a narrow valley.’

Coningsby, Conningsby (Eng) Someone who came from a place so-named because it was the ‘king’s settlement.’

Connor, Connors, O’Conchor, O’Conor, O’Connor, O’Connour (Irish) Descendant of Conchobhar, a Gaelic personal name of uncertain meaning. Suggestions as to it significance range from ‘meddlesome,’ ‘dog desiring’ or ‘dog-lover,’ ‘wolf-lover,’ ‘high will.’

Samuel Lover writes in Handy Andy: ‘The rider was Edward O’Connor; and he was worthy of his name – the pure blood of that royal race was in his heart, which never harboured a sentiment that could do it dishonour, and overflowed with feelings which ennoble human nature, and make us proud of our kind.’

Constant, Constans, Contant, Coutant, Coutans (Eng) Complimentary nickname for someone considered to be ‘steadfast, faithful.’

Cooksey (Eng) Descendant of someone who came from the Worcestershire place of this name, ‘Cucu’s island.’

Cooper, Cooperman, Copper, Coupar, Couper, Cowper, Cupper (Eng) Descendant of someone who made wooden tubs and casks.

An American woman, Ellen Donna Cooperman, who owned a Long Island feminist film company, attempted in 1978 to have her surname legally changed to Cooperperson. She claimed that the new version of her name would ‘more properly reflect her sense of human equality.’ The New York State Supreme Court refused to allow the change on the basis that it would lead to an avalanche of similar demands, Manson to Peoplechild, etc. A lower court had previously ruled against Ms Cooperman, saying that the proposed change would hold the women’s movement up to ridicule.

Coopersmith see SMITH.

Cope see CAPE.

Copestake, Capstack, Capstick, Coupstak (Fre and Eng) Occupational name of a stake-cutter. The first part of the name represents French couper ‘to cut.’

Coppell, Coppayl, Cupples, Curpel, Curtpeil (Eng) Nickname for a man with short hair, from Old French curt peil.

Copper see COOPER.

Copperfield see STANSFIELD.

Coppersmith (Eng) An occupational name of obvious meaning.

Corden, Cordner, Cordon, Cordwent, Corwin see Codner.

Corte see COURT.

Cosier (Eng) Occupational name of a cobbler.

Cotter, Coterel, Cotman, Cottier (Eng) A villager who lived in a cot or cottage. Those of higher social class were husbonds ‘householders.’

Coule, Coules, Coull see NICHOLAS.

Coulman see COLEMAN.

Coult, Coultate, Coulthard, Coulthart, Coultman see COLT.

Counter (Eng) Occupational name for a ‘keeper of accounts.’ He may also have been concerned with taxes.

Coupar, Couper see COOPER.

Coupstak see COPESTAKE.

Court, Corte, Courtman, Courts, Curt (Eng) Two separate names have blended here. These forms could indicate someone who worked at a manorial court, but they could also be a nickname for a ‘short’ man.

Richard Court, who died in 1791, had been a blacksmith, as his epitaph reveals:

My Sledge and Hammer lie Reclin’d,

My Bellows too have lost their Wind;

My Fire is out, and Forge decay’d,

And in the Dust my Vice is laid.

Coutant, Coutans see CONSTANT.

Covington (Eng) Someone who came from a place so-named because it was the ‘settlement of Cova’s people.’

Cowle, Cowles see NICHOLAS.

Cowper see COOPER.

Cox, Coxe, Coxen, Coxon see COCK.

Crabbe, Crab, Crabb, Crabbie, Crabs, Crabtree (Eng) The form Crabtree makes it clear that these names could sometimes refer to crab-apple trees, or to their fruit. Even then, given the fondness of our ancestors for nicknames drawn from Nature, the name was likely to refer to someone’s ‘sourness.’ If the reference was to the crustacean, a comment was probably being made on someone’s shambling gait, his ‘crab-like’ movement.

Mrs Carol Crabb reported to Woman magazine that the midwife who brought her new baby to be fed commented: ‘Here you are, Mrs Crabb, your little lobster.’ Mrs Crabb was not amused.

The ‘lobster’ remark will remind avid readers of Charles Dickens of the incident in Nicholas Nickleby, when Nicholas falls in love with an unknown girl. He asks Newman Noggs to follow her and find out who she is. When Newman returns he announces: ‘The name’s Bobster. I remember it by lobster.’ Nicholas is taken aback and can only say: ‘That must be the servant’s name.’ He is later greatly relieved to discover that Noggs has followed the wrong girl, and that the object of his affections is really Madeline Bray.

Crackston see HAMILTON.

Craft, Crafts see CROFT.

Craig, Cragg, Craggs, Craigie, Craik (Scot) Descendant of someone who lived near a rugged mass of rock, a crag.

Crakebone see BRISBANE.

Crane (Eng) Nickname presumably commenting on a man’s long legs. See GREWCOCK.

There is a well-known literary bearer of this name in Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: ‘The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his person. He was tall, but exceeedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weather-cock, perched upon his spindle neck, to tell which way the wind blew.

Thomas Wolfe also comments on the name in The Web and the Rock: ‘Nebraska Crane was a fellow that he liked. That was a queer name, sure enough, but there was also something good about it. It was a square, thick, muscular, brawny, browned and freckled, wholesome kind of name, plain as an old shoe and afraid of nothing, and yet it had some strangeness in it, too.’

Crapper see CROPPER.

The word crap, ‘excrement’ or ‘defecate’, is not derived from this name, in spite of Thomas Crapper’s invention of the flush toilet. There was a word crappe in Middle English which referred to the ‘residue, dregs, chaff,’ the meaning of which was extended.

Craswall, Crasswell, Craswell, Crassweller see CRESWELL.

Crawcour (Eng) A name which indicates Norman descent. Weekley explained it as a form of a common French place name, Crévecoeur ‘heartbreak.’ The reference is to land which is heartbreaking for the peasant because it is infertile.

In Ann Vickers, a novel by the American writer Sinclair Lewis, the following occurs: ‘The name Crévecoeur sounded aristocratic. Ann looked it up in the dictionary and announced to Pat, impressively, that it really meant ‘heartbreak’ and was guaranteed to be romantic. But Pat looked it up in an even bigger dictionary and bawdily announced to Ann that crévecoeur also meant ‘a French variety of the domestic fowl, heavily crested and bearded, and having a comb like two horns.’

Crawford, Crawforth (Eng) This is a common place name, indicating a ford where crows gathered. Bearers of the name had an ancestor living in such a place in the Middle Ages.

Creighton, Crichten, Crichton, Crighton (Scot) Someone who came from a place so-named because it was a ‘settlement near a boundary.’

James Crichton (‘Admirable Crichton’) of Clunie was a Scottish prodigy in the 16th century. Allusive use of his name sometimes occurs, as when Thomas Hughes writes in Tom Brown’s Schooldays: ‘He was the Crichton of our village boys. He could wrestle and climb and run better than all the rest.’ J.M.Barrie later made Bill Crichton butler to Lord Loam in his play The Admirable Crichton.

Creswell, Carswell, Casewell, Casswell, Caswall, Caswell, Caswill, Craswall, Crasswell, Craswell, Crassweller, Cressall, Cressel, Cresswell, Criswell, Kerswell, Kerswill (Eng) Descendant of someone who originally came from one of the many places so-named because because of its ‘stream with watercress.’ These various spellings occur at the place-name stage, Old English coerse ‘watercress’ having developed in different dialectal ways.

Even when a spelling has become theoretically fixed in its surname form, variations are still likely to occur. A Mr Cresswell of London complained some years ago in a letter to the Daily Mail that he had been addressed as Mr Blackwell, Crestfall, Chessman and Watercress.

Crewther see CROWTHER.

Crichten, Crichton, Crighton see CREIGHTON.

Crisp, Chrisp, Chrispin, Crepin, Crespin, Crespy, Cripin, Crippen, Crippes, Cripps, Crips, Crispe, Crispin (Eng) Nickname for a man with curly hair, or descendant of a man named Crispin (which also means ‘curly-haired’).

Crock, Crockard, Crocker, Crockman, Crocks, Croker (Eng) Occupational name of a potter.

Croft, Craft, Crafts, Crofter, Crofts, Cruft, Crufts (Eng) A ‘croft’ is a small farm or enclosed field. The word became a place name, especially as Crofton, and any of the places so-called could have led to the surname, indicating someone who originally came from there.

Charles Cruft (1852–1938) was born in London. He became a salesman with a company making dog-cakes and saw dog shows as a useful way of selling the product. He organized the first London dog show in 1886 and was guaranteed success when it was patronized by Queen Victoria. However, he ordered that the dogs she had entered were to be judged strictly on their own merits.

Croisier, Croizier see CROZIER.

Croker see CROCK.

Cromb, Crumb, Crump (Eng) Nickname for a man with a stooping posture.

Crompton (Eng) Someone who came from a place so-named because it was a ‘settlement near a bend in the river or road.’

Crook (Eng) Nickname for a man with a crooked back.

Crookshank, Crookshanks see Cruikshank.

Cropper, Crapper (Eng) Occupational name of a cropper, mower, sickler.

The English entertainer and singer Lynda Crapper adopted ‘Marti Caine’ as her stage-name.

Croser see CROZIER.

Cross, Crosse, Crossman (Eng) Descendant of someone who lived near a roadside cross, or one that stood in a market place.

Crosser see CROZIER.

Crossman see CROSS.

Crother, Crothers see CROWTHER.

Crousier, Crouzier see CROZIER.

Crowther, Crewther, Crother, Crothers, Crowder (Eng) Occupational name of someone who played the ‘crowd’ or ‘rote,’ a kind of fiddle used by medieval minstrels, from Welsh crwth, Irish cruit. In Scottish Gaelic this led to MacChruiteir which in turn gave MACCHRUTTER, MACWHIRTER.

Crozier, Crosier, Croisier, Croizier, Croser, Crosser, Crousier, Crouzier (Eng, Fre) Occupational name of a maker or seller of crosses; or a man who carried a cross of bishop’s crook in ecclesiastical processions; or from residence near a roadside cross. Professor Dauzat has also suggested that the name could refer to someone living at a place where roads crossed.