Billed on its cover as “the complete companion to tracing your name's history”, the lexicographer John Ayto's new book is a little masterpiece of economy with a strongly populist slant: the surnames of footballers David Beckham and Wayne Rooney, and the film star George Clooney all feature prominently in the promotional blurb. Ayto has followed such distinguished predecessors in onomastics as Dictionary of Surnames (Hanks and Hodges, 1988) with a clear and accessible reference work. His Encyclopedia is aimed at a wide audience, of generalists as well as genealogists – albeit an Anglophone one, with a focus on the British Isles.
A concise introduction gives a history of surnames from their appearance in the late Middle Ages, the term “surname” first appearing in 1375. Ayto briefly traces the inputs of Celtic, Anglo‐Saxon, Anglo‐Norman and Scandinavian influences, as well as the emergence of new surnames derived from central or eastern European, Latin American and Asian sources. The author identifies five broad evolutionary paths for surnames used by English‐speaking peoples: from the place of origin (as with the names “Brownrigg” or “Bridges”); metronymic or patronymic relationship with parents (“Leeson”, “MacDonald”); categories of job or office held (“Baylis” deriving from bailiff, for example); nicknames (“Redhead”), and deliberate invention, often from original north‐central European surnames which are sometimes Jewish in origin. It is a fascinating topic, and if one has a criticism of the book it is that this prefatory essay is simply too brief; a bibliography of further reading would certainly have aided the researcher.
The organization of the encyclopedia itself is clear and uncluttered, the text being laid out in two columns per page. Ayto has selected some 7,000 English‐language surnames, from the familiar to the less common, like Stuyvesant. Titles of entries are listed in boldface type, with variants of spelling being grouped together under the most common form. Thus, for example, Alan, Alleyn and Allyn all appear under Allen. Cross‐referencing to the dominant variant is extensive throughout, as with the name Brayshaw being described as “a different form of Bradshaw”. Each entry gives an attempt at a literal meaning with a note of the name's linguistic origins. For example, the surname Mercer is given as meaning “trader, dealer in textiles” and is described as being Middle English, from the Old French word mercier. Key facts that the author judges as significant – for instance that “Smith” is the commonest name in Britain and other, named countries – appear as italicised points with a “star” symbol. Ayto also lists, in bold, and defines examples of compound uses of surnames, such as (under Smith) the Adam Smith Institute and Mr Smith Goes to Washington (film). Lastly, in parentheses, he seeks to give at least one example of a famous real or fictional person bearing each surname. It is here that the Encyclopedia is most self‐consciously “modern”, with a predilection for the contemporary: under my own surname, for instance, the snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan (born 1975) rates a mention, but the rather more venerable actress Maureen O'Sullivan does not.
The Encyclopedia of Surnames is an excellent quick reference guide which will be of great interest to the general reader, although perhaps less useful to the serious scholar. This said, it is very reasonably priced and it will be a useful and much appreciated acquisition for any public library.
