The Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland
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The Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland. Follow us for updates on events, publications and other name-related news. https://www.snsbi.org.uk/index.html
Image: Distribution and frequency of Fox in 1881 (darker colours indicate higher numbers) © Steve Archer, British 19th Century Surname Atlas, version 1.20 (2003–2015)
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Image: Distribution and frequency of Fox in 1881 (darker colours indicate higher numbers) © Steve Archer, British 19th Century Surname Atlas, version 1.20 (2003–2015)
By the end of the 19th century over 100,000 people may have borne a surname that was derived from an ancestor with red hair.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
By the end of the 19th century over 100,000 people may have borne a surname that was derived from an ancestor with red hair.
To be red-haired in Britain and Ireland has always attracted attention, much of it unwelcome, even though for some powerful people, such as Elizabeth I, it could contrarily be a source of admiration. No wonder it produced so many nicknames that grew into hereditary surnames.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
To be red-haired in Britain and Ireland has always attracted attention, much of it unwelcome, even though for some powerful people, such as Elizabeth I, it could contrarily be a source of admiration. No wonder it produced so many nicknames that grew into hereditary surnames.
This frequently became /f/ after back vowels in Modern English, hence the anglicized spelling Gough, modelled on words like cough. There are 8,765 bearers of the name in Archer’s British 19th Century Surname Atlas.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
This frequently became /f/ after back vowels in Modern English, hence the anglicized spelling Gough, modelled on words like cough. There are 8,765 bearers of the name in Archer’s British 19th Century Surname Atlas.
The final consonant, spelled -ch, was the sound found in Welsh bach and Scottish English loch (described by linguists as a voiceless velar fricative and represented as /x/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet).
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
The final consonant, spelled -ch, was the sound found in Welsh bach and Scottish English loch (described by linguists as a voiceless velar fricative and represented as /x/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet).
In Wales, the red-heads of the native population were singled out with the Welsh nickname coch, goch ‘red’. The form goch (a mutated form) is normal after a personal name.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
In Wales, the red-heads of the native population were singled out with the Welsh nickname coch, goch ‘red’. The form goch (a mutated form) is normal after a personal name.
Others will be descendants of native Irish families whose Irish name, Mac an tSionnaigh ‘son of the fox’, had been translated into English as Fox.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Others will be descendants of native Irish families whose Irish name, Mac an tSionnaigh ‘son of the fox’, had been translated into English as Fox.
As for Ireland, there were 5,484 persons called Fox in the census of 1911. Some of these may be descendants of immigrant Englishmen or Scots from the 16th century onward.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
As for Ireland, there were 5,484 persons called Fox in the census of 1911. Some of these may be descendants of immigrant Englishmen or Scots from the 16th century onward.
This surname has 15,210 bearers in the 1881 and is first recorded in about 1270 in Berwickshire and earlier still in Norfolk (1168–75), Oxfordshire (1225) and Northumberland (1231).
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
This surname has 15,210 bearers in the 1881 and is first recorded in about 1270 in Berwickshire and earlier still in Norfolk (1168–75), Oxfordshire (1225) and Northumberland (1231).
In Scotland the name is not on record before 1567 in Roxburghshire and 1622 in Brechin (Angus). It may be an introduction from England, for the native Scots equivalent is Todd, from Middle English and Older Scots todd(e) ‘fox’.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
In Scotland the name is not on record before 1567 in Roxburghshire and 1622 in Brechin (Angus). It may be an introduction from England, for the native Scots equivalent is Todd, from Middle English and Older Scots todd(e) ‘fox’.
Outnumbering them all is Fox, with 27,777 individuals so named in the 1881 census of England, Wales and Scotland.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Outnumbering them all is Fox, with 27,777 individuals so named in the 1881 census of England, Wales and Scotland.
Nicknames form the fourth most common type of surname, many of them originating from words for animals, birds and fish, mostly because of their resemblance to some human characteristic of appearance or behaviour.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Nicknames form the fourth most common type of surname, many of them originating from words for animals, birds and fish, mostly because of their resemblance to some human characteristic of appearance or behaviour.
As well as empowering us with the knowledge that multilingualism and multiculturalism are as much a part of our past as they are of our present, place-names have an important role to play as we face the challenge of renewing our relationship with our natural environment and living more sustainably.
October 16, 2025 at 1:37 PM
As well as empowering us with the knowledge that multilingualism and multiculturalism are as much a part of our past as they are of our present, place-names have an important role to play as we face the challenge of renewing our relationship with our natural environment and living more sustainably.
Given this close relationship between Northern Brittonic and Gaelic, it is easy to see how Northern Brittonic place-names were adopted and adapted by Gaelic-speakers during the period in which Gaelic became the main community language in this part of what is now Scotland.
October 16, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Given this close relationship between Northern Brittonic and Gaelic, it is easy to see how Northern Brittonic place-names were adopted and adapted by Gaelic-speakers during the period in which Gaelic became the main community language in this part of what is now Scotland.
Like the Northern Brittonic word, this Gaelic word is also used in numerous place-names referring to the kind of lush-green vegetation to which its related Northern Brittonic word referred in the name Glasgow.
October 16, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Like the Northern Brittonic word, this Gaelic word is also used in numerous place-names referring to the kind of lush-green vegetation to which its related Northern Brittonic word referred in the name Glasgow.
Its elements are glas ‘green’ and ceu ‘hollow’, and the name means ‘green hollow’, referring to the area near Glasgow Cathedral where the Molendinar Burn flows through a deep, natural hollow. The Northern Brittonic word glas has a related word in Gaelic: glas.
October 16, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Its elements are glas ‘green’ and ceu ‘hollow’, and the name means ‘green hollow’, referring to the area near Glasgow Cathedral where the Molendinar Burn flows through a deep, natural hollow. The Northern Brittonic word glas has a related word in Gaelic: glas.
Glasgow has an established Gaelic form, Glaschu, but this is in fact an adaptation of an older name of Northern Brittonic origin.
October 16, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Glasgow has an established Gaelic form, Glaschu, but this is in fact an adaptation of an older name of Northern Brittonic origin.
The Norman Conquest brought a radical upheaval to all levels of English society. The English adoption and adaptation of the Norman baptismal name stock was both a public and an intimate process by which the ruled and their rulers began to develop a new, continentally English identity.
September 21, 2025 at 9:06 AM
The Norman Conquest brought a radical upheaval to all levels of English society. The English adoption and adaptation of the Norman baptismal name stock was both a public and an intimate process by which the ruled and their rulers began to develop a new, continentally English identity.
As such, Hitchcock has two stories to tell. It exemplifies the primarily patriarchal nature of family life in England’s long history, and it shows how personal naming reflects and manages social change.
September 21, 2025 at 9:06 AM
As such, Hitchcock has two stories to tell. It exemplifies the primarily patriarchal nature of family life in England’s long history, and it shows how personal naming reflects and manages social change.
But the old usages are still with us, largely unrecognised, in patronymic surnames that had become hereditary before 1500, including rhyming ones such as Hitchcock.
September 21, 2025 at 9:06 AM
But the old usages are still with us, largely unrecognised, in patronymic surnames that had become hereditary before 1500, including rhyming ones such as Hitchcock.
It is a different matter with pet-forms, which tend to be less stable over time. Since the 16th century many of the medieval English pet-forms have been progressively abandoned.
September 21, 2025 at 9:06 AM
It is a different matter with pet-forms, which tend to be less stable over time. Since the 16th century many of the medieval English pet-forms have been progressively abandoned.
Most of the Norman R- names, including Richard, Robert and Roger, have continued as English first names at all levels of society up the present time, a span of around 900 years. It shows how strong traditions can be in the naming of children.
September 21, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Most of the Norman R- names, including Richard, Robert and Roger, have continued as English first names at all levels of society up the present time, a span of around 900 years. It shows how strong traditions can be in the naming of children.