Bardsley's surname dictionary
In 1901 "A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames with Special American Instances" by Charles Wareing Bardsley, M. A. was published posthumously. It is considered to be the first systematic and rigourous dictionary of surnames to be published. A massive work, Genhound will be publishing the dictionary in small sections throughout the coming year with free access for all visitors to the site.
Abbreviations used
Bapt. Baptismal
Dim. Diminutive
Fr. French
Nick. Nickname
Occup. Occupative
O.E. Old English
Offic. Official
O.F. Old French
Pat. Patronymic
Latin academic abbreviations
v. - vide, ie "see"
q.v. - quod vide, indicating a cross-reference
cf. - confer, ie "compare to"
ibid - Ibidem, latin for "in the same place", used to indicate that the reference for the current item is the same as for the entry above it.
v. infra - vide infra, see below.
& c. - etc.
Bardsley divides the surnames into five basic types:
Baptismal - surnames derived from baptismal or personal (ie first) names
Local - surnames derived from a location - either general e.g. hill, or particular e.g. Lancaster
Nickname - surnames derived from a nickname e.g. Blunt (blonde) and Boore (the boar)
Occupative - surnames derived from an occupation
Official - surnames derived from an official position e.g. Alderman
Bardsley himself admits that distinction between the two latter types is blurred and that they could easily have been placed in a single category.
Conversley, more modern surname dictionaries would split the local category into two separate types - surnames derived from general location descriptions - hill, wood etc and those derived from particular places - Dewsbury, Lancaster etc.
Surnames
Surnames Aa... - Ak...
Surnames Al... - Am...
Surnames An... - Ar...
Surnames As... - Ay...
Surnames Baa... - Bar...
Surnames Bas... - Bee...
Surnames Bel... - Bil...
Surnames Bin... - Blo...
Surnames Blu... - Box...
Surnames Boyce - Bradford
Surnames Bradlaugh - Branwhite
Surnames Brasdefer - Brewster
Surnames Brian - Bringhurst
Surnames Bringman - Broderick
Surnames Broderip - Brownsmith
Surnames Brownswain - Brymer
Surnames Buckett - Bullman
Surnames Bullock - Burke
Surnames Burleigh - Bushby
Surnames Busher - Bywater
Surnames Cabbell - Cammel
Surnames Camp - Carder
Surnames Cardew - Cartwright
Surnames Carus - Caughey
Surnames Caulcutt - Chaloner
Surnames Chamberlain - Charlett
Surnames Charlton - Cheney
Surnames Cherrill - Chimney
Surnames Ching - Churchclerk
Surnames Churchdoor - Clavinger
Surnames Claxton - Clinton
Surnames Clipsby - Cockhead
Surnames Cocking - Coldwell
Surnames Cole - Colvin
Surnames Colwell - Cooker
Surnames Cookman - Cordiner
