Posted on 08/30/2006 6:28:00 PM PDT by blam
How British names conquered the world
By Charles Clover
(Filed: 31/08/2006)
The biggest concentration of people called Salt is in Stoke-on-Trent, as is the greatest number of people called Pepper, according to a new study which maps the spread of British names across the globe.
The number of people with either surname is roughly equal so the reason for this is likely to be that both Salts and Peppers derived their names from people who made pots for condiments in the Potteries, according to the authors of the study, published at the Royal Geographical Society's annual conference yesterday.
What the study of 20,000 British surnames over five generations has enabled researchers to do for the first time is to track the migration of people with British names and to see where the largest concentration of people of that name lives.
Now anyone may do this by logging on to the website www.spatial-literacy.org.
The name Blair, for example, originated in the west of Scotland. The number of Blairs in Britain has grown by 50 per cent since the 19th century to 12,473 today. They are outnumbered, however, by their 27,379 cousins in the United States, who are concentrated in Kentucky. There is also a respectable concentration of 2,581 Blairs in Tasmania.
The name Beckham originated in Walsingham, Norfolk, and although it cannot be traced in Australia, descendants of Beckhams cluster today in Northland, New Zealand, and Mississippi.
A database of more than 100 million people's names in the United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada was used to track the British migration.
The authors of the study say that the size and extent of the big diasporas of British people living abroad, such as prisoners and settlers to Australia, and Scottish and English colonialists in Ireland, were unknown until the latest developments in information technology.
The authors have devised a ranking of the most adventurous and least adventurous names. There are relatively few Yorkshire names, such as Broadbent, Midgeley or Illingworth, in the United States.
This may be because Yorkshire has generally been prosperous and not subject to major disruptions such as the Highland Clearances.
The Welsh are less travelled than the Scots, the English or the Irish.
The most travelled names, not surprisingly, tend to be from Scotland, Cornwall or some of the grimmer northern towns such as Bradford or Halifax.
There are, for instance, fewer McDonalds in Britain now than in 1881 and more in the United States, where the largest concentration is in Mississippi.
Richard Webber, visiting professor at University College, London, and one of the authors of the study, said: "The conclusion we've come to is that people think people migrate randomly to another country whereas in fact migration flows are very specific. They tend to move from one part of one country to another part of another country at a specific time — Scots went to Tasmania in the 1890s, for instance, and people from Cornwall to Wyoming in the 1860s."
The reasons for names disappearing extend beyond migration. Researchers compiled a list of "most embarrassing" names, which people have tended to change.
There were 3,211 Cocks in Britain in 1881 — when most were centred around Truro — but only 826 in 1996. Likewise, the number of Handcocks, Smellies, Haggards, Slows, Willys, Piggs, Hustlers, Nutters and Glasscocks has fallen.
Conclusions can also be reached about Christian names. The upper classes, defined by educational achievement, have tended to stick to the same Christian names over time — the top 10 being Felicity, Katherine, Phillippa, Penelope, Elizabeth, Hilary, Giles, Annabel, Alastair and Jeremy. The lower classes, defined by education, are more likely to choose newer names. Tracey or Tracy, topping the list, followed by Michelle, Lee, Darren, Jason, Donna, Annie and Kelly.
The influence of British names extends outside English speaking countries. Nelson and Wellington are both used in Portugal and Brazil — Nelson Mandela's Christian name is thought by researchers to be a faint echo of Portuguese influence in South Africa.
There are many Byrons — used as a Christian name — in Greece. Further discoveries, however, will have to wait for the researchers to widen their database.
That would be Trafalgar, not Trafalger...
Lamb
their=there.....sheesh....
You can see how the storms in Europe washed up a lot of treasure on the shores of this country.
Napoleon needs money to finance his conquests? He sells off the French holdings in the New World. Voila! Louisiana Purchase. That empire tries to recover some of its lost ground? Maximillian is made emperor of Mexico. The French are defeated? Maximillian's head rolls.
James I suppresses the Puritan "Roundheads"? Separatists move first to Holland, then finally to the New World. Bingo! Plymouth Rock! A czar needs troops to fight off Napoleon's expansionist dreams? A bunch of German expatriates leave Odessa and Belorussia and move to North and South Dakota.
One of the reasons I love history. It's alive everywhere around you.
This Englishman traces his line back 9,000 years. It's amazing, this guy hasn't moved more than 2 miles from his anscestoral homeland in 9,000 years. (My ex-wife said I didn't like to go anywhere, lol.)
Descendent Of Stone Age Skeleton Found (Cheddar Man - 9,000 Years Old)
AH, I mis-spelled Trafalgar : 40 lashes with a wet noodle...
All hail the Union Jack! It still flies over Fort Ligonier (a reconstituted British 18th century fort from the French and Indian War Years circa 1760) in Somerset County PA. The site is looking forward to reenactments at October's Fort Ligonier Days celebration.
I guess if I take a genetic test, it might clear up matters. :) Pity that my genes are so diluted, by a host of other contributors. :)
That was a darn fun thread. One of my favorites.
Yup. Mine too. You can access it by clicking on my name then click on link to see it and many of my other favorites.
Now THAT'S shrinkage....
Not to pile on or anything, but I think the Cock surname was shortened sometime in the past.
Personally, I'm still childishly amused by foreign surnames which are hilarious in English. I'd post some Asian ones, but I don't wanna get banned again. ;')
That's interesting. We in the US often forget our english heritage : our house of representatives is their house of commons, our senate is their house of lords, our president is their king, and both democracies. And too, they(Tony Blair)have been our strongest ally in iraq/afghanistan. The masonic order originated in scotland/england in 1725 and it was masons, primarily, who founded the US, which is where we get our american word for the royal "we": United States = US. Our violent breakup 230 years ago has long since healed, witness our valiant effort to save england during WWII. We may be two people separated by a common language(Bernard Shaw)but the english people are family in an otherwise hostile world, all hail the Union Jack! But try flying the MEXICAN flag over Fort Ligonier and see what happens...
Size doesn't matter.
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