Description

By English surnames we mean surnames borne by the population of the United Kingdom, regardless of their origin. The term surname comprises both the notions of byname and hereditary family name. As the title of the book suggests, the emphasis lies on the atlas proper or, speaking in grammatical terms, on aspects of content. The second area, aspects of expression, can only be touched upon here. The atlas encompasses over 240 maps of surname variants, and more than 150 tables and figures that validate the findings or serve as basis for further investigation on local, occupational surnames and nicknames. Each surname is discussed with regard to etymology, historical background, dialectology and geographic distribution and based upon data extracted from telephone directories, census records and parish registers ranging from the 16th to the 21st century.