Цель работы. Изучить историю образования английских фамилий. Изучить лексический аспект фамилий.

A name – if the party had a voice

What mortal would be a Bugg by choice,

As a Hogg, a Grubb or a Chubb rejoice,

Or any such nauseous blazon?

Not to mention many a vulgar name

That would make a doorplate blush for shame

If doorplates were not so brazen.

Thomas Hood

Фамилия – вид антропонима. Наследуемое официальное именование, указывающее на принадлежность человека к определённой семье.

Most people of today’s population in England, the United States and Canada, Australia, and in fact the whole English-speaking world had their beginning long ago in England.

There are many ways in English family names began, so many that there are whole books about them.

About a thousand years ago there were very few people living in the British Isles. Towns and villages were very small, and in the countryside people lived far from each other. Because there were so few people, almost everyone had only one name. A name such as John, David or Mary was all that was needed.

As time went on, more and more people appeared in the towns and countryside of Britain. To distinguish (различать, отличать) one John by name from another people began to add a family name to the first names. When “John’s son” was made into one word, “Johnson”, it was used as a family name. There are many examples of “son” names, such as Davidson, Wilson, Peterson, Dickson, Williamson.

The Scottish “Mac” also meant “the son of”, so Macadam meant “the son of Adam”. The same can be said about the Irish “O” – O’Neil meant “the son of Neil”.

After the Norman conquest people in England began to use the Norman way of showing who a person’s father was: they added “fitz” to make Fitzwilliam, Fitzpatrick and other family names of this kind.

Later still family names came from the kind of work done by people. Many family names first began when people were described as John the Smith (кузнец), John the Farmer (фермер), John the Baker (пекарь) – or, more simply, John Baker.

One way to distinguish between one person and another was to say where they lived. In this way places also became family names. For example, if John lived near the water, he was called “John at water” or simply “John Atwater”. Another John who lived by the brook (ручей) could be described as “John Brook”, and “John Fields” was not the same John as the one who lived by the bridge. Other names of this kind are Hill, Rivers, Waters, Forest.

In many towns and villages in Britain today you can see how many of English family names began. Even the word “Town” is a well-known family name, and “Hampton”, which is another family name, means “village”.

Yet another way to distinguish between one “John” and another was to give them nicknames (прозвище). Nicknames are very personal. They describe physical or other characteristics and served in the past to distinguish one man, and then his family, from another. “Strong”, “Short” and “Long” are only a few of the many names which first came from nicknames.

Some surnames are words for colours: Black, Brown, White or Green.

Children take their father’s surname and wives usually take their husband’s names.

Возникновение и развитие фамилии как общественно-исторической и языковой категории тесно связано с главными этапами социально-экономического развития человечества. До определенной ступени развития человечество не имело фамильных имен. В XI-XII вв. наиболее распространенными мужскими именами были William, Robert, Ralph, Richard. В конце XIV в. имя John было примерно у 25% всего мужского населения Англии. Дж. Хьюз, исследовавший английские фамилии, пишет, что если бы в то время где-нибудь на рынке в Уэльсе было произнесено имя John Johnes, то на него откликнулись бы либо все, либо никто: «все, потому что каждый подумал бы, что зовут его; никто, потому что к имени не было добавлено никаких особых отличительных характеристик».

В том случае, когда личное имя не в состоянии было индивидуализировать того или иного члена языкового коллектива, прибегали к помощи дополнительного индивидуализирующего знака-прозвища.

В результате первой английской переписи, данные которой были сведены в кадастровой «Книге судного дня» (Domesday Book) в 1085-86 гг., многие прозвища получили документальное закрепление (регистрацию).

Процесс превращения прозвища в наследственное фамильное имя был сам по себе продолжителен и неодинаков для разных социальных групп населения и для разных районов страны. ............