Until about 1100 A.D. most people in Europe had only one name. This is still true in some primitive regions today. As the population increased it became awkward to live in a village wherein 1/3 or more of the male population was named John. And so, to distinguish one John from another John a second name was needed. There were four primary sources for these second names. They were a man's occupation, his location, his father's name, or some peculiar characteristic. Here are some examples:

Occupation: The local house builder, food preparer, grain grinder, and suite maker would be named respectively, John Carpenter, John Cook, John Miller, and John Taylor.

Location: The John who lived over the hill became knows as John Overhill, the one who dwelled near a stream might be called John Brook or John Albrook.

Patronymical: Many of these surnames can be recognized by the termination---son, such as Williamson, Jackson, etc. Some endings used by other countries to indicate "son" are Armenian's---ian, Dane's and Norwegian's---sen, Finn's---nen, Greek's---pulos, Spaniard's---ez, and Pole's--wiecz. Prefixes denoting "son" are the Welsh---Ap, the Scot's and Irish-Mac, and the Norman's---Fitz. Note that the Irish O's incidentally denotes grandfather.

Characteristic: An unusually small person might be labeled Small, Short, Little or Lytle. A large man might be named Longfellow, Large, Lang, or Long. Many persons having characteristics of a certain animal would be given the animal's name. Such as a sly person might be called Fox, a good swimmer, Fish, a quite man, Dove.

Stay tuned for the next article that explains how your name lead to your "Coat of Arms"...........