The Origin of Surnames
by Peter Ashby

Many Americans can trace their ancestors to England. English social, economic, religious and geographic conditions in shaped the family unit in many ways. This is a breif history of Eastern England in particular, and England in general and the impact of events there upon surnames originating in the region.
Your author's family tree starts with ancestors that can be identified originated in eastern England, from around the city of Norwich, the county of Norfolk. This is fen country. Fen means bog or marsh and the definition is specific to four eastern English counties, Norfolk, Huntingdonshire, Lincolnshire, and Cambridgeshire. These four counties are known as East Anglia. Norwich is located 110 miles northwest of London, nearby, but not on the coast of the English Channel. Norwich is situated on the junction of the Ware and Wensum Rivers, and ashas been so typical throughout early history, the rivers were a source of food, transportation and fresh water for the earliest settlers. Another reason to consider East Anglia as it is the probable origin of your author's name. Virtually all English names ending in 'by' originated here.
Inhabitants East Anglia date back 5,000 years, to the Neolithic period, the end of the Stone Age, the earliest known period of the cultural evolution of mankind. Flint pits located at Grimes Graves, near Thetford, a village 46 miles west of Norwich, were a source of stone tools which characterized the period. Prior to this period, humans had remained essentially unchanged for 500,000 years as hunter-gathers. Between 10,000 and 8,000 years ago the explosion of social, economic and cultural improvements began. Organized food production and the formation of large villages depended on stone tools, which during the later Stone Age were ground rather than flaked. Good flint was mined, roughed out into axe and adz blades and traded over distances of several hundred miles.
This was prior to the discovery of iron, and the men were iron and carried wooden sticks, they were replaced by wooden men carrying iron sticks.
The Roman empire got to England late, but still had a major impact, arriving after the rise of the Christian era. The peace imposed by the Romans allowed populations to increase and trade to prosper. Roman England was organized as a Federation, allowing City-States like Norwich, which is pronounced Nor-ich, to flourish. The town was originally called North-wic. Society was still primarily agricultural and wealth produced through land was the only kind recognized by the upper class. Most commerce was local, what external trade there was consisted of life's necessities, grain, olive oil, etc.. Roman law was generally adopted by the local society further assisting trade, and much of it served as a basis for American law as well, such as habeas corpus, caveat emptor, etc..
Illiteracy was common, there were few books. The Romans built roads, but they were primitive by today's standards and the roads were not well maintained after the Romans left.
By the third century AD, Rome was in decline. The peace ended, social and political upheaval prevailed for 200 years. Trade and population decreased. Large estates supported by slaves became too expensive to maintain. Estates were broken up and leased to freedmen. Christianity helped reverse this decline. Christian churches were the prime social and political authority of the age. Led by highly motivated and highly educated priests the Roman Catholic Church became the wealthiest and largest infrastructure in Europe. This is why the Pope lives in Rome.
By the 600s Roman influence in England was declining. The Britons were driven out by Scots, Picts, Jutes, Saxons and Angles (who occupied East Anglia). Many Britons took refuge in the mountains of Wales and western France (Brittany). The church was driven out as well and had to be re-introduced, starting in Kent and quickly spreading to East Anglia. By 670 most of England was again Christian. East Anglia became one of eight earldoms.
East Anglia was invaded again in the 800s by the Danes, and was ceded to them in 878. Norwich was a medieval town, and it was destroyed by the Danes during the invasion and then rebuilt. It had its own mint in 925, and its cathedral was consecrated in 1101, having been started over 100 years before. The cathedral remains today one of the three best preserved in England. The Danes would greatly influence the origin of the Ashby name.
All of England was retaken by the Normans in 1066. Feudalism prevailed, replacing organized government. Local lords, in the case of Norwich, an Earl, were the only source of social stability and they accepted title to property from land owners who had no way to protect themselves, in exchange for protection provided by the lord. Wars were prevalent for 300 years and it was during this period most English castles were built. The Norman castle in Norwich was built during this era and is still a tourist attraction.
Thomas arrived with the Normans and William the Conqueror in 1066. The family can be traced back in detail to the late 1300s, but informal family history describes the evolution of his family name. After the Conquest, Thomas was rewarded with vast lands in the north of England. He was made Master of the Hunt, made a baron, given charge of the royal parks and was known thereafter as Thomas de Parke.
Trade and commerce declined and agriculture dominated society. Everything was home- made. Life was course, brutal, smelly, dirty and impious and remained so into the 1500s. By then nationalism, peace, money, credit and capitalism combined to create a middle class. Before then, there were only two classes, noblemen and serfs. During this period serfs were freed by the opportunities of commerce, emigration and more liberal religious thought. The development of the compass improved trade opportunities. Books, paper and the printing press facilitated the arts, literature and social exchange.
By the late 1500s and into the 1600s Norwich was second in size only to London, and had over 20,000 population. It was known for its cloth making, especially wool. Wool production was of vital importance to England wherever trade was allowed, it was the country's primary commodity in world trade.
East Anglia suffered through a great depression immediately following 1600. Large estates were divided up into small plots. Wool production sustained the entire area, kind of a medieval version of the current theory of trickle-down economics. Emigration from England peaked during this period of great social, political and religious unrest that existed. The emergence of the American colonies at the same time provided a perfect alternative. After the American Revolution to 1812 emigration was reduced to a trickle, and never boomed again until after World War II.
The Industrial Revolution had started about 1715 and lasted 100 years. Cottage industry workers migrated to the cities to find jobs, and merchant shipping revived.

The Chinese have used hereditary family names for over 2000 years. However in Europe, this practice did not become popular until after the Crusades, which occurred during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. Prior to this time, there were so few people that the use of last names was unnecessary. People were known only by their given name. As property records became necessary (as freedmen were allowed to be property owners) and towns became more populated, additional names were required to tell people apart. Tax collection also made last names a necessity, tax debt required a specific identification so that the debt could be associated with a specific person.
Surnames developed over many years and had a variety of sources. Many people were known by their profession. John the blacksmith would be called John the smith. Often when last names were chosen, John the smith became John Smith. Peter the son of John (the Englishman), as he would have been known in the 10th century, became Peter Johnson. This is why there are so many surnames ending in son. In other languages the suffix designating "the son of" was different, of course. In Danish it was sen, in Spanish it was ez, in Irish or Scot the prefix Mac denoted the-son-of, and the prefix of O' indicates the-grand-son-of. Smith, copper (a barrel maker), baker, farmer, etc. all became common surnames.
In a similar manner, people who moved to a new location, an unusual occurrence in these times, might be known as John of Boston, or John Boston. The average serf working for a lord with only one manor, might never meet more than 200 people or travel more than 50 miles from his birthplace during his lifetime. People from Wales are known as Welsh, or Welshmen. Not everyone living in Wales would be called Welsh, but someone who moved somewhere else, would be called a Welshman in his new location. Welsh also means foreigner in Scottish, so the name could have just been used to identify a new-comer in a Scottish neighborhood.
People also acquired surnames from nick names, often descriptive in nature. Red haired English people acquired the name Redd, in France they would be Roux, in Germany it would be Rhody, in Irish it would be Rogan or Flynn, in Italian it would be Rossi or Rossa, in Spanish it would be Rubio or Ruffo, in Russian it would be Rudin, in Scotland it would be Russet or Rust, and so on.
Many common names evolved from several different meanings. The name Ashby seems to have several possible derivations. It means literally by-the-ash. Ash is a light colored, tough, fibrous wood, commonly used to make baseball bats, at least where they are still made of wood. Second growth ash is used for this purpose. It is a common tree growing in many temperate climates. In medieval times ash was used to make spears.
Aski is an old Norse term for ash tree farm and this could be the primary origin of the name. However we know that the Ashby family name bearers originated in Norfolk, which makes it more likely that the origin of our Ashbys is Danish. Remember that the Danes occupied East Anglia during the centuries when sur-names were coming into vogue. Aesc is Saxon for ash tree. A suffix of "by" usually signifies that a name is Danish and most English names ending in "by" originated in East Anglia. In 1154 the name was spelled Essebye. By 1262 it became Esseby. By 1350 it was Asheby and became Ashby during the 17th century.
There were numerous towns, districts, farms and churches named Ashby in East Anglia. There were at least two towns named Ashby in Norfolk County in 1066. Some still exist. Before 1604 Ashby was a separate parish in Norfolk, containing 16 people. In 1845 it was a single farm, located 1 mile southeast of Thurne, which is located on the intersection of the Thurne and Bure Rivers, 11 miles north of Yarmouth.
Someone could acquire the name of Ashby if they were from a town, castle or parish called Ashby or if they individually lived near ash trees, but this later possibility is less likely. Names of similar origin evolved in other countries speaking other languages, Ashby is an English word. In German it would be Ascher or Aschbie; in French or Spanish it would be Fresno and in Italian it would be Frassino.
The given name of Ashley is derived from the name of Ashby and also means by-the-ash, or literally a wood where ash grow. Names beginning with Ash mostly are derived from similar origins. Ashcom (ash tree valley), Ashcroft (small field near ash trees), Ashford (a ford near ash trees), Ashwood (woods of ash trees), Ashmore (lake near ash trees) and Ashworth (homestead near ash trees) are some examples.
One of the earliest listings of the Ashby name in the Norfolk area includes a Robert de Ashebi, who submitted a plea to the Justice of the King in Norfolk, in 1200. A listing of wills recorded in Norwich include a John Asby in 1482; Thomas Aisbye in 1517, and John Asshby in 1505. The variety of spellings is not too unusual, as has been noted most people during this era were illiterate, names were spelled phonetically by parish priests, town clerks, etc. when the names were copied onto church registers, county records, etc.. Other spelling variations of the name uncovered were: Asebi, Essibi, Essebi and Assebi. A great majority of people were illiterate until the 1700s. The person doing the recording spelled names the way he thought they should be spelled. Even most parish clergy were illiterate until the 1500s when training centers were established for their education.
There are over 80 cities and towns in England with a prefix of Ash. Most of the early records of the surname of Ash come from places that were heavily wooded at the time, Hampshire and Sussex were two such counties mentioned. A Ralph de Asche was mentioned in the Sussex Subsidy Rolls in 1296 and William Tasche was made a freeman of York in 1599. Sussex and Hampshire are south of London, adjacent to East Anglia.
The use of middle given names among English colonialists, especially Quakers, was religiously avoided, until the early 1700s. British nobility commonly used multiple given names and many commoners did everything they could not to act like the nobility. This practice greatly complicates the tracing of ancestors.

A short explanation of the derivation of some family names illustrates the varieties of the process:
Andrews= Andrew's man, a disciple of Jesus, St. Andrew is the patron Saint of Scotland and Russia
Avery=Latin avis or aviarius, a bird, one who kept birds; someone from one of many French villages named Evreux, meaning on the waters or the French avoir meaning to have and to hold; from the English avery meaning granary or a place where forage for the King's horses was stored, from the Latin avena meaning oats
Bailey=a chief magistrate of a barony in England or Scotland
Baker=person in charge of the lord's oven, or communal village oven, commercial bakeries are over 4000 years old, much older than last names
Brown=nick-name for person with red or dark hair or complexion; German brun means the same ( just as today we refer to blondes and red heads)
Brock=a Jewish abbreviation or acronym for Ben Rabbi Kalman; an English resident of the Brock River in Lancashire, someone who resembled a badger, from the Old English brocc, considered to be an unpleasant animal in the Middle-Ages; also a dweller upon recently cleared and enclosed land
Cain=from the Welsh Keina, a woman's name, "the beautiful one"; also a derivation of the Hebrew word Cohen, meaning priest (Hebrew has no vowels and many corruptions of the word evolved)
Capron=old northern French, caprun, meaning cape, a nick-name for someone who wore a particularly distinctive head-dress
Carpenter=from the French carpentier, a wood worker
England=ing is Old English for meadow, thus meadow land
Franklin=an English ranking between that of freeman and knight, someone who was not of noble birth but held substantial land for which they were required to pay little rent and were required to render little or no service to the lord or king
Fuller=from the occupational surname, dating from the 12th century: one who fulls cloth, or cleans cloth.
Martin=nick-name of the given name of Martinus, from Mars, the God of War; St. Martin of Tours was the patron saint of France, thus Martin is the most common name in France
Miner=mineral miner, usually coal for use by blacksmiths
Murphy=O'Murchadha, Irish for grandson of the sea warrior
Park(e)=French parc, means enclosure, someone who lived nearby; or an English park keeper
Priest=a nick-name denoting office or someone acting like or resembling a priest, often with a derogatory meaning referring to someone holier-than-thou
Sousa=Portuguese sausa, a salt marsh, someone living near a marsh; John Philip Sousa the composer, was the grandson of a Portuguese immigrant
Thompson=son of Thom or Tom, short for Thomas
Turner=French tornour, a lathe operator, one who turns
VanValkenburg= van is a Dutch preposition meaning of or from, thus it indicates someone from a Dutch town or district, or the origin of the name itself rather than the person; Valkenburg is a town in southern Netherlands; valkenburg in Dutch means falcon-woods; Valken probably is derived from the legendary Norse maiden, Valkyrie, who rode through the skies searching for heros in battle
Watkins=Wat-Kin was a pet name or nick-name for Walter
White=Saxon and Old English hwita, or hwît, meaning a man with fair hair or complexion; from Old Welsh gwydd, a light colored wood, especially from the Isle of Wight which was named after the same tree; Middle English whit, a white haired or fair complexioned person
Williams=a corruption of William; from Belgic guild-helm, a gilded helmet or the Welsh welhelm meaning shield, there was an early Williams family seat located in Wales

References:
Baxter, Angus, In Search of Your British and Irish Roots, New York, William Morrow & Co, Inc., 1982.
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland, New York, New York Public Library, 1962.
Boatner, Mark Mayo III, The Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, New York, David McKay Company Inc., 1976.
Collins, Ross William, The History of Medieval Civilization in Europe, Boston, The Athenaum Press-Ginn & Co., 1936.
Daniel, Clifton, Editorial director, Chronicle of America, Mount Kisco, New York, Chronicle Publications, 1989.
Foster, Joe, Stemmata Britannicia, 8 volumes, London, 1877.
Freeman, J. W., Discovering Surnames, Their Origin and Meaning, Haverfordwest, England, Shire Publications Ltd., 1968.
Glyn, Anthony, The British, A Portrait of a People, New York, G. P. Putnams Sons, 1970.
Grolier Corp., Encyclopedia Americana, 30 volumes, volume 28, Danbury, CT, Grolier Corp., 1992.
Ketz, Louise Bilebof, The Dictionary of American History, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1976, 7 vol..
McHenry, Robert, Editor in Chief, The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Chicago, Encyclopedia
Britannica Inc., 1993, volume 1.
Reader, W. J., Victorian England, New York, G.P. Putnams Sons, 1964.
Redale, David, Discovering Your Family Tree, A Pocket Guide To Tracing Your English Ancestors, Haverfordwest, Shire Publications Ltd., 1970.
Smith, Elsdon, New Dictionary of American Family Names, New York, Harper & Row, 1951.
Smith, Elsdon C., American Surnames, New York, Chilton Book Company, 1969.