Surnames

[Katharine]

Split from the 'Nature' topic.


Only loosely connected with nature, but I've always considered myself very deeply rooted in my home area of East Anglia, particularly Suffolk and Norfolk. I work at Sutton Hoo which is a beautiful location overlooking the River Deben, and from the first time I visited a few years ago have always had a feeling of 'coming home'. I had a similar experience when visiting the Anglo Saxon village of West Stow.

Apparently the Welsh have a specific word (I can't remember what) to describe a feeling of belonging to a specific area.

Today I discovered a section on the English Heritage site where I was able to look up surnames in England and it gave the location of the most people of that name live and how many adults were on the electoral role.

I was amazed to find that the surnames connected with my biological family are either in Ipswich or Norwich - obviously our gene pool hasn't travelled far (if at all). Even my married surname is mostly located in Norwich.

Only one surname that I looked up, (which is going back several generations) wasn't located in East Anglia, and that was most prevalent in Bristol - maybe that explains my son's choice to live in Bath - a genetic throwback of feeling of belonging?

[Jomo]

…the Welsh have a specific word (I can't remember what) to describe a feeling of belonging to a specific area.

Is it this one?

Hiraeth is a Welsh word that… seems to be a rather multi-layered word, which includes a different variety of homesickness than what is generally referred to. This kind of homesickness is like a combination of the homesickness, longing, nostalgia, and yearning, for a home that you cannot return to, no longer exists, or maybe never was. It can also include grief or sadness for who or what you have lost, losses which make your “home” not the same as the one you remember

https://sites.psu.edu/kielarpassionblo ... 2/hiraeth/

[Katharine]

I'm not sure, I only heard the word once. I'll be seeing the person who told it to me within the next week or so, so will have to ask them again what it was.

[Moonraker]

Today I discovered a section on the English Heritage site where I was able to look up surnames in England and it gave the location of the most people of that name live and how many adults were on the electoral role.

That's really interesting, Katharine. However, I tried to find the site you mention, and only came up with this after searching:

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/vis ... n-surname/

Could you provide the link where you can look up surnames, please?

[Katharine]

It's in the 'Members' Area, so I don't know if it is accessible to all.

[Katharine]

If you are in the Member's area and type in 'England United' it will bring up the page about the flag all the surnames are on, and then there's a link from there to the name seach.

[Boatbuilder]

This page lets you search but only gives the place where the name is most prominent.

Mine is Wigan, although I was already fairly certain it was that area.

https://namesofengland.english-heritage ... 1647680740

[Moonraker]

Thanks, BB - that worked! Mine is Truro, which makes sense as my ancestors are all Cornish. My wife's is Carlisle, which seems odd, as she isn't aware of any ancestry there.

[Boatbuilder]

My wife's name is from Stoke-on-Trent. (she was born in Cheshire). However, her mother's name doesn't come up, which is not surprising as her father's family originally came from Switzerland.

[Katharine]

Glad you are able to access the info. Obviously it can only tell us where certain names are most common now, and so it's not necessarily proof of our origins, but I think it's quite likely that a lot of people (like my family) have been settled somewhere for many generations.

I think also there's a bit of 'rounding up' with regards to the location too, as I suspect that all the 'Ipswich' surnames probably cover the surrounding smaller towns.

[Barnard]

People with my surname are most common in Tunbridge Wells.

[Courtenay]

Very interesting, thanks, John BB! My surname came up as most common in Truro too, which is also accurate. A few years ago I was attending a Cornish language service at Crowan parish church, just outside Camborne (where my ancestors emigrated from in 1848), and was chatting with some other attendees afterwards; it came up that I have Cornish ancestry (as an Aussie) and they asked what my family's name was. As soon as I said my surname, they told me "Oh yes, that's a very local name!" Obviously the demographics of the Camborne area haven't changed very much in 150 years...

[Boatbuilder]

I know this is keeping this topic 'off-topic' but you might find this interesting, Courtenay. There is also a link at the bottom of the article which might also be useful, which I have included below.

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornw ... es-5189890

https://forebears.io/surnames

[Fiona1986]

Mine comes up as Carlisle which surprised me. I was thinking it would have been one of the many places with that as their name, or as part of their name, but maybe those are all too small. Carlisle is about forty miles from the castle with the name, though!

[Moonraker]

I'm not sure of the accuracy of BB's link - according to that, most of my surname folk come from Newcastle!