Diskutujemo ovih dana cesto o nacionalnosti, istorijskim dogadjajima koji su obelezili nase zivote, o onome sto nas veze i sta nas spaja.. Nekoliko meseci unazad podstaknuta jednim dogadjajem razmisljam ko mi sve moze biti rod- a da to i ne znam.. jer ova prezimena- po kojima se "trazimo" najcesce su po potrebi bila menjana.. a i imena takodje--

 Iznenadlila sam se prijatno pre par meseci kada sam saznala da sam u daljem srodstvu sa jednom osobom koja mi je bila simpaticna od pocetka (sto bi rekli- "na prvi pogled") .. pomislila sam ima li ti neke veze sto smo u srodstvu pa mi je odmah bila simpaticna?, Mozemo li se nekako prepoznati- onako na "prvi vajb/osecaj" .. ?

 p.s. Podestila sam se lepih clanaka sa history portala- - (pogledajte - mozda i vi pokusate  da sami napravite svoje "porodicno stablo"

Evo ovaj o imenima deo-doprineo je da shvatim kako je moguce da je neko tako blizak meni- ziveo je u neznanju da mi je rod...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before surnames

'What is in a name? Very much if the wit of man could find it out.' Whoever penned this well known saying undoubtedly had it right - in England alone there are around 45,000 different surnames - each with a history behind it.

The sources from which names are derived are almost endless: nicknames, physical attributes, counties, trades, heraldic charges, and almost every object known to mankind. Tracing a family tree in practice involves looking at lists of these names - this is how we recognise our ancestors when we find them.

Before the Norman Conquest of Britain, people did not have hereditary surnames: they were known just by a personal name or nickname.

'Many individuals and families have changed their names or adopted an alias at some time in the past'

When communities were small each person was identifiable by a single name, but as the population increased, it gradually became necessary to identify people further - leading to names such as John the butcher, William the short, Henry from Sutton, Mary of the wood, Roger son of Richard. Over time many names became corrupted and their original meaning is now not easily seen.

After 1066, the Norman barons introduced surnames into England, and the practice gradually spread. Initially, the identifying names were changed or dropped at will, but eventually they began to stick and to get passed on. So trades, nicknames, places of origin, and fathers' names became fixed surnames - names such as Fletcher and Smith, Redhead and Swift, Green and Pickering, Wilkins and Johnson. By 1400 most English families, and those from Lowland Scotland, had adopted the use of hereditary surnames.

Most Saxon and early Celtic personal names - names such Oslaf, Oslac, Oswald, Oswin and Osway ('Os' meaning God) - disappeared quite quickly after the Norman invasion. It was not fashionable, and possibly not sensible either, to bear them during those times, so they fell out of use and were not often passed on as surnames. However, some names from before the Norman Conquest survived long enough to be inherited directly as surnames, including the Anglo-Saxon Cobbald (famous-bold).

New surnames continued to be formed long after 1400, and immigrants brought in new ones. Many Irish and Highland Scottish names derive from Gaelic personal names, as do those of the Welsh, who only began to adopt the English system of surnames following the union of the two countries in 1536. This is all too far back to be helpful in researching family origins, although the study of a particular surname may be useful when the investigation points to an area where it appears often.

Many individuals and families have changed their names or adopted an alias at some time in the past. This could be for legal reasons, or simply on a whim, but points up the fact that although the study of surnames is vital in family history research, it is all too easy to place excessive emphasis on them.

Your surname may be derived from a place, such as Lancaster, for example, or an occupation, such as Weaver, but this is not necessarily of relevance to your family history. You could be in the position of the prime minister, Tony Blair, whose ancestor acquired his name from adoptive or foster parents.

Another complication is that sometimes two different names can appear to be the same one, being similar in sound, but different in origin. The fairly common name of Collins is an example of this. It comes from an Irish clan name, but it is also one of several English surnames derived from the personal name Nicolas.

Thus you can see that only by tracing a particular family line, possibly back to the 14th century or beyond, will you discover which version of a surname is yours. It is more important to be aware that both surnames and forenames are subject to variations in spelling, and not only in the distant past. Standardised spelling did not really arrive until the 19th century, and even in the present day variations occur, often by accident - how much of your post has your name spelt incorrectly?

Next 

6. Find out more Family History: How to Get Started

Research Timeline

 primer:

2. Change of name

Many settlers in Britain over the years have decided to anglicise their name. Although many records have been lost or destroyed, name indexes and some original records can be found at The National Archives.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Nation's Scrapbook

Add your family snaps to this growing archive. Victorian grannies, Edwardian children, wartime Britain ... send them in!

Theme highlight: Celebrations, World War Two, Animals... 

 

 The Historical Association