The Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland
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The Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland. Follow us for updates on events, publications and other name-related news. https://www.snsbi.org.uk/index.html
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November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
More encouragingly, however, Ramsey in Cambridgeshire has a spelling of Hramesige from around 1000, and this looks like a secure case of hramsa ‘wild garlic’.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
More encouragingly, however, Ramsey in Cambridgeshire has a spelling of Hramesige from around 1000, and this looks like a secure case of hramsa ‘wild garlic’.
The difficulty is, however, that the medieval spellings often leave it unsure whether the root is hramsa, ramm ‘a ram (male sheep)’, hræfn ‘raven’, or a man’s name Hræfn. Hence Ramsey in Essex is explained by Victor Watts as ‘Hræfn, raven, ram’s or wild garlic island’.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
The difficulty is, however, that the medieval spellings often leave it unsure whether the root is hramsa, ramm ‘a ram (male sheep)’, hræfn ‘raven’, or a man’s name Hræfn. Hence Ramsey in Essex is explained by Victor Watts as ‘Hræfn, raven, ram’s or wild garlic island’.
Hramsa seems to underlie many English place-names, for instance qualifying a woodland term in Romsley in Worcestershire, and valley terms in Ramsden in Oxfordshire and Ramsbottom in Lancashire.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Hramsa seems to underlie many English place-names, for instance qualifying a woodland term in Romsley in Worcestershire, and valley terms in Ramsden in Oxfordshire and Ramsbottom in Lancashire.
A more distant relative of creamh is Old English hramsa, the base for dialect words for the plant including rams, ramps and ramsons.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
A more distant relative of creamh is Old English hramsa, the base for dialect words for the plant including rams, ramps and ramsons.
This Irish name produces a variety of anglicized versions such as Crophill and Crewhill in Co. Kildare; Crawhill in Co. Sligo; Craffield in Co. Wicklow; Cranfield and Crankill in Co. Antrim; and Cranfield in Cos. Down and Tyrone.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
This Irish name produces a variety of anglicized versions such as Crophill and Crewhill in Co. Kildare; Crawhill in Co. Sligo; Craffield in Co. Wicklow; Cranfield and Crankill in Co. Antrim; and Cranfield in Cos. Down and Tyrone.
However, by far the most common place-name referring to creamh is Creamhchoill ‘wild-garlic wood’, mentioned above.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
However, by far the most common place-name referring to creamh is Creamhchoill ‘wild-garlic wood’, mentioned above.
The importance of creamh ‘wild garlic’ to early Irish communities is also reflected in numerous townland names. The most direct reference is An Chreamhach, the forerunner to Knavagh in Co. Galway, which means simply ‘the place abounding in wild garlic’.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
The importance of creamh ‘wild garlic’ to early Irish communities is also reflected in numerous townland names. The most direct reference is An Chreamhach, the forerunner to Knavagh in Co. Galway, which means simply ‘the place abounding in wild garlic’.
The striking effect readily explains the proliferation of the Irish word creamhchoill ‘wild-garlic wood’ in place-names. This is a close compound of creamh ‘wild garlic’ (etymologically related to the English word ramsons) and coill ‘wood’, and it occurs in the names of townlands across the country.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
The striking effect readily explains the proliferation of the Irish word creamhchoill ‘wild-garlic wood’ in place-names. This is a close compound of creamh ‘wild garlic’ (etymologically related to the English word ramsons) and coill ‘wood’, and it occurs in the names of townlands across the country.
Practically overnight, whole swathes of moist, shaded areas – such as the woodlands along the River Liffey in Lucan, Co. Dublin – become carpeted in wild garlic, with its characteristic leaves and unmistakable aroma.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Practically overnight, whole swathes of moist, shaded areas – such as the woodlands along the River Liffey in Lucan, Co. Dublin – become carpeted in wild garlic, with its characteristic leaves and unmistakable aroma.
Nowadays, most of the garlic we use in everyday cooking is imported from the Far East. However, every April or May the Irish countryside (like many parts of Britain) provides an abundant, if vastly underused, native alternative.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Nowadays, most of the garlic we use in everyday cooking is imported from the Far East. However, every April or May the Irish countryside (like many parts of Britain) provides an abundant, if vastly underused, native alternative.
Image: Distribution and frequency of Fox in 1881 (darker colours indicate higher numbers) © Steve Archer, British 19th Century Surname Atlas, version 1.20 (2003–2015)
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Image: Distribution and frequency of Fox in 1881 (darker colours indicate higher numbers) © Steve Archer, British 19th Century Surname Atlas, version 1.20 (2003–2015)
By the end of the 19th century over 100,000 people may have borne a surname that was derived from an ancestor with red hair.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
By the end of the 19th century over 100,000 people may have borne a surname that was derived from an ancestor with red hair.
To be red-haired in Britain and Ireland has always attracted attention, much of it unwelcome, even though for some powerful people, such as Elizabeth I, it could contrarily be a source of admiration. No wonder it produced so many nicknames that grew into hereditary surnames.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
To be red-haired in Britain and Ireland has always attracted attention, much of it unwelcome, even though for some powerful people, such as Elizabeth I, it could contrarily be a source of admiration. No wonder it produced so many nicknames that grew into hereditary surnames.
This frequently became /f/ after back vowels in Modern English, hence the anglicized spelling Gough, modelled on words like cough. There are 8,765 bearers of the name in Archer’s British 19th Century Surname Atlas.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
This frequently became /f/ after back vowels in Modern English, hence the anglicized spelling Gough, modelled on words like cough. There are 8,765 bearers of the name in Archer’s British 19th Century Surname Atlas.
The final consonant, spelled -ch, was the sound found in Welsh bach and Scottish English loch (described by linguists as a voiceless velar fricative and represented as /x/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet).
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
The final consonant, spelled -ch, was the sound found in Welsh bach and Scottish English loch (described by linguists as a voiceless velar fricative and represented as /x/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet).
In Wales, the red-heads of the native population were singled out with the Welsh nickname coch, goch ‘red’. The form goch (a mutated form) is normal after a personal name.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
In Wales, the red-heads of the native population were singled out with the Welsh nickname coch, goch ‘red’. The form goch (a mutated form) is normal after a personal name.
Others will be descendants of native Irish families whose Irish name, Mac an tSionnaigh ‘son of the fox’, had been translated into English as Fox.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Others will be descendants of native Irish families whose Irish name, Mac an tSionnaigh ‘son of the fox’, had been translated into English as Fox.
As for Ireland, there were 5,484 persons called Fox in the census of 1911. Some of these may be descendants of immigrant Englishmen or Scots from the 16th century onward.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
As for Ireland, there were 5,484 persons called Fox in the census of 1911. Some of these may be descendants of immigrant Englishmen or Scots from the 16th century onward.
This surname has 15,210 bearers in the 1881 and is first recorded in about 1270 in Berwickshire and earlier still in Norfolk (1168–75), Oxfordshire (1225) and Northumberland (1231).
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
This surname has 15,210 bearers in the 1881 and is first recorded in about 1270 in Berwickshire and earlier still in Norfolk (1168–75), Oxfordshire (1225) and Northumberland (1231).
In Scotland the name is not on record before 1567 in Roxburghshire and 1622 in Brechin (Angus). It may be an introduction from England, for the native Scots equivalent is Todd, from Middle English and Older Scots todd(e) ‘fox’.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
In Scotland the name is not on record before 1567 in Roxburghshire and 1622 in Brechin (Angus). It may be an introduction from England, for the native Scots equivalent is Todd, from Middle English and Older Scots todd(e) ‘fox’.
Outnumbering them all is Fox, with 27,777 individuals so named in the 1881 census of England, Wales and Scotland.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Outnumbering them all is Fox, with 27,777 individuals so named in the 1881 census of England, Wales and Scotland.
Nicknames form the fourth most common type of surname, many of them originating from words for animals, birds and fish, mostly because of their resemblance to some human characteristic of appearance or behaviour.
October 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Nicknames form the fourth most common type of surname, many of them originating from words for animals, birds and fish, mostly because of their resemblance to some human characteristic of appearance or behaviour.