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A toponymic surname or topographic surname is a surname derived from a
place name Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...
."Toponymic Surnames as Evidence of the Origin: Some Medieval Views"
, by Benjamin Z. Kedar.
This can include specific locations, such as the individual's place of origin, residence, or of lands that they held, or can be more generic, derived from topographic features.Iris Shagir, "The Medieval Evolution of By-naming: Notions from the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem", ''In Laudem Hierosolymitani'' (Shagir, Ellenblum & Riley-Smith, eds.), Ashgate Publishing, 2007, pp. 49-59. Toponymic surnames originated as non-hereditary personal
by-name An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
s, and only subsequently came to be family names. The origins of toponymic by-names have been attributed to two non-mutually exclusive trends. One was to link the nobility to their places of origin and their feudal holdings and provide a marker of their status, while the other relates to the growth of the burgher class in the cities, partly via migration from the countryside. In London in the 13th century, toponymic surnames came to predominate. Also linked to this process was the increased popularity of the names of saints, leading to a reduction in the pool of given names used and the need or personal desire for by-names to distinguish increasing numbers of like-named individuals. Some forms originally included a preposition, such as ''at'' (''ten'' in Dutch, ''zu'' in German), ''by'', ''in'', or ''of'' (''de'' in French and Spanish, '' van'' in Dutch, ''von'' in German), subsequently dropped, as in "de Guzmán" (of Guzman) becoming simply Guzmán. While the disappearance of the preposition has been linked to toponymic by-names becoming inherited family names, it predates this trend. In England, this can be seen as early as the 11th century, and although there is some regional variation, a significant shift away from preposition usage can be seen to have occurred during the 14th century. In some cases, the preposition has coalesced into the name, such as Atwood (at wood) and Daubney (originating as de Albigni, from
Saint-Martin-d'Aubigny Saint-Martin-d'Aubigny () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. History The name of ''Aubigny'' is mentioned under diverse forms in Medieval Latin and in Old French : ''Albignio'' (11th century); ''Albigneio ...
). In the
aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...
societies of Europe, both nobiliary and non-nobiliary forms of toponymic surnames exist, and in some languages a degree of differentiation evolved in their treatment. For nobles, the preposition evolved into a nobiliary particle, and in French, for example, a trend evolved in which non-nobiliary forms tended to fuse the preposition whereas nobiliary forms retained it as the discrete particle, although this was never an invariable practice. Issues such as local pronunciation can cause toponymic surnames to take a form that varies significantly from the toponym that gave rise to them. Examples include Wyndham, derived from
Wymondham Wymondham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, south-west of Norwich off the A11 road to London. The River Tiffey runs through. The parish, one of Norfolk's largest, includes rural areas to ...
, Anster from Anstruther, and Badgerly from Badgworthy. One must be cautious to interpret a surname as toponymic based on its spelling alone, without knowing its history. A notable example is the name of
Jeanne d'Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...
, which is not related to a place called ''Arc'' but instead is a distorted
patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...
(see "
Name of Joan of Arc Due to inconsistent record keeping and different contemporary customs, the name of Joan of Arc at birth is not known for certain. Explanation Joan of Arc did not come from a place called ''Arc'', but was born and raised in the village of Domrém ...
"). Likewise, it has been suggested that a toponymic cannot be assumed to be a place of residence or origin: merchants could have adopted a toponymic by-name to associate themselves with a place where they never resided. In Polish, a toponymic surname may be created by adding "(w)ski" or "cki" at the end. For example,
Maliszewski Maliszewski ( ; feminine: Maliszewska; plural: Maliszewscy) is a surname of Polish-language origin. It is a toponymic surname associated with one of the places in Poland named Maliszew, Maliszewo, or Maliszów. the Lithuanianized version is ...
is a toponymic surname associated with one of the places in Poland named
Maliszew Maliszew is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Mińsk Mazowiecki, within Mińsk County, Masovian Voivodeship The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (provin ...
,
Maliszewo Maliszewo (german: Malschen) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Lipno, within Lipno County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as Cuiavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship or simply Kujawsko-Pomo ...
, or
Maliszów Maliszów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Kowala, within Radom County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Kowala, south of Radom, and south of Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Wa ...
. In
anthroponymic Anthroponymy (also anthroponymics or anthroponomastics, from Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος ''anthrōpos'' / 'human', and ὄνομα ''onoma'' / 'name') is the study of ''anthroponyms'', the proper names of human beings, both individual and co ...
terminology, toponymic surnames belong among ''topoanthroponyms'' (class of anthroponyms that are formed from toponyms).


See also

*
Nisba (onomastics) In Arabic names, a ' ( ar, نسبة ', "attribution"), also rendered as ' or ', is an adjective indicating the person's place of origin, tribal affiliation, or ancestry, used at the end of the name and occasionally ending in the suffix ''-iyy(ah) ...
*
Territorial designation In the United Kingdom, a territorial designation follows modern peerage titles, linking them to a specific place or places. It is also an integral part of all baronetcies. Within Scotland, a territorial designation proclaims a relationship with ...
*
Toponymy Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...


References


Further reading

* David Hey, ''Family Names and Family History'', 2006, {{ISBN, 1852855509 Surname