britishsurnames.co.uk
Surnames — Dennis J Yancey
Edited September 24, 2020 at 3:16 AM
THE EARLIEST SURNAMES FROM ENGLAND
Is your surname among them??
The Domesday Book was compiled on the orders of William the Conqueror to catalogue the ownership and value of land in the newly conquered territories of England. It was completed in year 1086 AD.
In the 11th century, surnames were still in a state of flux and many people still did not have what we would consider a surname. The surnames that did exist were not necessarily either inherited or passed on to children; in many cases surnames were merely personal nicknames or toponyms and would have varied from generation to generation.
Nonetheless, the Domesday book does record a significant number of people with surnames. Many, like that possessed by the imaginatively named Humphrey Goldenbollocks, have been lost to the mists of time. However, there are also many which we would now recognize.
This is a list of all the surnames mentioned in Domesday which are still current in the UK. If yours is one of them, you have one of the earliest recorded surnames.
Alder
Algar
Alis
Arundel
Ator
Banks
Barn
Baron
Basset
Baynard
Beard
Benne
Benz
Bertram
Bigot
Black
Blond
Blunt
Bold
Bolla
Bolt
Bot
Boy
Brand
Bret
Brian
Brunson
Bushell
Buss
Buxton
Cardon
Cave
Chill
Chipp
Christina
Clack
Clock
Cobbe
Cockerell
Colling
Cott
Crispin
Crist
Daniel
Delamare
Devereux
Doda
Dodson
Dore
Edgar
Edith
Edmund
Edward
Edwin
Emma
Fisher
Fleet
Follet
Foot
Fower
Friday
Frost
Garnet
Gerald
Gernon
Ghost
Goad
Goda
Godwin
Grim
Groat
Hackett
Hard
Harold
Hastings
Hiles
Hoga
Horne
Hugh
Hussey
Illing
Judith
Karlson
Kemp
Lang
Little
Long
Lovet
Male
Malet
Mallory
Mantle
Mapson
Marmion
Mart
Martel
Mason
Milk
Molay
Mouse
Oda
Parker
Parler
Passwater
Peche
Peret
Pet
Pike
Pinel
Pippin
Ralph
Ridel
Roote
Rufus
Sack
Savage
Scullion
Sech
Shield
Silvester
Skipper
Small
Snipe
Snook
Sock
Sot
Starling
Still
Swart
Tabb
Talbot
Thunder
Tilley
Tilly
Tirrell
Tison
Tosti
Trenchard
Tuft
Uva
Vitalis
Warden
White
Whiting
Wilde
William
Wishart
see article:
https://britishsurnames.co.uk/surnames/domesday
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