(Fwd) Top 50 Scottish Surnames

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Steven C. Perkins

(Fwd) Top 50 Scottish Surnames

Legg inn av Steven C. Perkins » 21 nov 2004 15:51:02

FYI.

Steven C. Perkins

------- Forwarded message follows -------

-= BEGIN forwarded message =-

Subject: Re: Top 50 Scottish Surnames
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.britain

Halmyre <nospam@this.address> wrote:

The Sunday Herald issued a supplement 'Roots' on Sunday, in which it
gives the history of the top 50 Scottish surnames. In decreasing order
of popularity they are:

1. Smith

2. Brown
3. Wilson
4. Campbell
5. Stewart
6. Thomson
7. Robertson
8. Anderson
9. MacDonald
10. Scott
11. Reid
12. Murray
13. Taylor
14. Ross
15. Muir
16. Watson
17. Morrison
18. Paterson
19. Young
20. Mitchell
21. Walker
22. Fraser
23. Miller
24. Munro
25. Gray
26. Henderson
27. Hamilton
28. Johnstone
29. Duncan
30. Graham
31. Ferguson
32. Kerr
33. Davidson
34. Bell
35. Cameron
36. Sutherland
37. Gordon
38. Hunter
39. Allan
40. MacKenzie
41. Grant
42. Simpson
43. MacKay
44. MacLean
45. MacLeod
46. Black
47. Russell
48. Marshall
49. Wallace
50. Gibson.



------- End of forwarded message -------

Barrie J. Wright

Re: (Fwd) Top 50 Scottish Surnames

Legg inn av Barrie J. Wright » 23 nov 2004 01:01:01

An interesting list, Steven.

I suspect that this list reflects reproductive success rather
than providing a measure of how old a Scots name is.

For instance, Smith comes top, but my own name WRIGHT,
definitely old Scottish present in Stirlingshire in the 1300s,
does not appear. Both are very commmon in England.
Does anyone have a comparable list for England?

Since both names refer to very common trades -the
Anglo-Saxon Wright being more related to working in word
and often combined as in Wainwright, Cartwright - I would
expect it to appear almost as much as Smith, based on
surname origins.

Black also appears at 46 -a version of Blacksmith?
Since trade names are not much represented, did the Scots
use this name association much less than the English?

Has anyone else a comment?

Barrie Wright

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steven C. Perkins" <SPerkins@interaccess.com>
To: <GEN-MEDIEVAL-L@rootsweb.com>
Sent: Monday, November 22, 2004 1:13 AM
Subject: (Fwd) Top 50 Scottish Surnames


FYI.

Steven C. Perkins

------- Forwarded message follows -------

-= BEGIN forwarded message =-

Subject: Re: Top 50 Scottish Surnames
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.britain

Halmyre <nospam@this.address> wrote:

The Sunday Herald issued a supplement 'Roots' on Sunday, in which it
gives the history of the top 50 Scottish surnames. In decreasing order
of popularity they are:

1. Smith
2. Brown
3. Wilson
4. Campbell
5. Stewart
6. Thomson
7. Robertson
8. Anderson
9. MacDonald
10. Scott
11. Reid
12. Murray
13. Taylor
14. Ross
15. Muir
16. Watson
17. Morrison
18. Paterson
19. Young
20. Mitchell
21. Walker
22. Fraser
23. Miller
24. Munro
25. Gray
26. Henderson
27. Hamilton
28. Johnstone
29. Duncan
30. Graham
31. Ferguson
32. Kerr
33. Davidson
34. Bell
35. Cameron
36. Sutherland
37. Gordon
38. Hunter
39. Allan
40. MacKenzie
41. Grant
42. Simpson
43. MacKay
44. MacLean
45. MacLeod
46. Black
47. Russell
48. Marshall
49. Wallace
50. Gibson.



------- End of forwarded message -------

______________________________

Gordon Johnson

Re: (Fwd) Top 50 Scottish Surnames

Legg inn av Gordon Johnson » 27 nov 2004 16:07:41

Barrie J. Wright wrote:
An interesting list, Steven.

I suspect that this list reflects reproductive success rather
than providing a measure of how old a Scots name is.

For instance, Smith comes top, but my own name WRIGHT,
definitely old Scottish present in Stirlingshire in the 1300s,
does not appear. Both are very commmon in England.
Does anyone have a comparable list for England?

Since both names refer to very common trades -the
Anglo-Saxon Wright being more related to working in word
and often combined as in Wainwright, Cartwright - I would
expect it to appear almost as much as Smith, based on
surname origins.

Black also appears at 46 -a version of Blacksmith?
** Black normally refers to hair colour, also White and Grey/Gray,

though could also refer to a dark visage. There is also confusion with
another OE word meaning pale!. Green is another matter, referring to a
family living near a village green (there are other similar locational
surnames).
Wright in Scotland simply refers to a "maker" usually with a descriptor
in from - wheelwright, cartwright, shipwright,millwright etc. A simple
"wright" normally meant a worker in wood - a joiner,carpenter, etc.
Gordon Johnson.
<kinhelp.co.uk>

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