Saewulf and Domesday

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Saewulf and Domesday

Legg inn av Gjest » 08 jul 2005 20:58:39

On pages 13 and 14 of his 1967 The Origin of English Surnames, PH
Reaney writes:

A problem of a different kind is that of Solf, Soffe and Sofe, the last
two both pronounced Soaf. It is found in Hampshire between 1541 and
1586 as Solfe, as Sofe in 1592, Souf in 1670, and in 1576 in Wiltshire
as Selfe and Sawffe. It seems to be limited to a small area of the New
Forest and must be a variant of Self, from OE Saewulf 'sea-wolf', which
occurs in DB as both Seulf and Saulf, and in 1249 at Chittoe in
Wiltshire as Soylf (AssW).



This interests me as my great-great grandmother was a Soffe from
Minstead in the New Forest, where the name is concentrated . According
to notes made by my grandfather - which I haven't checked - the
Domesday book credits one Saewulf with ten manors in Hampshire
pre-Conquest. Can anybody with an interest in the early evolution of
surnames suggest whether the Soffes, Selfs etc. are likely to descend
from this Saewulf? Or might the name have been used post-Conquest in
families unconnected to this landowner.

Can any other surnames of this type - based on Saxon/Norse first names
- be traced to Domesday bearers?

Thanks,

Mark

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