A Dictionary of Surnames

by Patrick Hanks, Flavia Hodges

A unique reference work, this international dictionary is a systematic, comparative survey of the origins and meanings of some 100,000 currently used surnames of European origin, as they are presently found throughout the world. With the help of consultant editors in specific
areas--particularly for Jewish, Spanish, and Gaelic names--the authors present information about the language or region in which the surname originated, major events in the history of noted names, the original meaning, peculiarites of regional distribution, and in some cases the form, date, and
location of early instances of the name. Uniquely organized to allow comparison between names that share the same etymology, the dictionary groups together within a single entry many different cognate and variant forms, including diminutives and patronymics. A comprehensive alphabetical index
allows easy cross-referencing. Summarizing a wealth of historical and etymological information in a clear and concise manner, the dictionary will be interesting and accessible to the general reader, and an essential reference tool for historians, genealogists, philologists, and local family history
societies.

Genres: Reference, History

880 pages, Hardcover

First published February 23, 1989

About the author

Patrick Hanks was an English lexicographer, corpus linguist, and onomastician. He edited dictionaries of general language, as well as dictionaries of personal names.

Reviews

[Marisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fact that I own this book and love it and actually use it fairly often shows what a name geek I really am! As much as I love it, however, isn't quite as complete as I would like it to be. I'd say that about half of the surnames that I look up are not covered in here. Those have been surnames of English, French, Spanish and Italian origin. Overall, this is the best book of it's kind.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tend to like odd
books of "trivial"
information
its good to know that most
last names translate
to where a person lives