Onomastics
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In simplest terms my thesis is this: that the standard explanation that all forms of Wilk/Wilkin beginning surnames being variants of the “diminutive for William” or “son of diminutive for William,” and usually with the presumption that this commonly assumed etymology is Norman in origin, is simply not accurate. At the very least this standard etymology, which is seemingly ubiquitous, is woefully incomplete and, arguably, almost totally wrong for the vast majority of “Wilk” surname lineages.
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― Forgotten Wolves of Wilkinaland: A New Etymology Hypothesis for the Wilkinson Surname (and Variants) in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
― Forgotten Wolves of Wilkinaland: A New Etymology Hypothesis for the Wilkinson Surname (and Variants) in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
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Allusion to the wolf in these naming traditions was to connote those traits of the wolf that these ancient cultures (like virtually all others) attributed to the wolf—ferocity, cunning, strength, and familial loyalty. Given the widespread use of “wolf” in Old Norse and Old English naming traditions, it is entirely plausible that in intermingled/intermarried areas of Slavic and Dane or Saxon tribes, the Slavic version of these names would have also been on occasion utilized by the Germano-Norse.
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― In the Name of the Wolven King: A Continued Onomastic Exploration of the Etymological Origins of the Wilkinson Surname (and Variants) from Denmark, Frisia, ... to England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales
― In the Name of the Wolven King: A Continued Onomastic Exploration of the Etymological Origins of the Wilkinson Surname (and Variants) from Denmark, Frisia, ... to England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales