Surname Origins, Their Source and Significations (1875)

'John fil. Serlo,' still abides in our 'Searle's' and 'Series,' 'Serrells ' and 'Serlsons.'' William Serle-son' occurs in an old Yorkshire register, and 'Richard Serelson' in the Parliamentary Writs. The Norman diminutive also appears in Matilda Sirlot (A) and Mabel Sirlot (A).' 'Harvey,' or 'Herve,' was more common than many may imagine, and a fair number of entries such as 'Herveus le Gos ' or 'William fil. Hervei,' may be seen in all our large rolls. The Malvern poet in his 'Piers Plowman' employs the name:

And thanne cam Coveitise,

Can I hym naght descryve,

So hungrily and holwe

Sire Hervy hym loked.

'Arnold,'now almost unknown in England as a baptismal name, made a deep impression on our nomenclature, as it did on that of Central Europe. 'Earn' for the eagle is a word not yet obsolete in the North of England, and this reminds us of the origin of the name. This kinship is more easily traceable in our registries where the usual forms are 'Ernaldus Carnifix,' or 'Peter Ernald.' Besides 'Arnold,' 'Arnison,' and the diminutive 'Arnott' or 'Arnet' 2 still live among us. 'Alberic,' or 'Albrec,' as we find it occasionally written, soon found its way into our rolls as 'Aubrey,' although, as €lfric, Miss Yonge shows it to have existed in our country centuries

'In these same Writs occurs also the name of 'Hugh Serelson.'It is possible they are patronymics formed from 'Cyril,' but 'Serle' is the more probable parent.

2 The 'Parliamentary Writs' give us 'Matthew Arnyet,' the Hundred Roils,' 'Milisent Arnet.

'PATRONYMIC SURNAMES.

earlier.' 'Albred,' probably but another form of the lately revived 'Albert,' is now found as 'Allbright' and the German 'Albrecht.'

'Emery,' though now utterly forgotten as a personalname, may be said to live on only in our surnames. It was once no unimportant sobriquet. 'Americ,' 'Almeric,' 'Almaric,' 'Emeric,'and 'Eimeric,' seem to have been its original spellings in England, and thus, at least, it is more likely to remind us that it is the same name to which, in the Italian form of Amerigo, we now owe the title of that vast expanse of western territory which is so indissolubly connectedwith English industry and English interests. Curter forms than these were found in 'Aylmar,' 'Ailmar,' Almar,' and 'Aymer,' and 'Amar.' The surnames it has bequeathed to us are not few. It has had the free run of the vowels in our 'Amorys,' 'Emerys,'and 'Imarys,' and in a more patronymic form we may still oftentimes meet with it in our 'Emersons,' 'Embersons,'2 and 'Imesons.' 'Ingram ' represents the old 'Ingelram,' 'Engleram,' 'Iggelram,' or 'Inge-ram,' for all these forms may be met with; and

Ebrardus,' later on registered as 'Eborard,'still abides hale and hearty in our 'Everards ' and 'Everys.'The latter, however, can scarcely be said to be quite extinct as a baptismal name. 'Waleran,'an English form of the foreign 'Valerian,'is found in such an

The 'Hundred Rolls' give us a pet addendum in the entry 'Walter Auberkin.'

''Richard Amberson' and 'Robert Amberson' may be seen in Barret's History of Bristol (index). If not sprung from 'Ambrose,'they will be but a variation of 'Emberson,'and one more instance of the change of vowels referred to a few pages further on.