The Oxford Names Companion - The definitive guide to Surnames, First Names, and Place Names of the British Isles

Names have an incredible capacity for survival and they can tell us a great deal about our past. Family and personal names are an important part of an individual’s identity; along with place names they reflect the long history of cultural diversity that has existed within the British Isles. This dictionary offers an unrivalled collection of entries from leading experts, making it the ideal companion for anyone tracing their own family history. The Oxford Names Companion is divided into three parts: A Dictionary of Surnames explains the origins and meaning of nearly 70,000 surnames within the English-speaking world that are of European origin. Where known, the history and distribution of a name is also given. A Dictionary of First Names provides comprehensive detail of the linguistic and historical origin of 7,000 personal names used within the British Isles. A Dictionary of British Place-Names traces the development of over 15,000 place names of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales from earliest times to the present day.