Lost Nicknames and the Origins of Surnames
2025-02-10
Many English surnames derive from patronyms, often nicknames. For example, "Jackson" comes from "Jack" (a nickname for John). This article explores numerous now-obscure nicknames and their resulting surnames, such as "Wat" (a nickname for Walter) yielding "Watts," "Watson," "Watkins"; "Gib" (a nickname for Gilbert) yielding "Gibbs," "Gibson"; and "Hob" (a nickname for Robert) yielding "Hobbs," "Hobson," "Hobkins." The author invites further examples and adds the nickname "Hick" (for Richard) and its derivatives, and speculates on "-mott" possibly indicating an in-law.