The study of surnames has a long connection with the wider genealogical world. Much of the work of the early surname historians has now been debunked, most notably by the late George Redmonds in his seminal work, Surnames and Genealogy:
A New Approach. Nevertheless there’s still a lot to be said for investigating the origins of your ancestors’ surnames as part of your research.
One important point that I took from reading Redmonds’ book is that we need to be careful when dealing with what are generally known as ‘locative’ surnames, i.e. those that are derived from a place name or a topographical feature. Redmonds uses the example of the name Fleetwood and points out the folly of assuming that the origins of the surname lie in the Lancashire town of the same name. A little bit of research will soon tell you that the town was named after the Fleetwood family in the 19th century.
When a surname can point to a place name
Having said that, a surname which
