During the American Civil War, soldiers began to use the surnames of their commanding officers (Grant, Lee, Sherman) as first names for their sons. This, and the American custom of using the mother's maiden name as a child's given name, along with the general twentieth century trend towards 'new' names, has led to many other surnames being recognised as first names. Thus Old English and Celtic personal names, long out of use except in their adaptation as surnames, have returned to the central stock. This was formerly almost exclusively confined to boys' names but is now beginning to produce many new girls' names, especially in America. The more established surname adaptations are subject to the same spelling variations as other first names.
| Main index | Contents of Onomastikon |
| First names index | Other English first names |
| English A - C | English surnames used as boys' names |
| English D - J | English surnames used as boys' names |
| English K - R | English surnames used as boys' names |
| English S - Z | English surnames used as boys' names |
| English - Female | English surnames used as girls' names |
| Scottish | Scottish surnames used as first names |
| Irish | Irish surnames used as first names |
| Welsh | Welsh surnames used as first names |
| Foreign | Other surnames used as first names |
This collection of names was compiled by Kate Monk and is ©1997, Kate Monk.
Copies may be made for personal use only.