Dictionary of American Family Names: 3-Volume Set - Hardcover

9780195081374: Dictionary of American Family Names: 3-Volume Set

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195081374 ISBN 13: 9780195081374

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2003

Where did your surname come from? Do you know how many people in the United States share it? What does it tell you about your lineage?

From the editor of the highly acclaimed Dictionary of Surnames comes the most extensive compilation of surnames in America. The result of 10 years of research and 30 consulting editors, this massive undertaking documents 70,000 surnames of Americans across the country. A reference source like no other, it surveys each surname giving its meaning, nationality, alternate spellings, common forenames associated with it, and the frequency of each surname and forename.

The Dictionary of American Family Names is a fascinating journey throughout the multicultural United States, offering a detailed look at the meaning and frequency of surnames throughout the country. For students studying family genealogy, others interested in finding out more about their own lineage, or lexicographers, the Dictionary is an ideal place to begin research.

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About the Author:

Patrick Hanks is a consultant in corpus-based lexicography and phraseology at the Berlin Academy of Sciences. He was formerly Chief Editor of Current English Dictionaries at Oxford University Press, and a research fellow in lexical computing at Brimingham University. He has been researching the geographical distribution, meaning, and origin of surnames for over 30 years.

From Booklist:

This hefty set purports to outline the etymology of 70,000 American family surnames. The introduction claims that more than 85 percent of Americans will be able to locate their family name in these volumes. The population sample for compiling this resource was 88.7 million, roughly one-third of all U.S. inhabitants. Names are ordered alphabetically across the three volumes, with each entry containing the frequency of the name's occurrence, etymology, languages, spelling variants, typology (identifying when the name denotes a place, occupation, status, or forebear), regions in which the name appears, and cross-references. The entries are clear and lucid, without reliance on confusing abbreviations or symbols.

As the helpful general introduction indicates, the Dictionary is intended only to be a starting point for etymological or genealogical research. This introduction also has brief but informative sections about names in specific regions or time periods (ancient Rome, for example), and hereditary, patronymic, habitational, topographic, and seasonal names. A second introductory section, "Surnames, Forenames, and Correlations: Some Facts and Figures," explains the survey population as well as the normalization and presentation of the data. A third opening segment, "Introductions to Surnames of Particular Languages and Cultures," is particularly helpful in its specificity, providing information on surname history in regions ranging from the British Isles to East Asia, in addition to chronicling immigration patterns. Anyone can benefit from this information, whether they find their actual family name here or not. Each one of these introductory chapters contains its own bibliography, though it should be noted that many of the sources listed in the regional sections are not in English.

The introductory chapters provide more than 100 pages of helpful advice for researchers both using these volumes as well as going beyond them for further investigation. Additionally, clear structure and layout make this work a great source for lightning-quick reference into the origins of one's family name. The Dictionary of American Family Names is a useful tool for both the beginning and advanced researcher and is recommended for academic and large public libraries. RBB
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