Tag: Nicholas

Apologies to the Jameses and Nicholls

Despite up to 500 daily visitors (a few days even more) no-one noticed the deliberate (ahem) mistakes in my list of the 20 most common surnames in Victorian Cornwall.  Where were the Jameses? In fact, they should have been found at number 11 in the list. And what about the Nicholls? Why hadn’t they appeared … Continue reading Apologies to the Jameses and Nicholls →

Patronyms and the Cornish language

Does the presence of patronymic surnames (surnames derived from first names) tell us anything about the last days of the traditional Cornish language? I have argued elsewhere that the distribution of the most common surnames in nineteenth century Cornwall – Williams, Thomas and Richards – offers a good indication of the geography of the language … Continue reading Patronyms and the Cornish language →