Our Family Names
Vowles | Scrivens | Weaver | York | Morgan | Brock | Hoyland | Lawton | Stead | Boler | Middleton | Downing | Roulstone | Harris | Hobbis | Wells | Portas | Tooby | Coote | Collingwood - click links to go to family pages
Surname Origins
Hereditary family names were used by most families in England and Lowland Scotland from about 1400.
British surnames generally fall into one of four main groups:
1. Location names – the biggest group which can be divided into two types - place names, for example, Sherwood and geographic, for example, Ford. Hoyland is from the place name
2. Occupation – second most common group, such as Weaver
3. Baptismal or Patronymic – relationship names, such as Johnson or Williams. This may be the origin of Hobbis. Variants include Hobbs and Hobbes. Hobb was a familiar name for someone named Robert.
4. Nicknames - referring to appearance or character. Vowles may come from a nickname.
The spelling of a name may have changed several times over the years. Illiteracy was common before compulsory education so names were often misspelt in parish registers or by census enumerators trying to make out a local dialect, adding his own variation of the spelling.
Find out more about your surnames:
The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, available in libraries.
British surnames generally fall into one of four main groups:
1. Location names – the biggest group which can be divided into two types - place names, for example, Sherwood and geographic, for example, Ford. Hoyland is from the place name
2. Occupation – second most common group, such as Weaver
3. Baptismal or Patronymic – relationship names, such as Johnson or Williams. This may be the origin of Hobbis. Variants include Hobbs and Hobbes. Hobb was a familiar name for someone named Robert.
4. Nicknames - referring to appearance or character. Vowles may come from a nickname.
The spelling of a name may have changed several times over the years. Illiteracy was common before compulsory education so names were often misspelt in parish registers or by census enumerators trying to make out a local dialect, adding his own variation of the spelling.
Find out more about your surnames:
The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, available in libraries.
Hoyland One-Name Study
In addition to my whole family history and genealogy, I am interested in studying some of the family surnames.
HOYLAND is the subject of my One-Name Study which has a dedicated website
A one-name study is research into the genealogy and family history of all people with a certain surname both past and present. If you would like further information or to see if your surname is currently registered see the website of The Guild of One-Name Studies.
The Hoyland surname is from the Hoyland place names near Barnsley in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The town of Hoyland grew from the hamlets of Hoyland Nether, Upper Hoyland and Hoyland Common. There are also the villages of High Hoyland and Hoylandswaine. Hoyland is Norse meaning 'farm on a hill'. Of the 1114 people with the name in the 1881 census for England and Wales, 792 were from the West Riding of Yorkshire.
HOYLAND is the subject of my One-Name Study which has a dedicated website
A one-name study is research into the genealogy and family history of all people with a certain surname both past and present. If you would like further information or to see if your surname is currently registered see the website of The Guild of One-Name Studies.
The Hoyland surname is from the Hoyland place names near Barnsley in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The town of Hoyland grew from the hamlets of Hoyland Nether, Upper Hoyland and Hoyland Common. There are also the villages of High Hoyland and Hoylandswaine. Hoyland is Norse meaning 'farm on a hill'. Of the 1114 people with the name in the 1881 census for England and Wales, 792 were from the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Vowles in the West Country
The Vowles surname is rooted in the West Country counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire. Of the 1436 people with the name in the 1881 census for England and Wales, almost half were from Somerset and a quarter from Gloucestershire. It is believed to have originated as a nickname, Fowle (bird) or Fowles. The West Country pronunciation of 'F' gives a 'V' sound Variants include Vowels, Vowells, Vouls.
I have also registered my interest in the Vowles surname with the The Guild of One-Name Studies. This is not a full one-name study due to my other commitments but will focus research in and around Somerset and Gloucestershire. I may decide to extend to a full study in future if no-one else registers it in the meantime. For now, I will use this website for information on the Vowles study. Please do get in touch if you have any Vowles connections, records, photos, stories or other info you would like to share.
I have also registered my interest in the Vowles surname with the The Guild of One-Name Studies. This is not a full one-name study due to my other commitments but will focus research in and around Somerset and Gloucestershire. I may decide to extend to a full study in future if no-one else registers it in the meantime. For now, I will use this website for information on the Vowles study. Please do get in touch if you have any Vowles connections, records, photos, stories or other info you would like to share.
