Typical questions

Considerations

You can generally split this area into three subjects: the meaning of place names, the meaning of surnames, and the meaning of first names. Enquirers may be researching a place, doing their family tree, or choosing a name for their baby.

Where to look

Printed sources

There are no general encyclopedias that will cover these subjects. You will need to look at more specialist dictionaries.

People's names

For first names there are several useful texts available:

Cresswell, J. (1990) Bloomsbury dictionary of first names, Bloomsbury

Dunkling, L. and Gosling, W. (1983) Everyman's dictionary of first names, Everyman Reference.

*Hanks, P. and Hodges, F. (1990) A dictionary of first names, Oxford University Press

For surnames, two of the best books available are:

*Hanks, P. and Hodges, F. (1988) A dictionary of surnames, Oxford University Press

Reaney, P. H. (1991) A dictionary of English surnames, 3rd edn by R. M. Wilson, Routledge

*These titles have been partially incorporated into Hanks, P. et al. (2002) The Oxford names companion, Oxford University Press.

There are also many books available about names around the world and their meanings. For example there are books on Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Muslim, Jewish and African names.

Place names

Try the following titles for British place names:

Mills, A. D. (2003) A dictionary of British place-names, 2nd edn, Oxford University Press

Room, A. (1988) Dictionary of place-names in the British Isles, Bloomsbury

For world place names, the following is a good bet. It covers over 1000 of the world's more familiar place names:

Room, A. (1987) Place-names of the world, Angus and Robertson

Electronic sources

An excellent site for first names is:

Behind the Name: the etymology and history of first names

www.behindthename.com

For last names try:

www.last-names.net

NATIONALITY & IMMIGRATION

See also Law

Typical questions

Considerations

This subject is one to treat carefully. While, rightly, library staff must be wary of getting too involved in personal cases, enquiries may just be for student projects. There may also be language difficulties, and not just foreign languages.