Anglo-Saxon Nicknames
As a matter of fact, the various ways of forming nicknames or descriptive names, are all used in the pre-Conquest personal names. We find Orme, i.e. serpent or dragon (cf. Great Orme’s Head), Wulf, i.e. Wolf, Hwita, i.e. White, and its derivative Hwiting, now Whiting, Saemann, i.e. Seaman, Bonda, i.e. Bond, Leofcild, dear child, now Leif child, etc. But, except the case of Orme, so common as the first element of place-names, I doubt the survival of these as purely personal names into the surname period and regard White, Seaman, Bond, Leif child rather as new epithets of Mid. English formation. Whiting is of course Anglo-Saxon, -ing being the regular patronymic suffix. Cf. Browning, Benning, Dering, Dunning, Gunning, Hemming, Kipping, Manning, and many others which occur in place-names. But not all names in -ing are Anglo-Saxon, e.g. Baring is German; cf. Behring, of the Straits; and Jobling is Fr. Jobelin, a double dim. of Job.
I will now give a few examples of undoubted survival of these Anglo-Saxon compounds, showing how the suffixes have been corrupted and simplified. Among the commonest of these suffixes are -beald, -beorht, -cytel (Chapter VII.), -god, -heard, -here, -man, -mund, -raed, -ric, -weald, -weard, -wine, 1 which survive in Rumball and Rumbold (Rumbeald), Allbright 2 and Allbutt (Ealdbeorht, i.e. Albert), Arkle (Earncytel), Allgood and Elgood (AElfgod), Everett (Eoforheard, i.e. Everard), Gunter (Gundhere), Harman (Hereman), Redmond (Raedmund), 3 Aldred, Eldred (AEthelraed or Ealdraed), Aldridge, Alderick, Eldridge (AEthelric or Ealdric), Thorold (Thurweald), and, through Fr. Turold, Turrell, Terrell, and Tyrrell, Harward and Harvard (Hereweard), Lewin (Leofwine).
In popular use some of these endings got confused, e.g. Rumbold probably sometimes represents Rumweald, while Kennard no doubt stands for Coenweard as well as for Coenheard. Man and round were often interchanged (Chapter VI), so that from Eastmund come both Esmond and Eastman. Gorman represents Gormund, and Almond (Chapter XI) is so common in the Middle Ages that it must sometimes be from AEthelmund.
Sometimes the modern forms are imitative. Thus Allchin is for Ealhwine (Alcuin), and Goodyear, Goodier and Goodair may represent Godhere. 4 Good-beer, Godbehere, Gotobed are classed by Bardsley under Godbeorht, whence Godber. But in these three names the face value of the words may well be accepted (pp. 156, 203, 206). Wisgar or Wisgeard has given the imitative Whisker and Vizard, and, through French, the Scottish Wishart, which is thus the same as the famous Norman Guiscard. Garment and Rayment are for Garmund and Regenmund, i.e. Raymond.
Notes
1 Bold, bright, kettle, god, strong, army, man, protection, counsel, powerful, ruling, guard, friend.
2 AIbert is of modern German introduction.
3 Pure Anglo-Saxon, like the names of so many opponents of English tyranny. Parnell is of course not Irish (Chapter X).
4 This may, however, be taken literally. There is a German name Gutjahr and a Norfolk name Feaveryear.