Since I began writing novels set in Regency England--also known as Regencies or Regency Romances--I've been on an on-going quest for great British names for my characters. In my search for British names, I discovered that the Nineteenth-century Burke's Peerage contains quintessentially English Regency surnames.
Most the noble families of England can traced their roots back to the Howard family. The Howard name, though, actually belongs to the Dukes of Norfolk, whose family seat is Arundel Castle in the South, as well as with the Earls of Carlisle, whose family seat – during the Regency era – was in the North at the magnificent Castle Howard (The setting for the movie Brideshead Revisited). I found this pic here.
The Dukes of Richmond come from the Lennox family. The Dukes of Marlborough come the Churchill surname. The Dukes of Bedford bear the surname of Russell. The Dukes of Devonshire hail from the Cavendish family. The Earls of Chesterfild are from the Stanhope family.
Some other names I like are: Agar, Allen, Balfour, Crauford, Cooper, Fletcher, Sempill, Stanhope, Hervey, Mostyn, Pembroke, Radcliff, Rutledge, Sullyard, Stewart, Sinclair, Seymour, Selkirk, Sedgewick, , Talbot, Warwick, Wraxall, Wycliff.
Here are some common prefixes and suffixes of common English surnames. Suffixes are fun and in my humble opinion sound so veddy, veddy British. Plus, they can be mixed and matched to create not only a name you like, but a made-up title.
LY
Here are some fun two-syllable surnames ending in LY: Annesley, Audley, Berkeley, Bexley, Rowley, Stanley, Worsley, Wrottesley.
TON
Another common suffix in British surnames is ton – many of these, too, are found in names such as Barton, Bolton, Buxton, Seton, Morton, Stanton, and Swinton.
ERTON
Names ending in erton include Egerton, Pemberton, Ollerton, and Wolverton.
INGTON
A variation of the ton suffix, which appears to be even more common, are surnames ending in ington. You'll find Barington, Haddington, Huntington, Kensington, Livingston, Lymington, Repington, Ridlington, Skeffington, Wilmington, Worthington.
BURY
A frequently use suffix in English last names is bury, which is the surname I used in my first series, The Rogue Hearts Series. Since the heroes are all brothers, they all possess the last name Amesbury. Here are some others: Ramsbury, Salisbury, Shrewsbury (which sounds like a good name for the heroine's shrewish non-friend:-), Queensbury, Tilbury.
A lot of names also have the suffix BURG, which is a variation of bury.
FIELD
Another common suffix found in: Chesterfield, Mansfield, Sheffield, Stanfield, Warfield.
Common Prefixes
Some of the common prefixes I found in English surnames were Ash, Ban, Bar, Beau, and Fitz. With Ash, I found Asburnham, Ashbrook, Ashburton, and Ashtown. (Notice the common suffixes here.) I've shown the ton, but ham, burton, brook, and town are also found in many British names.
BAN
Bannerman, Bangor, Bantry, and Banfield.
BAR
Names beginning with Bar include Barham, Barrow, Barlow, Baring, and Barnwall.
BEAU
With beau, there was Beaumont, Beauchamp, and Beauvale.
A commonly used prefix is Fitz, and it's not just used with Irish names. These names include Fitzroy, Fitzharding, Fitzherbert, Fitzgibbon, Fitzwilliam, and Fitzgerald.
You may be interested to know that during the Regency era the Royal Duke of Clarence (brother to the Prince George who was the Regent during the Regency), who later became King William IV, gave the surname Fitzclarence to his ten illegitimate children he sired with his mistress, the actress Mrs. Jordan. Almost all of these children were eventually awarded their own titles or, in the case of females, married titled men.
ST
While this is not exactly a prefix, surnames beginning with St. are common in Great Britain. These include St. John, St. George, St. Vincent, St. German, St. Claire, and St. Maur.
There were many names which have become associated with places: St. Paul, Bristol, Boston, Brisbane, Scarsdale, Portsmouth, Southhampton, and Wilmington. Many other common names are those which are either common nouns or job titles or/and adjectives--Black, Butler, Cotton, Cooke, Hunter, Smith, White, Wood, Young.
Some common British names which don't have any of the prefexes or suffexes mentioned above are Hay, Forbes, Poyntz, Steele, Vaughan, Wynn.
There were a few names I may use later for a secondary character, like the clueless suitor, are Throckmorton, Pottinger, or Croome.A handful of others I like include Beresford, Cadogan, Feversham, Fortescue, and Montague. Aren't they wonderfully English?
Do you have any British surnames you love that I haven't mentioned?
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