A DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH AND WELSH SURNAMES, WITH SPECIAL AMERICAN INSTANCES. By Charles Wareing Bardsley. Originally printed at London 1901. 837 pages.

This most scholarly and informed publication gives the true origins of English and Welsh surnames, and notes some of the spelling variations they underwent after crossing the Atlantic. Mr. Bardsley was obviously a perfectionist, who supported each derivation from actual examples from early documents. This was literally the work of a lifetime, and was only published posthumously, by his widow. Names from the most common to the most obscure are included, at times with surprising results. Some common myths of name origins, based on a similarity of sound rather than actual research, are debunked by careful analysis. A 36 page introduction gives a very complete and understandable discussion of how surnames arose in the first place, and is supported with many interesting and illuminating examples. This is an essential reference tool for anyone interested in the origins of English and Welsh surnames and their variants.

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