enturies in passing enactments against
these devices, with the inevitable consequence that they became ever
more numerous.]

SOCIAL GRADES

By dealing with a few essential points at the outset we shall clear
the ground for considering the various groups of surnames connected
with trade, craft, profession or office. To begin with, it is certain
that such names as Pope, Cayzer, King, Earl, Bishop are nicknames,
very often conferred on performers in religious plays or acquired in
connection with popular festivals and processions--

"Names also have been taken of civil honours, dignities and estate, as
King, Duke, Prince, Lord, Baron, Knight, Valvasor or Vavasor, Squire,
Castellon, partly for that their ancestours were such, served such,
acted such parts; or were Kings of the Bean, Christmas-Lords, etc."
(Camden).

We find corresponding names in other languages, and some of the French
names, usually preceded by the definite article, have passed into
English, e.g. Lempriere, a Huguenot name, and Leveque, whence our
Levick, Vick, Veck (Chapter III). Baron generally appears as Barron,
and Duke, used in Mid. English of any leader, is often degraded to
Duck, whence the dim. Duckett. But all three of these names can also
be referred to Marmaduke.

It would be tempting to put Palsgrave in this class. Prince Rupert,
the Pfalzgraf, i.e. Count Palatine, was known as the Palsgrave in his
day, but I have not found the title recorded early enough.

With Lord we must put the northern Laird, and, in my opinion, Senior;
for, if we notice how much commoner Young is than Old, and Fr. Lejeune
than Levieux, we must conclude that junior, a very rare surname, ought
to be of much more frequent occurrence than Senior, Synyer, a fairly
common name. There can be little doubt that Senior is usually a
latinization of the medieval le seigneur, whence also Saynor. Knight
is not always knightly, for Anglo-Sax. cniht means servant; cf. Ger.
Knecht. The word got on in the world, with the consequence that the
name is very popular, while its medieval compeers, knave, varlet,
villain, have, even when adorned with the adj. good, dropped out of
the surname list, Bonvalet, Bonvarlet, Bonvillain are still common
surnames in France. From Knight we have the compound Road-night, a
mounted servitor. Thus Knight is more often a true occupative name,
and the same applies to Dring or Dreng, a Scandinavian name of similar
meaning.

Other names fro