nd the word is used more than once by Scott--

"Didna his eme die. . . wi' the name of the Bluidy Mackenzie?"

(Heart of Midlothian, ch. xii.)

It is also one of the sources of Empson, which thus corresponds to
Cousins or Cozens. In Neame we have a prosthetic n- due to the
frequent occurrence of min eme (cf. the Shakespearean nuncle, Lear, i.
4). The names derived from cousin have been reinforced by those from
Cuss, i.e. Constant or Constance (Chapter X). Thus Cussens is from
the Mid. English dim. Cussin. Anglo-Sax. nefa, whence Mid. Eng. neve,
neave, is cognate with, but not derived from, Lat. nepos. [Footnote:
In all books on surnames that I have come across this is referred to
Old Fr. le neve. There is no such word in old French, which has nom.
nies, acc. neveu.]

This is now replaced as a common noun by the French word nephew, but
it survives in the surname Neave. It also meant in Mid. English a
prodigal or parasite, as did also Lat. nepos--

"Neve, neverthryfte, or wastowre" (Prompt. Parv.).

It is likely that Nevison and Nevinson are sometimes derivatives of
this word.

Child was sometimes used in the special sense of youth of gentle
blood, or young knight; cf. Childe Harold and Childe Rowland (Lear,
iii. 4). But the more general meaning may be assumed in its
compounds, of which the most interesting is Leifchild, dear-child, a
fairly common name in Anglo-Saxon. The corresponding Faunt, whence
Fauntleroy (Chapter XV), is now rare. Another word, now only used in
dialect or by affectation, is "bairn," a frequent source of the very
common surname Barnes; cf. Fairbairn and Goodbairn, often perverted to
Fairburn, Goodburn, Goodban. Barnfather is about equivalent to Lat.
paterfamilias, but Pennefather is an old nickname for a miser--

"Caqueduc, a niggard, micher, miser, scrape-good, pinch-penny,
penny-father; a covetous and greedy wretch" (Cotgrave).

The name Bastard was once considered no disgrace if the dishonour came
from a noble source, and several great medieval warriors bore this
sobriquet. With this we may compare Leman or Lemon, Mid. Eng.
leof-man, dear man, beloved, and Paramor, Fr. par amour, an example of
an adverbial phrase that has become a noun. This expression, used of
lawful love in Old French, in the stock phrase "aimer une belle dame
par amour," had already an evil meaning by Chaucer's time--

"My fourthe housbonde was a revelour,
This is to seyn, he hadde a paramour" (D