The Select Surname Website


What's in a name?  More than you might think.  Each surname carries an individual history that has been shaped by all the forebears of that name.  In palmistry, the left hand usually tells you what you are born with, the right hand what you made on your life.  So too with family genealogy.  Word origin and DNA will provide a starting point.  But the history and events over time can give these names their distinctive characteristics and traits.       


The names found on this site are not the most common.  But each in its own way has its own style.  Not quite like a clan perhaps.  But definitely as a distinctive grouping with a shared history.  The select names chosen here - of English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish origin - are as follows:  

Site Map: Select Names

Adams Ellis Nightingale
Armstrong Foster/Forster Pascoe
Bartlett Fox
Pertwee
Bowles Fuller Probyn
Cassidy Harding Richardson
Chapman Henderson Shelley
Chisholm Higgins Tucker
Clinton Jefferson Washington
Corbett Meredith Webster
Crowther Nash
Witherspoon
The Origin/Spread of Surnames
 

   
Have a look at some of these surnames - other than your own - to see the extent of the rich tapestry of life that can exist in family names.

Each surname on this list includes: a name origin or derivation; a history of the name through time and countries; some notable people who bear this name; and further internet resources on the name (we have only chosen those sites that are readily accessible without charge on the internet).

Our intent is to make this site a premier site for narrating the stories of these English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish names over time.  We will be adding further names to the site as and when time and research permit.

We welcome your comments and your suggestions as to what we have included and what names we might include in the future.  Please click onto our Feedback section on this site.

Enjoy the site!


Colin Shelley