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This is the classic reference work on English and Welsh surnames, with dated and documented examples given in the text and American instances cited in many cases where the name appeared in the directories of such cities as Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. It contains over 30,000 entries in dictionary form, three columns to a page, giving the origin and history of each surname, lists of persons bearing the name in various centuries, and the frequency of the name and its variants in certain nineteenth-century English and American directories. The dictionary itself is preceded by a lengthy introduction, which in itself is a formidable essay on family nomenclature. Among other things the reader will find many references to baptisms and marriages published by the various English record societies.