Table of Contents

Introduction ; 1. By-names ; 2. Hereditary Surnames ; 3. Expansion and Decline ; 4. Distribution and Migration ; 5. Linguistic and Social Factors ; 6. Meaning and Method ; 7. DNA and Surnames ; 8. The Link Between Surname and Y Chromosome Type ; 9. The Wider Picture ; Conclusion ; Bibliography ; Index of Names ; General Index

About the Author

George Redmonds is a freelance historian, specialising in Names Studies and Local History. He has lectured widely in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand and in 2001 presented the BBC Radio 4 series 'Surnames, Genes and Genealogy'. His numerous books include Surnames and Genealogy (1997) and Names and History (2004). Turi King read Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge before undertaking her MSc and PhD in genetics at the University of Leicester. For the past ten years her research has focused on the link between surnames and genetics and its applications in the fields of forensics, epidemiology, genealogy and population history. David Hey is Emeritus Professor of Local and Family History at the University of Sheffield. He is President of the British Association for Local History and the Chairman of the British Record Society. His numerous books include The Oxford Companion to Family and Local History ( third edition, 2008).

Reviews

An excellent book, for its clarity, up-to-dateness, and coverage of all the important aspects of genetic genealogy, with many interesting and useful details not given in other books. * Genetic Genealogy *
[T]hey enjoyably demonstrate how ancestral links may be explored. * Family History Monthly 01/12/2011 *
[I]t provides exciting clues about how recent developments in DNA analysis are shaping genealogical research * Who Do You Think You Are? 01/12/2011 *
Enthralling and compulsively readable, this book combines linguistics with genetics, genealogy, and local history to provide a fresh and eye-opening vision of the British past - and indeed of family histories across a wider world. Focusing on the history of British surnames it casts a totally new light on what makes us who we are - and how we can find out. Indispensable reading for anyone interested in their roots, this book offers nothing less than a new perspective on British history. * Michael Wood, historian and broadcaster *
An excellent book, for its clarity, up-to-dateness, and coverage of all the important aspects of genetic genealogy, with many interesting and useful details not given in other books. * Genetic Genealogy *
This book will come to be seen as an important progenitor of a new historical subdiscipline, a ground-breaking interdisciplinary liaison, between history and genetics, one that may eclipse the boldness of any such humanities scientific collaboration hitherto. * Professor Keith Snell, Annual Bulletin of Historical Literature *
This book is ground-breaking for two reasons: firstly, it is the only book I have encountered that takes a truly multi-disciplinary approach to surname study, integrating linguistic, historical, genealogical, geographical, and scientific (genetic) evidence, and secondly, it is the first book I have read that reviews and identifies the strengths and (more particularly) the deficiencies of surname study to date and clearly sets out the various sources and methods one can and should use to investigate surnames successfully. For these two reasons alone the book deserves to be read by anyone with an interest in surnames or names and naming more generally. * Simon Draper, Nomina *