e same as
_Bonfellow_. The surname _Thin_ has the same meaning as _Meagre_,
from which the common name _Meager_ comes.

Names like _Russell_ (from the old word _rouselle_, or "red"),
_Brown_, _Morell_ ("tan"), _Dun_ ("dull grey"), all came from
nicknames referring to people's complexions. _Reed_ and _Reid_ come
from the old word _rede_, or "red." We still have the names
_Copperbeard_, _Greybeard_, and _Blackbeard_.

Sometimes names were given from some peculiarity of clothing.
_Scarlet_, an old English name, probably came from the colour of the
clothing of the people who were first called by it--scarlet, like all
bright colours, being very much liked in the Middle Ages. So we hear
of the name _Curtmantle_, or "short cloak," and _Curthose_, which was
later changed to _Shorthose_, which is still a well-known name in
Derbyshire. The names _Woolward_ and _Woolard_ come from the old word
_woolard_, which meant wearing wool without any linen clothing
underneath. This was often done by pilgrims and others who wished to
do penance for their sins.

Many surnames have come down from nicknames given to people because of
their good or bad qualities. This is the origin of names like _Wise_,
_Gay_, _Hardy_, _Friend_, _Truman_, _Makepeace_, _Sweet_, etc. The
people who have these names may well believe that the first of their
ancestors who bore them was of a gentle and amiable disposition. Names
like _Proud_, _Proudfoot_, _Proudman_, _Paillard_ (French for
"lie-a-bed") show that the first people who had them were not so well
liked, and were considered proud or lazy.

Another way of giving nicknames to people because of something
noticeable in their character or appearance was to give them the name
of some animal having this quality. The well-known name of _Oliphant_
comes from _elephant_, and was probably first given to some one very
large, and perhaps a little ungraceful. _Bullock_ as a surname
probably had the same sort of origin. The names _Falcon_, _Hawk_,
_Buzzard_, must have been first given to people whose friends and
neighbours saw some resemblance to the quickness or fierceness or
sureness or some other quality of these birds in them. The names
_Jay_, _Peacock_, and _Parrott_ point to showiness and pride and empty
talkativeness.

A very great number of surnames are really only old Christian names
either with or without an ending added to them. A very common form of
surname is a Christian name with _son_ added to it. Th