The surname Small, as defined in A Dictionary Of Surnames,
by Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges, is an English nickname for "a person
of slender build or diminutive stature". Variations in spelling this
name include:
Smale ............................ Cornwall
Smaile, Smiles................ Scotland
Schmahl, Schmeling ...... Low German
Smal .............................. Flemish
Smal(le), (De) Smaele..... Dutch
Each time it became necessary to give a surname, a descriptive
name was added to the Christian name. Use of the same descriptive name,
or "byname", was determined by the frequency of use. When the
same word was used, repeatedly, it became the hereditary family name.
There are four classes of surnames:
Local/Locality........Where the individual lived, or was
from, such as John Wood.
Occupational..........What the individual didi for a living,
such as Thomas Baker.
Patronymical.........The name of the father, such as Edward
Robertson.
Descriptive.............Nicknames
Surnames of the the nickname class were given to the original
bearer because of appearance, character, physical attribute, habit, condition,
etc. Nicknames were the last class to become fixed surnames.
In his book, The Story Of Our Names, Chapters 2 and 3,
Elsdon C. Smith states it's impossible to say exactly when the surname/family
name originated. There were no hereditary family names found, in England,
before 1066.
The lords, because they travelled more, felt the need of
a surname to distinguish them from other lords of the same first name. They
generally took the names of their estates; their sons eventually inheriting
the name and the estate.
Village communities were not the same; each had their own
special customs. The manor consisted of peasant houses or cottages grouped
around the manor house or hall, the parish church and the village green.
The population of the manor was largely made up of villeins
and servi/slaves. When not working for the lords, the villeins worked their
own lands.
There were two classes of villeins. The poorer class farmed
5-10 acres of land, or less. They may have only had a cottage. These people
were called cotters. The servi/slaves eventually merged with the cotters.
Having less land to work, the cotters had more free time and would work
for hire. (The working class sprang from the cotters.)
If an individual were a minor official, the clerk might
list him as such. (John the reeve.) If the individual were an ordinary villein
or cotter, and his father was still living and known by his ability or personality,
the individual could again be listed as such. (John, "Robert's son".)
Many English surnames originated from French words, because
surnames began in the Middle Ages when French was the language used by all
educated people in England. By the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,
bynames/surnames, in England, had pretty much become hereditary family names.
Before spelling became stabilized, alteration and mutation of names was
to be expected.
Ever since surnames became part of man's full name, they've
been changed or corrupted by many influences. There were many causes for
names being changed, among them slight variations in spelling, due to personal
vanity, a change in national or local pronunciation, the use of additional
letters, such as E or Y, arbitrary change, etc
Elsdon C. Smith's Dictionary Of American Family Names defines
Small or Smale as "The little or slender person."
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