Blair Collection > Surnames & place-names of the Isle of Man

lo Wtlmxx Surnames antf ^lace.-BamES.
which originally indicated place of birth or residence ;
and (4) Those which were originally nicknames
descriptive of a person's appearance in character, or
residence, or containing an allusion to some fact in his
history. The Celtic and Celto-Scandinavian surnames
of the Isle of Man, however, belong almost exclusively
to the first and second of these classes. The evidence
of early documents shows that nearly all of them at one
time contained the prefix Mac followed either by a
Christian name or by a word denoting a trade or
calling.
The native portion of the nomenclature will, there-
fore, here be discussed under two heads : surnames
derived from Christian names, and surnames derived
from words significant of occupations, nationality, and
other personal characteristics. Although in the Isle
of Man descriptive nicknames scarcely ever became
hereditary, and therefore have contributed in very
slight degree to our list of surnames, they have been
and still are quite as largely used as in other countries
as a means of distinguishing between namesakes. A
considerable number of these distinguishing epithets
may be found in our Parish Registers and other early
documents, which, as they may be fairly regarded as
so much unused raw material of family nomenclature,
will be given in an appendix.
It has already been stated that an attempt will be
made in these pages to assign the etymology, so far as
it can be ascertained, of the Celtic or Scandinavian
names discussed. Many of these are derived from
Biblical or Hagiological Christian names which are the
common property of Europe. In these cases it will be