LL-L "Names" 2008.10.11 (04) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 11 October 2008 - Volume 04
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From: Jorge Potter <jorgepot at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Names" 2008.10.10 (07) [E]

Ben Bloomgren

On Fri, Oct 10, 2008 at 10:22 PM, Lowlands-L List <lowlands.list at gmail.com>
wrote:

Hello all,

I've been wondering lately about color surnames:  Brown, Red, Rojas, Blue,
White, Blac ETC. Where does this phenomenon come from?

Thanks and sorry for the recent lurking,

Ben

Dear Ben Bloomgren, Ron and fellow Lowlanders,



Green(e) is a common color surname in English. Toponymic. A final "e" may
represent an OE dative. My first year in college I happened into a small
class with a Green, a Black, a Brown  and a White. Miss Green was the
cutest.



Some Whites  descended from the very fair. Others had been "wight", but
hardly the common Eng *guy, tipo, Kerl*, but from a Norse word meaning
valiant.



Brown is the commonest color surname. It and Black (or Blake) refer to
ancestors' skin or hair.



The only Blues I ever heard of were Chicago African-Americans and the only
one I knew personally needed to sing the blues, but didn't know how.



Rojas del topónimo Rojas, nombre de una población en la Provincia de Burgos.
Frecuente en Sevilla, Córdoba y Málaga. Fernando Rojas escribió *La
Celestina*.



Jorge Potter
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