Adding an S

[Andrew C.]

I was just wondering. I have noticed at least three of my surnames; Chalmers, Edwards and Williams originally did not have the s at the end i.e. in early documents they where Chalmer, Edward and William. did it just become the fashion to add an s at the end?

[Currie]

Hello Andrew,

It probably depends on how early that occurred. If it was before most ordinary people could spell their own names then the spelling would have been determined by one of the educated few who could spell, probably without any consultation with the owner of the name.

If it was very early on, maybe what's on this page about adding an “s” would be relevant.
“At a slightly later stage, many newly acquired surnames had an "s" attached to them. This was a practice used in England when surnames were forming, and represented the possessive case of the father’s name used for his children and wife.”
http://welshleigh.org/genealogy/welshnames.html

Hope that's of some use,
Alan

[Andrew C.]

Curiously two of the names I referred to Edwards and Williams would be thought of as perhaps being Welsh although mine are located in Aberdeenshire. The site does say,

" in many areas it was not generally adopted until the early 19th century. In this way John and his family became Jones, William and his became Williams, and David and his became Davies"

which would tie in with the period I was looking at. So perhaps the same sort of this happened in Scotland as in Wales.