Surname Geography
A Study of the Mell Family Name c. 1538-1980
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8962035 |
|---|---|
| Authors | J Douglas Porteous (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1982 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 395-395 |
| Publication date | 1982-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-2754 • E-ISSN: 1475-5661 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.2307/622144 |
| OpenAlex | W2329999841 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 6 |
Surname studies have been neglected by geographers. The subject is reintroduced through the development of a multi-operational method for investigating the spatial origins and subsequent diffusion of rarer English surnames. This method generates name, place, date and other time-series data for the period c. 1538 to the present. Coarse-grained analysis at the national (macro-scale) level is followed by more detailed regional (meso-scale) analysis of birth data. Both levels of analysis use, inter alia, the tools of pedigree-construction, forename-matching, and cross-checking between data sources. Analysis of the surname Mell at the national level reveals an extremely localized distribution, with two clusters (Yorkshire- Lincolnshire and Greater London) never accounting for fewer than 83 per cent of Mell births since 1538. Regional analyses of these two clusters demonstrate the likelihood of a Mell origin in riverine Humberhead, support the probable Scandinavian origin of the name, trace subsequent migration paths from agrarian to urban-industrial areas, and exhibit the remarkable place-loyalty of the Howdenshire Mells. Significant explanatory power, however, will depend on further local (micro-scale) analyses and the develop- ment of regional and local socio-economic histories. The stuff and fibre of people's language is made up of names. Total history is nothing less than an accounting of every name in it .... Without a name nothing exists - neither place, person, or piece. Names cement the regions and gener
Genealogy · Geography · Sociology · Demography · History · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research
The Origin of English Surnames
Resistance to Migration and the Mover/Stayer Dichotomy
Cultural Variation in Personal Name Patterns in the Eastern United States
The Agricultural Practices of National Groups in Eighteenth-Century Southeastern Pennsylvania
The Rural Landscape of the East Riding of Yorkshire, 1700-1850
Patterns of Migration in the Late Middle Ages
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,07 |
| Citation span | 1986 - 2013 (28) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |