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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2005-08 > 1122968756


From: "John McEwan" <>
Subject: RE: [DNA] Re: German Surname?
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2005 19:45:56 +1200
In-Reply-To: <002e01c596ad$df8b8ae0$057e8b51@d6e4z6>


Dear Ken
Some more trivia about Wilde surname. There were 4,376 of them with that
spelling in the 1881 British census, and they clustered around
Lancashire, Cheshire and Shropshire, with smaller numbers in surrounding
counties. Because Lancashire contains a major urban area a density basis
may be better and identifies Radnorshire, then Shropshire then Cheshire.
These counties are adjacent and form a line between Wales and
Lancashire. By "eye" there appears to be little evidence of separate
origins for the surname.

Regards the Wild variant there were 12,249 of them in 1881 and highest
numbers were in Lancashire, West Yorkshire followed by Cheshire then
adjacent counties. There is a possibility for separate small groups in
Hampshire and Durham. On a density basis it is Derbyshire (highest in
Hayfield and Rochdale), Lancashire and Cheshire.

These results support others comments: the numbers strongly suggest
Wilde is an English variant spelling. The common geographical location
suggests it may well descended from the same stock as the "Wild" surname
or have occurred several times in the same region, but the final "e"
appears to have been dropped off for some families/regions.

John McEwan

Ken said

> I have a pedigree for haplotypes with surname "Wilde" and origins in
England. Is such a surname with "e" at end really English, or is it a
German transplant? When do the English keep a final silent "e" and when
is
it dropped?
>
> Ken
>
> ______________________________


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