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Containing several thousand surnames - mainly English, but also Scotch, Welsh and Irish - this dictionary lays out the history and classification of family nomenclatures. The author cites the year 1000 as "the proximate date for the assumption of family names" and credits this assumption of surnames by England with being an "importation of the Norman Conquest." Arranged alphabetically, entries include the etymology of each name, its history and origin and whenever possible, the "epoch at which it first appears in our records." Cross-references to spelling variations are included. Introductory articles discuss "surname literature"; surnames in America; Scottish, Welsh and Irish surnames; and the classification and corruption of surnames.