Regarding the Puddephatt surname Keith Briggs wrote:
What is the evidence for "pudde" meaning 'stout'? The etymology
'stout barrel' looks like just a guess to me. Given that one can find the
surname Pudfot in 1320 (Calendar of Patent Rolls 14 Ed II), I suggest
rather that Puddephat is a compound with "foot", perhaps with "pud" 'paw'.
My response is that:
The first element of the name ‘Pudde’ is probably the dialectal ‘puddy’ or
‘poddy’ which in Old English meant round or stout in the belly . This came
from the Germanic root ‘pud(d)’ meaning to swell or bulge. (e.g. as found
in the word ‘pudding’ – which is something that swells up when cooked). In
Low German the word ‘puddig’ meant thick or stumpy. In Old English the word
‘puduc’ meant a wen (i.e. a fat spot or lump) and the dialectal ‘pod’ was
used to describe a large protuberant belly (in which form it still is often
used). In Modern English peas grow in a pod that swells up as the peas
inside ripen.
I think that the second element ‘Phatt’ is not ‘foot’ but ‘fat’ from the Old
English ‘fat’ meaning a vessel . With the introduction of the letter ‘v’
into English (it was not used in Old German) this word became our ‘vat’
meaning tub or cask. So someone given the name Puddephatt would be a person
with a prominent paunch.
In medieval England the ‘d’ would have been pronounced as a ‘t’. Thus
Pudifat (and Puddephatt) would have been pronounced ‘putifat’ or even
‘putifet’ . The ‘t’ pronunciation lives on in modern English words such a
pot and potty - a fat pot (or Pudifat) that goes under the bed.
The earliest reference to the name that I can locate is one Roger Pudifat
in Cambridgeshire in 1188. The same gentleman (or someone of the same name)
reappears in Hertfordshire in 1233 . In 1212 there was a Herbert Pudifat
in Yorkshire and in 1213 a Richard Pudefed in Oxfordshire. As spelling
did not start to become standardised until the 17th century and as spoken
English underwent a great vowel shift some two centuries earlier there are
many different written versions of the name. These include: Puddephatt,
Puddifoot, Pudifoot, Puddefoot, Pudefat, Pudifat, Pudfot and Podifat.
It would appear that the surname in its many different forms was largely
restricted to the counties of Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and
Hertfordshire. So it seems that for the past 900 years the Puddephatts
have not been great travellers.
My Mother always said that when she was at school other children called her
‘Pudding Fat’ – which is hardly surprising as her surname was Puddephatt.
So it appears that this nickname was not far off the original derivation of
the name.
Doug
________________________________________
From: The English Place-Name List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Doug
Rickard [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 10 November 2013 00:52
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Trowley Bottom
Some of my mother’s forebears came from the delightfully-named hamlet of
Trowley Bottom near Flamstead in north Hertfordshire some 6km south of
Luton. I have not been able to find out the origin of the Trowley part of
the hamlet’s name. Has anyone any ideas?
PS: My mother had the equally delightful maiden name of Puddephatt (i.e
stout barrel) and you will find Puddephat’s (sic) Lane running SW out of
Trowley Bottom.
|