In my response to Keith Briggs email I omitted to list the references which
were the basis of my claims for the origin of the name surname Puddephatt -
underlining that my claims were not simply a guess. Below I have
resubmitted my response, this time with references included. You will note
that I have relied heavily on ‘A Dictionary of English Surnames’ by Reaney
and Wilson - a work that, in the past, I have found to be very reliable.
However if you find other evidence that either supports or refutes my theory
I would be most pleased to hear of it.
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 (1) . 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 (2). 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’ (3) . 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 (4). The same gentleman (or someone of the same
name) reappears in Hertfordshire in 1233 (5) . In 1212 there was a Herbert
Pudifat in Yorkshire (6) and in 1213 a Richard Pudefed in Oxfordshire (7).
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 (8).
It would appear that the surname in its many different forms was largely
restricted to the counties of Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and
Hertfordshire (9). 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.
References:
1 ‘A Dictionary of English Surnames’, P.H.Reaney & R.M. Wilson, 3rd Ed.,
1995, Oxford University Press, UK
2 ‘A Dictionary of English Surnames’, P.H.Reaney & R.M. Wilson, 3rd Ed.,
1995, Oxford University Press, UK
3 ‘The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language’, David Crystal,
1995, Cambridge University Press
4 ‘Pipe Rolls Commission’, 3 Vols., London, 1833 – 4, Pipe Roll Soc., ‘The
Great Roll of the Pipe for the Twenty Sixth Year of Henry the Third’, Ed.
H.L. Cannon, 1919, Yale Hist. Soc.
5 ‘Curia Regis Rolls’, Pipe Roll Soc. 14, 1891
6 ‘Curia Regis Rolls’, Pipe Roll Soc. 14, 1891
7 ‘Sir Christopher Hatton’s Book of Seals’, L.C. Lloyd & D.M. Stenton,
1950, Oxford
8 ‘A Dictionary of English Surnames’, P.H.Reaney & R.M. Wilson, 3rd Ed.,
1995, Oxford University Press, UK
9 ‘The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames’, Basil Cottle, 2nd Ed., 1976,
Penguin Books, UK
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.
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