Traditional surnames are becoming extinct: farewell to the Footheads and Pauncefoots Debbie Kennett, from the guild, said: "There is a continual process by which some names thrive and some don't. The inheritance of surnames is purely random. Some die out and some increase exponentially. At the same time we have many more being introduced, including new hybrid, hyphenated names. An analysis by Mrs Kennett in her new book, The Surnames Handbook, has put the number of names now in use in Britain and Ireland at up to half a million, half of which have been introduced in the past century as a result of immigration. The figures are estimated from studying analyses of the electoral register and other sources. The exact number is not known, as no comprehensive database of Britain's surnames exists. Totals indicated by censuses and electoral registers are inflated by large numbers of incorrectly-entered names. The stock of names includes a core of about 400 "high frequency" ones, shared by at least 10,000 individuals. After that, there is a range from the more common to less common names, down to endangered ones used by just a handful of people. This category includes names such as Rowbree, which is derived from a farm near Hereford, which, in turn, got its name from an Old English term for a nearby hill; and Doogood, which is probably from a nickname for a well-intentioned individual. Also considered endangered are some names taken from months: February, April, September, October, November and December. Others, with fewer than 200 bearers in the UK, include Ajax, possibly brought over by Huguenot refugees in the 17th century; Edevane, thought to derive from an Old English description of "the younger happy one" or "the younger prosperous one"; and Slora, likely to be from Gaelic "sluagdach" ("leader"). Of those that are believed to have vanished, Foothead is thought to originate with a property near the foot of Spurn Head, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, while Bythewood could have come from a trade such as a carpenter; Pauncefoot - a name which appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, as Pauncevolt - was probably a nickname for a person with a fat belly, from the Old French word "pance" or "panch," meaning "stomach," and "volt," meaning "vaulted" or "arched." The surname is preserved in the name of the village of Compton Pauncefoot, in Somerset. The origins of Mackmain and De Rippe - another vanished name - are unclear. In her book, Mrs Kennett traces the history of British surnames from the Norman Conquest, when they first started to be used, initially among landowning families, and later among lower social classes. Many early surnames died out at the time of the Black Death in the mid 14th century, when their use was still not universal. By the start of the 15th century most English people had fixed hereditary surnames, although they spread more slowly in Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The book explains the origins of many British names and provides ways for people to find out about their own. Surname research is increasing in popularity, as part of a wider, growing interest in genealogy, which has been driven by more resources becoming available online. What's in a name? Four ways surnames were chosen: Place-names or landscape features, such as Hill, Wood, Bridges, Rivers, Green, and names ending in -brook, -ford, -land, -well, or -dun/-don (hill) Father's given name, such as Roberts, Rogers or Johnson. More rarely, from the female line, such as Emmett (from Emma) and Magson (from Margaret). Sometimes from shortened forms, such as Rix or Dixon, which derive from the name Richard. Occupational names describing trades, such as Smith, Taylor, Wright, Walker, Turner, Cooper, Ward, Parker, and Carter. Other names are derived from status or office: Abbot, Burgess, Chamberlain, Freeman, Reeve and Squire. Nicknames, which may describe characteristics such as Long or Little; qualities, such as Faithful or Smart; or family relationships, such as Brothers, or Bastard.