Why are certain colours (e.g. Green, Black, White, Grey/Gray) common English surnames, but not others (e.g. Red, Yellow, Blue, Orange, Violet)?
Asked
Active
Viewed 98 times
2
-
Does this answer your question? What is the origin of surnames based on color? – livresque Dec 03 '22 at 02:26
-
Please see this site's help pages for advice about how to ask good questions. A long-time moderator provides useful guidance about demonstrating your research here. – MarcInManhattan Dec 03 '22 at 02:28
-
What would we give English people French names like orange and violet? Black and white sound more English. :) – tchrist Dec 03 '22 at 02:34
-
@livresque: No, that question and its answers do not address why e.g. Red, Yellow, Blue, Orange, Violet are not common English surnames. – Dec 03 '22 at 02:35
-
When Barney the Dinosaur and Avatar blue beings get here in real life, Purple and Blue might become more common surnames. – Tinfoil Hat Dec 03 '22 at 04:58
-
According to this, orange only came into use as a colour name in the early 16th century, by which time English surnames were already established. The name derived from 'red-haired' was Russell, not Red or Orange. – Kate Bunting Dec 03 '22 at 08:30
-
There is already the House of Orange, the Dutch royal family. – ahron Dec 03 '22 at 10:32
-
1@dakini - But that name is derived from a place in France, not the colour/fruit. – Kate Bunting Dec 03 '22 at 13:26