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Surnames from nicknames nobody has any more

From the highly eclectic blog of Mark Dominus

Sometimes, the pattern is there but the name is unclear because it is a nickname that is now so uncommon that it is neatly forgotten. The fathers of John Watts, Watson, and Watkins were called Wat, which used to be short for Walter. (I had a neighbor who was called Hob, and told me his family claimed that it was short for Robert, but that he wasn't sure.

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