This surname of BAFFIN was of Welsh origin, from the word BACH, and the name has three origins. It was a nickname denoting the small man; one who tilled the land, a farmer; or a locational name meaning the 'dweller near the brook'. The name is also spelt BACH, BAWGH, BAUGHAN, BAUGHEN, BAUGHAM and BOFFIN, Local surnames, by far the largest group, derived from a place name where the man held land or from the place from which he had come, or where he actually lived. These local surnames were originally preceded by a preposition such as "de", "atte", "by" or "in". The names may derive from a manor held, from working in a religious dwelling or from literally living by a wood or marsh or by a stream. The earliest home of the surname seems to have been in Great Rollright in Oxford, and it may well be possible that all present day bearers descend from a single family in this area, possibly of Welsh immigrants. An early record of the name mention Madog BACH who was recorded in 1391 in Wales. Fixed hereditary surnames began to be taken in Wales after the administrative union with England in the 16th century. At first, however, this development was confined to the classes who had dealings with the English bureaucracy, and the adoption of surnames did not become general until the 18th century and after. A later instance includes Richard BAWGH who was documented in the year 1545. During the Middle Ages, when people were unable to read or write, signs were needed for all visual identification. For several centuries city streets were filled with signs of all kinds, public houses, tradesmen and even private householders found them necessary. This was an age when there were no numbered houses, and an address was a descriptive phrase that made use of a convenient landmark. At this time, coats of arms came into being, for the practical reason that men went into battle heavily armed and were difficult to recognise. It became the custom for them to adorn their helmets with distinctive crests, and to paint their shields with animals and the like. Coats of arms accompanied the development of surnames, becoming hereditary in the same way. |
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