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Burwood Coat of Arms / Burwood Family CrestThe surname of BURWOOD was derived from the Old French 'burgweard' a name meaning 'fortress-guard'. The Normans had three kinds of names from different sources. First were names their Viking ancestors brought from Norway to France (8th Century). That's why they were Normans (Northmen). Second were names they found in France.The Franks (French) had come from Franconia in Germany and had crossed the Rhine to occupy the Roman Province of Gaul (5th Century) and called it France. They mixed Latin and German to create French, translating old Germanic names into it, ignoring existing Latin and Celtic (pre-Roman) names.The Viking Normans who also ditched their own language (except for the names) adopted French names as well. The third kind of Norman names were religious. They became Christians and the most religious of them used Saints names. The Normans between 1066 and 1170 conquered England, southern Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Sicily and southern Italy.They were followed everywhere by other French families and some Bretons (the pre-Roman Celts left in north-west France). To this day their names are found in Royalty, Politics and Big Business in these countries and in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States which their descendants colonised. Early records of the name mention Burewardus (without surname) who was documented in the year 1206 in County Suffolk. Ralph Borgward was recorded in the year 1299, and Robert Borewood appears in 1327 in County Suffolk. William Burghward and Austen Burward were mentioned in 1524 in County Surrey. The rise of surnames, according to the accepted theory, was due to the Norman Conquest of 1066 when Old English personal-names were rapidly superseded by the new christian names introduced by the Normans. Of these, only a few were really popular and in the 12th century this scarcity of christian names led to the increasing use of surnames to distinguish the numerous individuals of the same name. Some Normans had hereditary surnames before they came to England, but there is evidence that surnames would have developed in England even had there been no Norman Conquest. The development of the feudal system made it essential that the king should know exactly what service each person owed. Payments to and by the exchequer required that debtors and creditors should be particularized, and it became official that each individual acquired exact identification. |
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