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  Redfield Coat of Arms / Redfield Family CrestThis ancient English surname of REDFIELD was a locational name 'the dweller at the reedy ford'. The name was originally rendered in the Old English form READFIELD. The earliest of the name on record appears to be John de RADEFIELD, who was recorded in the year 1209 in Northumberland, and Walter de REDFELDE was documented in Berkshire in 1203. Habitation names were originally acquired by the original bearer of the name, who, having lived by, at or near a place, would then take that name as a form of identification for himself and his family. When people lived close to the soil as they did in the Middle Ages, they were acutely conscious of every local variation in landscape and countryside. Every field or plot of land was identified in normal conversation by a descriptive term. If a man lived on or near a hill or mountain, or by a river or stream, forests and trees, he might receive the word as a family name. Almost every town, city or village in early times, has served to name many families. Robert REDFIELD (1897-1958) was an American cultural anthropologist who pioneered research into peasant societies and the process of urbanisation. From his initial study into an Aztec community near Mexico City he went on to publish many works and was professor of anthropology at Chicago until his death. It was not until the 10th century that modern hereditary surnames first developed, and the use of fixed names spread, first to France, and then England, then to Germany and all of Europe. In these parts of Europe, the individual man was becoming more important, commerce was increasing and the exact identification of each man was becoming a necessity. Even today however, the Church does not recognise surnames. Baptisms and marriages are performed through use of the Christian name alone. Thus hereditary names as we know them today developed gradually during the 11th to the 15th century in the various European countries. |
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