# A Non-Possessive Last Name.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-non-possessive-last-name/822280>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 1, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-non-possessive-last-name/822280 "2018-10-01T19:36:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-non-possessive-last-name/822280/21 "2018-10-04T23:39:21Z")

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> [@Yllaria](#):
>
> This does not prove that “Ate Children” was a surname but, together with the cite from **septimus** , it suggests a strong possibility. It fits with the usage of the time.

Here’s [an instance from the Dictionary of English Surnames (1991)](https://books.google.com/books?id=5sVq7VQlNwcC&pg=PA647):

> [@](#):
>
> John _atte Children_ 1267 […] Peter _ate Children_ 1317 […] Identical in formation and meaning with CHILDERHOUSE, from an unrecorded OE \*cildra-aern “children’s house, orphanage”.

Same dudes show up in [The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland](https://books.google.com/books?id=0AyDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA493). So in that case, at least, the name is not related to the placename “Chiltern” but rather to “Children” as in “orphanage”. The “atte/ate” is clearly a form of “at”, though.

Hey **Yllaria** , remember [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb///showpost.php?p=17035131&postcount=46)? 😃

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**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-non-possessive-last-name/822280/22 "2018-10-04T23:40:44Z")

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Ah, iron shrubbery. Brings back the bucolic yesteryear. _Et in Arcadia tu._

Actually, “so and so of the Green Gables” I’ve heard and still don’t understand, but at least I know what iron shrubbery is, or could be.

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**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-non-possessive-last-name/822280/23 "2018-10-05T00:44:50Z")

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West is a fairly common surname and means different things but one example is it was bestowed on some French soldiers who remained in England after the Battle of Hastings 1066. Well that is according to our family lore.

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**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2018, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-non-possessive-last-name/822280/24 "2018-10-05T01:07:23Z")

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> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> . . .  
> Hey **Yllaria** , remember [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb///showpost.php?p=17035131&postcount=46)? 😃

I suspected that I’d mentioned “ate Children” before, but forgot the rest of that post. I could live with the surname Hyperion.

Looks like the old link has succumbed to bit rot. So: [Hyperion](https://www.lacitysan.org/san/faces/home/portal/s-lsh-wwd/s-lsh-wwd-cw/s-lsh-wwd-cw-p/s-lsh-wwd-cw-p-hwrp?_afrLoop=9067476523994105&_afrWindowMode=0&_afrWindowId=4h6q2bxrv&_adf.ctrl-state=calotjpfz_139#!%40%40%3F_afrWindowId%3D4h6q2bxrv%26_afrLoop%3D9067476523994105%26_afrWindowMode%3D0%26_adf.ctrl-state%3Dcalotjpfz_143).

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