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The
Seventeen Principal Variants of Hodgson
An
error with the SHARE databases in all of its seven editions (1996-2003)
was the inclusion of over 1000 "variants" without any thought
as to their veracity or proven ties with Hodgson.
When the first database was being created prior to 1996, the IGI was
its primary source for just sheer numbers of records; it would take
time to incorporate data from original sources.
The problem was
that the IGI records included incorrect variants bunched together with
Hodgson. The IGI lumped together surnames that they claimed "sounded
the same", for example Hadgate, Hatson, Higson, Hodge, Hodgebloom,
Hodgeskis, Hodghkess, Hodgkes, Hodkies, Hodgkin, Hodgkinson, Hodgkiss,
Hogecase, Hoskie, Hotchkes, Hotchkiss, Hodgekiss, Hodgsyeard, Hudson
and a thousand more. The seven editions of the SHARE database
included them all without question or discussion.
It is about time
and long overdue at that to correct this anomaly. But, how do we determine
a list of principal Hodgson variants? How do we decide whether a surname
is derived from, or closely related to, Hodgson? What variants are most
important? These are the three questions raised by Geoffrey Hodgson
in "The Problem of Hodgson Variants" (SHARE Journal
August 2002 pp.1-7).
Geoffrey attempts
to answer his questions clearly and skillfully. He concluded, "I
am not proposing a complete list of variants but a list of principal
Hodgson variants ... for discussion." Did any discussion or followup
take place?
Geoffrey wrote,
"I have contrived a few rules, with the aim of deriving a manageable
and feasible list of principal Hodgson variants:
(1) A principal Hodgson variant must start with
a 'Hod' or 'Hog'.
(2) A principal Hodgson variant must finish with 'gen', 'geon', 'ghon',
'gin', 'gon', 'shon', 'son', 'sone', 'sonn', or 'sonne'.
(3)
A principal Hodgson variant must not include a 'k'.
(4) A principal Hodgson variant must have at least 100 cited records
of the name on SMD6 or subsequent version of the SHARE Master
Database.
"The first
two rules express the two key elements of the Hodgson name. The third
rule excludes Hodgkinson, Hodgkiss, etc. The fourth rule acknowledges...a
list of principal variants (based on) frequency of appearance in SMD6.
(In this analysis) Hodgson is by far the biggest variant, accounting
for nearly half of the names on SMD6 and over three-quarters of the
contribution in the records of the nearly 1200 variants on the SHARE
web site. This short list of 18 principal variants still includes some
that are quite rare. For instance, neither 'Hodgsonn' nor 'Hodgsonne'
appear on SMD6 after 1700. With these top 18 names there is 64.3 per
cent coverage of SMD6. These 18 names cover 98.1 per cent of the records
that are covered by nearly 1200 variants on the SHARE web site."
Geoff is proposing
"that the list of seventeen 'principal Hodgson variants' be as
follows: Hodgen, Hodgeon, Hodgeshon, Hodgeson,
Hodghon, Hodghson, Hodgin, Hodginson, Hodgon, Hodgshon, Hodgsone, Hodgsonn,
Hodgsonne, Hodshon, Hodson, Hogeson, and Hogson. With the
addition of Hodgson itself, this
comes to a total of eighteen names."
Not being advised
thus far of any change, the above will be the guiding light for any
future WHO updates of the Hodgson database (the last for SHARE
was SMD7 so the next update might be WHODAT8.)
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