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To appreciate this early Norman surname
protocol the primogeniture must be understood. It is the
foundation of most locative names in Britain.
During the lifetime of the father it was
very uncommon for any family member to also use that same
surname. The chief paternal domain name could not be used except
where, unusually, it was used in both Normandy and England, but
even on this rare occasion it was customary to append a I, II or
III to the son's surname in England to differentiate from the
parent in Normandy.
On the father's death the eldest son
would inherit all, including the right to the surname both in
England and Normandy or Brittany. The younger sons usually
adopted the locative surnames of their own new domain, such as
Mallbank above, even though he is described as the Baron of
Nantwich, hence the backtrack relationship, between father and
younger sons became tenuous, and difficult to link.
On the eldest son's death, the rights
went to his sons, unless childless, in which case it went to the
next youngest son of the father, and he changed his surname from
the locative name which he had used for part of his life. Nor
were locative surnames taken lightly. These would be as
important, legally, as the knight's seal, and became his domain
name. They were charter proof of entitlement to his holding, his
new domain.
Most younger sons would never get to use
the family surname. Fitz names, prefixing the font name, were
believed to be a sign of bastardy, or, in those days known as
'natural' sons. However, a more plausible explanation, might be
that of a younger son who did not hold a domain, and could not
use his father's surname until after the father's death. Hence,
Fitz became a temporary surname, which sometimes held in its own
right.
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