At 2:39:34 PM on Monday, April 7, 2008, Rick McCallister
wrote:
[...]
> I see your point --there aren't too many places called
> Waltons in Welsh speaking Wales , Scott is not a Highland
> last name and Langley and Inglis aren't (originally)
> English surnames.
<Langley> is a purely English locative surname, toponymic
from one of the many places named <Langley> or topographical
for someone who lived by a long clearing or wood. Were you
thinking of the French surnames <Langlais> and <Langlois>?
The specific form <Inglis> is of course Scottish, not
English, but the surname <English> in general is
linguistically English in origin and was used in quite a few
contact settings in Great Britain. In the south it may
sometimes have meant simply someone of native (as distinct
from French) stock.
Brian