WILLIAM TAN

Probably the most successful of all the Old French names of Germanic origin that were introduced to England by the Normans. It is derived from Germanic wil ‘will, desire’ + helm ‘helmet, protection’. The fact that it was borne by the Conqueror himself does not seem to have inhibited its favour with the ‘conquered’ population: in the first century after the Conquest it was the commonest male name of all, and not only among the Normans. In the later Middle Ages it was overtaken by John, but continued to run second to that name until the 20th century, when the picture became more fragmented.

Chinese 谭: from the name of the state of Tan during the Zhou dynasty. After Wu Wang established the Zhou dynasty in 1122 BC, he enfeoffed the state of Tan to a descendant of the model emperor Yu (2205–2198 BC), with the status of Viscount. Descendants adopted the name of the state Tan as their surname.