The Universe of Discourse

Trollopes

A while back, discussing Vladimir Putin (not putain) I said

In English we don't seem to be so quivery. Plenty of people are named “Hoare”. If someone makes a joke about the homophone, people will just conclude that they're a boor.

Today I remembered Frances Trollope and her son Anthony Trollope. Where does the name come from? Surely it's not occupational?

Happily no, just another coincidence. According to Wikipedia it is a toponym, referring to a place called Troughburn in Northumberland, which was originally known as Trolhop, “troll valley”. Sir Andrew Trollope is known to have had the name as long ago as 1461.

According to the Times of London, Joanna Trollope, a 6th-generation descendant of Frances, once recalled

a night out with a “very prim and proper” friend who had the surname Hoare. The friend was dismayed by the amusement she caused in the taxi office when she phoned to book a car for Hoare and Trollope.

I guess the common name "Hooker" is occupational, perhaps originally referring to a fisherman.

[ Frances Trollope previously on this blog: [1] [2] ]

[ Addendum: (Wiktionary says that Hooker is occupational, a person who makes hooks. I find it surprising that this would be a separate occupattion. And what kind of hooks? I will try to look into this later. ]

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