One-Name Study

I have taken the plunge. I have joined the Guild of One Name Studies and registered the name "Neville" as a one-name study. (http://one-name.org)

Neville is my maternal family name. The name itself is well researched since post the Norman Conquest the Nevilles were a Noble Family. It is also a common name - amongst commoners one could say - certainly not noble.

There has never been any suggestion that my family were descended from those noble lines. But it will be interesting to see the origins.

This is what it says on Ancestry

Neville Name Meaning

Irish and English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Neuville in Calvados or Néville in Seine-Maritime, both so called from Old French neu(f) ‘new’ (Latin novus) + ville ‘settlement’ (see Villa). Irish (Munster): assimilation of the Gaelic name Ó Niadh (see Nee) and sometimes of Ó Cnaimhín (see Nevin).

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press

I am intrigued by the source quoted here as Dictionary of American family names and that will be my first challenge to examine the source for the origin of the name. Where did "Dictionary of America" get the information.

My initial strategy

1. Seek advice from One-Namers on how to get started
2. Research the origins of the Neville name
3. What resources are there relating to the noble Nevilles
4. Are he origins of the Neville name consistent
5. Were the noble Nevilles diffused to commoners
6. Collect data and organise
7. Determine a system for organisation
8. Design a suitable database
9. Build a suitable website or websites
10. Find Neville volunteers.