From Abba, a Northern variant of 'Abbey', first recorded in 1570, to 'Yoward', meaning a 'ewe herd', which first appears in 1379, this comprehensive dictionary of Yorkshire Surnames contains thousands of entries, each of which are treated to detailed explanations, not only of their linguistic meaning but also their geographical origin and their changing distribution through time. Each entry cites the sources, and the variant spellings through which many surnames have evolved in the last hundred years. The dictionary represents a lifetime of research by its well-known Huddersfield-based author and will be welcomed by all family and local historians and those involved in that grand endeavour, onomastics, the science of name study.From Abba, a Northern variant of 'Abbey', first recorded in 1570, to 'Yoward', meaning a 'ewe herd', which first appears in 1379, this comprehensive dictionary of Yorkshire Surnames contains thousands of entries, each of which are treated to detailed explanations, not only of their linguistic meaning but also their geographical origin and their changing distribution through time. Each entry cites the sources, and the variant spellings through which many surnames have evolved in the last hundred years. The dictionary represents a lifetime of research by its well-known Huddersfield-based author and will be welcomed by all family and local historians and those involved in that grand endeavour, onomastics, the science of name study.