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About 10 popular English male names are in fact the surnames of ancient English noble families. These became popular in the 19th century. Out of deference to our betters perhaps (see Gilbert & Sullivan's 'Pirates of Penzance, ..." we yield at at once, because with all our faults we love our House of Peers"!!!)? Or making a romantic connection with England's mediaeval history?
as follows:
Percy - surname of the Dukes of Northumberland
Vernon - surname of ancestors of the Dukes of Rutland
Howard - '' Dukes of Norfolk
Russell - '' Dukes of Bedford
Clifford - '' ancestors of the Dukes of Bedford
Dudley - '' Earl Dudley
Stanley - '' Earls of Derby
Seymour - '' Dukes of Somerset
Herbert - '' Earls of Worcester
Sidney '' '' Viscounts De Lisle & Dudley

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regards
Lucullanius