The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were the period in which most English surnames developed and became hereditary. Author Wendi Dunlap analyzes several thousand names found in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield in 1274-75 and 1350-52 to show naming practices in the West Riding of Yorkshire during this period of rapid surname development and discusses the way in which these names illustrate the roles, relationships, activities, and actions of the people of the late medieval Wakefield manor community.