Also linked was the increased popularity of using the names of saints for naming new-borns, which reduced the pool of given-names in play and stimulated a popular demand (and personal desire) for by-names—which were helpful in distinguishing an individual among increasing numbers of like-named persons.
Some forms originally included a preposition—such as by, in, at (ten in Dutch, zu in German), or of (de in French, Italian and Spanish, van in Dutch, von in German)—that was subsequently dropped, as in "de Guzmán" (of Guzman) becoming simply Guzmán.
[4] In some cases, the preposition coalesced (fused) into the name,[5] such as Atwood (at wood)[6] and Daubney (originating as de Albigni, from Saint-Martin-d'Aubigny).
[7] In the aristocratic societies of Europe, both nobiliary and non-nobiliary forms of toponymic surnames exist, as in some languages they evolved differently.
For example, Maliszewski is a toponymic surname associated with one of the places in Poland named Maliszew, Maliszewo, or Maliszów.