Many surnames in English come from occupations, presumably those of the progenitor or his kin, such as
Some reflect lineal descent, such as
Some reflect clan location, for example
My question is, where do the rest come from? Some names are homonyms of color, of other nouns, or of terms that have no obvious current common meaning.
So what are the principal sources of surnames (perhaps the top two or three) other than occupation, location or parentage? And why are colors or common nouns (other than occupations) used as surnames?