Origin
Alexander : 1: Scottish English German and Dutch: from the personal name Alexander classical Greek Alexandros which probably originally meant ‘repulser of men (i.e. of the enemy)’ from alexein ‘to repel’ + andros genitive of anēr ‘man’. Its popularity in the Middle Ages was due mainly to the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great (356–323 BC) - or rather to the hero of the mythical versions of his exploits that gained currency in the so-called Alexander Romances. The name was also borne by various early Christian saints including a patriarch of Alexandria (c. 250–326 AD) whose main achievement was condemning the Arian heresy. The Gaelic form of the personal name is Alasdair which has given rise to a number of Scottish and Irish patronymics for example McAllister. Alexander is a common personal name in Scotland often representing an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name. In North America the English form of the surname has absorbed cognates from other languages e.g. Spanish Alejandro Italian Alessandro Arabic or Assyrian/Chaldean Iskandar and Iskander and their derivatives e.g. Greek patronymic Alexandropoulos.2: Jewish: from the adopted personal name Alexander (see 1 above) or shortened from the eastern Ashkenazic (originally Slavic) patronymics Aleksandrovich or Alexandrowicz.
Alcock : English: from the Middle English personal name Alcok a pet form of any of the many medieval personal names beginning with Al- especially Alan and Alexander. The Middle English hypocoristic suffix -cok (see Cocke) was very commonly added to personal names in Middle English: compare for example Hancock and Wilcock.
Ale : 1: Spanish (Andalusia; Alé): unexplained.2: Italian (Sicily; Alé): probably a variant of Aleo.3: English: from the Middle English personal name Ale a short form of any of various personal names beginning with Al- such as Alexander Alice or Alison.4: English: variant of Hale with loss of initial H-.5: Dutch: from the personal name Aal or Ale a short form of any of various names beginning with Al- such as Albert or Alewijn. Compare Al.
Alkin : from the Middle English personal name Alkin a pet form of names such as Alan Alexander and Alice + the diminutive suffix -kin. Compare Alcock.
Buckie : from Buckie in Rathven (Banffs) which is recorded as Buky in 1362 and Bukkie in 1580 or from Buckie in Alford (Aberdeens) whose name derives from that of a local stream. The name may derive from Gaelic bucaidh ‘pimple knob’ but Alexander in Aberdeenshire Place-Names thinks it may be a stream-name.
Clennett : probably a late variant of Clemett itself a variant of Clement. Compare James Clemett 1614 Alexander Clennett 1803 in IGI (Tynemouth Northumb).
Colquhoun : Scottish: habitational name from the barony of Colquhoun in Dumbartonshire. The name appears to derive from Gaelic còil cùil ‘nook corner’ or coill(e) ‘wood’ + cumhann ‘narrow’. The usual Scottish pronunciation is ka-hoon. This is the name of a Scottish family descended from Umfridus de Kilpatrick who acquired lands in the barony of Colquhoun during the reign of Alexander II (1214–49).
Eskandari : Iranian: surname denoting descent from or association with someone called Eskandar (see Iskandar) in particular an association with Alexander the Great who in the 4th century BC conquered Persia and is known in Persian as Eskandar.
Glassborow : variant of Glazebrook with -brough and -borrow substituted for -brook. Compare Alexander Glasbroke 1586 in IGI (Wigan Lancs) James Glasbrook 1637 in IGI (Bolton Lancs) and Thomas Glassbrook 1764 in IGI (Deptford Kent) with the 1615 1658 and 1763 bearers below.
Grassick : from Gaelic greusaich griasaich ‘shoemaker’. The name often appears as Graissie Grassie or Gracy (see Gracey) and occasionally in the reduced forms Grasse and Grace (see Grace). Compare Alexander Greoschich 1669 in Alford Records with Peter Grasie 1759 in IGI both residents of Towie Aberdeens.
Hawken : English (Cornwall and Devon):: 1: from Middle English Haw a rhyming pet form of Raw (Ralph) + the diminutive suffix -kin. Hawkyn or Haukyn mean ‘young Ralph’. However in 13th- and 14th-century handwriting -u- and -n- are often written identically and some examples of Haukyn may therefore belong with Hankin. In The Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman (written before 1387?) Langland named his fictional everyman figure ‘Haukyn the actyf man’ which strongly implies that in the late 14th century Haukin was a recognizable pet form of an everyday personal name as Ralph was (see Ralph). Compare Haw 1 and Dawkins.2: sometimes perhaps a variant of Alkin with prosthetic H- and a post-1400 vocalization of Halk- to Hawk-. Alkin was a Middle English personal name a pet form of names such as Alan Alexander and Alice + the diminutive suffix -kin. Compare Alcock.
Hillcock : variant of Elcock with prosthetic H-. Compare Thomas Elcock 1583 in IGI (Nantwich Cheshire) with Elizabetha Hilcocke 1622 Alexander Ellcock 1663 Anna Hillcock 1694 in IGI (Acton by Nantwich Cheshire).perhaps alternatively from an unrecorded pet form of the Middle English personal name Hilary (see Hillary) + the hypocoristic suffix -cok.
Hilston : apparently a variant of Hilson with intrusive -t-. Compare Alexander Hillson 1778 Jane Hilston 1790 in IGI (Berwick upon Tweed Northumb).
Image : apparently from Old French Middle English image ymage ‘image; pictorial representation; sculpture’ so perhaps used to describe an artist sculptor or carver. However the lack of medieval evidence for the surname leaves open the possibility that it has a different source altered to Image by folk etymology or that it is a reduced form of the obsolete surname Imager attested in Alexander le Ymagour 1305 in London Letter Books B.
Iskandar : Arabic: from the personal name Iskandar Arabic form of Greek Alexandros (see Alexander) a name borne by the Macedonian king and conqueror Alexander the Great. In Lebanon and Egypt this surname is most common among Christians. Compare Eskander.
Mattock : 1: perhaps from Middle English mattok ‘mattock’ (Old English mattuc) for a maker or user of such a tool but this may be a misleading coincidence of linguistic form with that of the name in (ii). Some of the early bearers listed below may otherwise belong at (2).possibly from an unrecorded early Middle English personal name *Mattoc a pet form of Old English *Mætta (attested in place-names) + the Old English hypocoristic suffix -oc. 2: in Cornwall and Devon apparently a variant of Maddock with devoicing of /d/ to /t/. Compare Alexander Maddock 1602 George Mattock 1694 in IGI (Bradworthy Devon) and Mattocks. The name may have been confused with Madrick. With the Devon early bearers listed below compare John Mederyck 1524 in Subsidy Rolls (Wolborough and Newton Abbot Devon) and Lewes Maderick 1677 in IGI (Honiton on Otter Devon)
McAlexander : Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Alasdair (see McAllister) Alexander being regarded as the English equivalent of the Gaelic personal name Alasdair.
McAndie : from Mc(Sh)anndaidh ‘son of Sandy’ using a gaelicized form of the Scottish personal name (a pet form of Alexander). Compare Sandy (3) Sandison.from Gaelic Clann 'Ic Anndaidh or 'Ic Anndai (from Old Scandinavian personal name Sand(i)) the name of a sept on the island of Bernera; compare Sandy (2).in theory the name involved might be Old Scandinavian Andi a possible pet-form of the male given name Árnthorr.
Mordle : probably a variant of either Morden or Marden with /l/ substituted for final /n/ and rounding of the vowel in Marden and Mardon. See also Mardell and compare George Mordall 1595 Alexander Marden 1637 in IGI (Strood Kent); Joseph Mardle Rowlond Mordle 1710 Richard Mordle 1716 in Parish Registers (Knebworth Herts). In Devon and Somerset the name is perhaps a variant of Mardon.
Morphey : probably a reduced or altered form of Morfield or Murfield; see Merrifield a name found in various spellings in Cornwall Devon Wilts Hants Sussex Surrey and Kent. This is the perhaps the most likely source of the earliest examples in S and SW England but see (ii) for another source which seems to have arisen from the late 17th century onwards leading to possible confusion between names originally with -field and those originally with -foot. Compare the Stepney and the Saint Giles Cripplegate examples cited below with Susan Morefield 1611 Richard Morefield 1647 David Morfoot 1681 in IGI (Stepney Middx) and Thomas Morefield 1673 in IGI (Saint Giles Cripplegate London) although these could be different family names coinciding in the same parishes. With the Suffolk examples of Morphew etc. compare John Morfull 1547 in IGI (Woodbridge Suffolk).variant of Morfett (see Moorfoot). In Sussex and Kent this is illustrated by Dennis Morefoote 1551 Sarah Morfet 1696 Thomas Morfey 1759 in IGI (Wartling Sussex); Thomas Morfoot 1672 Thomas Morfee 1700 Thomas Morfett 1734 Zabulon Morphey 1745 in IGI (Hastings Sussex); Elizabeth Morfett 1745 Jeremiah Morphett 1758 John Morphey 1798 in IGI (Cranbrook Kent); Thos. Morfew 1747 Thomas Morfet 1755 Thomas Morfey 1750 in IGI (Guestling Sussex). A similar pattern of variation occurs in Norfolk: Walter Morefoote 1626 James Murfee 1687 Alexander Morfee 1701 Mary Morfew 1775 in IGI (Great Yarmouth Norfolk). There is early modern evidence for Murph(e)y as a variant of Morphey but 18th-century bearers listed below could alternatively belong with (iv).improbably from Anglo-Norman French morphé Middle English morphé morfe(e) morfeu morpheu murfue ‘morphea any one of a group of skin diseases characterized by discoloration of the skin and scurfy eruptions’. This is a medical term rather than an item of ordinary vocabulary from which a medieval nickname and surname might naturally have derived and the absence of corresponding medieval surname forms adds to the doubtfulness of such an origin. However the word was still current in early modern England and may have played a part in the alteration of the names in (i) and (ii) to Morphey and Morphew through learnéd folk etymology.see Irish Murphy.
Nally : 1: Irish: shortened form of McNally.2: English: from the Middle English personal name Nally a Middle English pet form of Alice Alison Alan or Alexander. Compare Nall.
Nalson : ‘son of Nall(y)’ a Middle English pet form of Alice and possibly of other names in Al- such as Alan Alexander and Alison. See Nall Nally.
Osprey : perhaps a variant of Horsburgh. Compare Janet Horsburgh 1672 Alexander Osbrugh 1679 in IGI (Prestonpans E Lothian); Lillias Horsbrough 1771 James Osperay 1857 in IGI (Falkirk Stirlings).
Philip : 1: Scottish English German Dutch and Jewish: from the Greek personal name Philippos (from philein ‘to love’ + hippos ‘horse’). In the New Testament this name is borne by one of the apostles; it was also borne by various other early Christian saints. It owes part of its popularity to the medieval romances about Alexander the Great whose father was Philip of Macedon. As a Jewish name it represents a borrowing of the personal name from Christians. As a Highland Scottish surname it represents an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Fhilib ‘son of Philip’. In North America the English form of the surname has absorbed cognates from other languages e.g. Spanish Felipe Catalan Felip Polish Czech Slovak Slovenian or Croatian Filip Albanian Filipi and their derivatives (see examples at Philips). The name Philip is also found among Christians in southern India (compare Philipose and Pothen) but since South Indians traditionally do not have hereditary surnames the southern Indian name was in most cases registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US. Compare Phillip.2: French (southern) and Breton (Finistère): variant of Philippe.
Ruddiman : perhaps a derivative of Scots rude in one of the many senses it shares with the corresponding English word + man; or perhaps an adjective derived from rud(e) ‘part of the complexion which is naturally red’ + suffix -ie as seen in the name of Alexander Ruddie 1646 in IGI (Leith Midlothian) in which case compare Ruddy (1).
Sandison : Scottish (Shetland): from the personal name Sandie Sandy (pet forms of Alexander) + -son. Hereditary surnames as opposed to patronymics did not become established in Shetland until the 18th century. Thus one family of Shetland Sandisons is descended from Alexander Harrison born c. 1700 at Delting and another from Christopher Alexanderson born 1681 at Northmarine himself presumably the son of an Alexander. Compare Sanderson.
Severe : 1: Breton and French (Sévère): from the French personal name Sévère from Latin Severus meaning ‘harsh austere’. Severus was the name of several Roman Emperors including Alexander Severus (died 235) born in Syria who was noted for his virtuous and studious character and his tolerance towards Christians. It was also borne by several early Christian saints. In France this surname is found almost exclusively in Brittany (Finistère).2: West Indian (mainly Haiti also Martinique and Guadeloupe; Sévère): from the French personal name Sévère (see 1 above) or a nickname from French sévère ‘severe’.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
FANBI : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain, ©2021, University of the West of England
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