Last names linked to AMIENS

Origin

Amias : 1: from Amiens (Somme in Picardy) the centre of the medieval trade in woad which made a blue dye used by dyers of wool cloth in English towns. In classical sources the place-name is recorded as Samarobriva Ambianorum a Celtic name meaning ‘the bridge over the river Somme’ plus the affix Ambianorum ‘of the Ambiani’ an ethnic name from Celtic ambi(o)- ‘around’ perhaps meaning ‘those on both sides (of the Somme)’ or possibly ‘the people of the world’. The affix in its ablative form Ambiānis has replaced the place-name which it once qualified and is the source of the current name Amiens. In England the name generally appears as Amias as in ‘merchants of Amias’ 1326 in London Letter Books E. 2: from the Middle English personal name Amias a variant of Amis see Ames. Thomas Amyas (1521) of Wethersfield in Essex was no doubt of the same family as Robert Amys Amyse Amyce Ameys (1462–78 in The Essex Review 61). Some of the surname examples listed under (1) with no preposition could also belong here. The two surnames were easily confused.

Firmin : French English and West Indian (mainly Haiti): from the (Old) French personal name Firmin from Latin Firminus a diminutive of firmus ‘firm resolute’ borne by several early Christian saints including two bishops of Amiens of the 3rd and 4th centuries. Compare Fermin.

Honore : French (Honoré): from the Latin personal name Honoratus derived from honor ‘honor tribute’. The name was borne by a 5th-century bishop of Arles and a 6th-century bishop of Amiens both of whom became popular Christian saints and contributed to the frequency of the name in the Middle Ages. This surname is also found in Denmark where it was brought by French Huguenots in the 17th century.

Quentin : 1: French: from the Old French personal name Quentin (from Latin Quintinus a suffixed form of quintus ‘fifth’) popular in France from the cult of Saint Quentin of Amiens a 3rd-century Roman missionary to Gaul. Compare Cantin and Quintin.2: English: variant of Quinton.

Quinton : 1: English: from the Old French and Middle English personal name Quentin Quintin (Latin Quintinus a suffixed form of quintus ‘fifth’) popular in France from the cult of Saint Quentin of Amiens and brought to England by the Normans. The surname was altered to Quinton by association with the placenames in 2 below.2: English: habitational name from from any of three places called Quinton (Gloucestershire Northamptonshire Worcestershire) or from Quainton (Buckinghamshire). The placenames probably derive from Old English cwēn ‘queen’ + tūn ‘farmstead estate’ or perhaps from Old English cwene ‘woman’ + tūn or an Old English personal name Cwēna + Old English connective -ing- + tūn.3: English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Saint-Quentin (Manche) in France or possibly from Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont (Somme) the site of the martyrdom of Saint Quentin of Amiens a 3rd-century Roman missionary to Gaul. It is not certain that this surname survived into the modern period.4: French: from a pet form of the personal name Quintin (see also 1 above).

Salvi : 1: Italian: patronymic or plural form of Salvo.2: Italian: from a short form of the personal name Diotisalvi (‘May God save you’) which was widespread in Italy in the medieval period.3: Catalan: from the personal name Salvi (from Latin Salvius a derivative of salvus ‘saved’) borne by various early Christian saints among them a 6th-century bishop of Albi and a 7th-century bishop of Amiens.4: Indian (Maharashtra): Maratha name of unexplained etymology.

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Last name frequency

Geographic distribution of the 130,861 individuals with the name AMIENS on Geneanet.

This last name in the family trees

See below the Geneanet members' family trees which contain the last name AMIENS