Origin
Au : 1: Chinese: alternative Mandarin form of the surname 敖 see Ao.2: Chinese: Cantonese form of the surnames 歐 and 區 see Ou 1 and 2.3: Vietnamese (Âu): from the Chinese surname 歐 see Ou 1 and 2 above.4: Vietnamese (Ấu): written 幼 in Chinese of unexplained etymology.5: South German: topographic name from Au ‘water meadow stream’ (see Aue) or a habitational name from any of several places so named in Germany Austria and Switzerland.
Auble : 1: Americanized form of German Aubel.2: French (Aublé; Normandy): from l'homme au blé ‘the wheat man’ a nickname for someone who grew or sold wheat (French blé).
Aubuchon : French: patronymic from Buchon an occupational name from Old French buschon ‘lumberjack’ from (fils) au Buchon ‘(son) of Buchon’. Compare Beshaw and Obershaw.
Aubut : French (mainly Manche):: 1: nickname from au but ‘with the (long) torso’ from Old French buc bu(t) ‘trunk body’.2: alternatively perhaps an altered form of Aubaud Aubaut from the ancient Germanic personal name Adalbald composed of the elements adal ‘noble’ + bald ‘bold daring’.
Auclair : French: patronymic from Clair from (fils) au Clair ‘(son) of Clair’. Compare Leclerc 2 and Oclair.
Aucoin : French (northern and southwestern): from an Old French personal name Alcuin of ancient Germanic origin composed of the elements alh ‘temple’ and win ‘friend’ and borne by a famous English scholar and theologian (c. 735–804) an influential figure at the court of Charlemagne. The surname has been assimilated by folk etymology to the French phrase au coin ‘at the corner’. Compare Ocoin and O'Quinn.
Auer : German (mainly Bavaria): topographic name for someone living by a water meadow German Au or a habitational name for someone from a place called Au or Aue (see Au and Aue). This surname is also found in France (Alsace and Lorraine) Czechia and Slovenia.
Auvache : perhaps related to the French surnames Auvacher and Auvachey apparently from au vacher ‘of/to the cowherd’.
Dando : English (of Norman origin): habitational name for someone from Aunou-le-Faucon in Orne Normandy with fused preposition. Aunou was named for an alder grove from Latin alnus ‘alder’ + the Gaulish suffix -avum. In medieval England d'Aunou developed an intrusive -d- giving Dando. The surname was sometimes confused with d'Aunay or d'Auney (see Delaney).
Dauge : French:: 1: (Daugé): patronymic with fused preposition d(e) ‘of’ from Augé (see Auge).2: habitational name with fused preposition d(e) ‘from’ denoting someone from Pays d'Auge a region in Normandy or from any of several places named Auge (Ardennes Charente Creusse). Compare Dozier.
Dawn : 1: English (Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire): of Norman origin probably a clipped form of Dawnay or Dawney (compare Dana) habitational names from one of the many places in northern France named for an alder grove (Old French aulnai aulnoi Latinized as alnetum). With fused preposition d(e) Anglo-Norman d'Aunai became Dawnay Dawney and (with loss of the final syllable) Dawn. Laney is another form of this surname with fused definite article. See also Dando from Anglo-Norman d'Aunou with which d'Aunai may sometimes have been confused.2: English: from Middle English Dawen a variant of Dawes with the weak declension genitival suffix -(e)n (Old English -an) instead of the standard Middle English -es. The usage is mainly restricted to West Midlands dialects of Middle English.3: Americanized form of German Daun.
Dawnay : from one of the many places in northern France named for an alder grove (Old French aulnai aulnoi latinized as alnetum) such as Annay (Pas-de-Calais) Aulnay (Aube Marne Calvados) Aulnois (Aisne) and Aunay (Calvados Eure-et-Loir Seine-et-Oise). With fused preposition Anglo-Norman French d'Aunai became Dawnay Dawney and (with loss of the final syllable) Dawn. Laney is another form of this surname with fused definite article. See also Dando from Anglo-Norman French d'Aunou with which d'Aunai may sometimes have been confused.
Delaunay : French: habitational name with fused preposition de ‘from’ denoting someone from L'Aunay the name of several places in the northern part of France derived from Old French aulne ‘alder tree’. Compare Deloney.
Delaune : French: topographic name with fused preposition de and definite article l' ‘from the’ denoting someone who lived by an alder tree (see Aune 2); or a habitational name denoting someone from L'Aune the name of several places in the northwestern part of France.
Domaille : from Aumale Seine-Maritime France which is in semi-latinized form the source of the English noble title of Albemarle (several creations) with the preposition de ‘of from’. There are idiomatic expressions in Jersey French which suggest that maille and male were sometimes pronounced alike in the Channel Islands. In France itself Jehan Sire de Rieux de Rochefort et d'Ancenis signed himself as Comte d'Aumaille in 1489; a d'Aumaille family is recorded in Normandy in the 16th century.
Euler : 1: German: occupational name for a potter (most common in the Rhineland and Hesse) from Middle High German ūl(n)ære (an agent derivative of the dialect word ūl aul ‘pot’ from Latin olla) German Euler.2: Swiss German: topographic name from a diminutive of German Au ‘(small) wet field’. Compare Oyler and also Ayler.
Gochnauer : Swiss German: probably from Gauchenauer a habitational name for someone from a place called Gauchenau named with Alemannic gauch(e) ‘cuckoo fool’ + au ‘water meadow’ (Middle High German ouwe). The surname Gochnauer is no longer found in Switzerland or in Germany. Compare Gochenauer and Gochenaur and also Cochenour Coughenour Gochanour Gochenour Gochnour and Kochenour.
Hawman : 1: variant pronunciation of Hammond showing the common development of short a to au before m in words and names borrowed from Old French. It may have been confused with Almond and Orman. 2: for a dweller by an enclosure from Middle English hagh(e) haue ‘enclosure’ + man ‘man’. Some of the following early bearers may alternatively belong with (3) while the 1729 example may belong with (1) since Hammond is well evidenced in Gloucs since the 14th century. 3: ‘servant of someone named Haw’.
Jouett : Americanized form of French Jouet or Jouët: habitational name from any of several places in France so named e.g. Jouet-sur-l'Aubois in Cher. Altered ending reflects the Canadian and American French practice of sounding the final -t. Compare Jewett.
Laney : 1: Irish: probably a shortened and altered form of McElhinney.2: English and Irish: habitational name introduced by the Normans originally deriving from any of the many places in northern France called L'Aunai (from Latin alnetum ‘alder grove’). It may also have developed to Delaney.3: Variant of Laine 2 a surname of French origin.
Larner : English:: 1: variant of Lardner.2: from a local pronunciation of the rare Suffolk surname Lawney a habitational name possibly from places in northern France called Launay or L'Aunai (see Laney) but the earliest surname form de Lauueney (1327) fits better with a different French placename Lavenay (Sarthe) with vocalization of -v- to -w-.
Laverdiere : French (Laverdière): topographic name with fused definite article l' shortened from the title sieur de Laverdière which refers to L'Auverdière a place in Indre-et-Loire (France). This surname is not found in France. Compare Laverriere 1.
Mondor : French: habitational name from Mont-Dore in Puy-de-Dôme (named with Old French mont ‘mountain hill’ + a pre-Celtic element dur) or from (Le) Mondor the name of a few places in various parts of France and Saint-Didier au Mont-d'Or in Rhône (all named with Old French mont ‘mountain hill’ + or ‘gold’).
Nedrow : Americanized form of German Niederauer a topographic name for someone who lived ‘at the lower meadow’ from nieder ‘lower’ + Au ‘water meadow’.
Obas : Haitian: probably an altered form of French Aubas a patronymic from Bas from (fils) au Bas ‘(son) of Bas’.
Ozard : 1: possibly a respelling of French Ossourd thought to be a variant of Aus(s)ourd from (fils) au sourd denoting ‘(the son) of the deaf man’. 2: probably a variant of Izzard.
Pigney : 1: variant of Pinkney with simplification and voicing of [ŋkn] to [gn]. Compare Pickney. 2: from Pigny (Cher canton of Saint-Martin d'Auxigny) in France.
Rittenour : 2: Alternatively an Americanized form of South German Rittenauer a habitational name for someone from a place called Rittenau in Austria (from Ritten ‘steep slope’ + Au ‘wet meadow’) or Rüttenauer a topographic name from Middle High German riute ‘clearing’ + ouwe ‘wet field water meadow’ suffix -er denoting an inhabitant.1: Variant of Ritenour a surname of German origin (see Ridenour).
Von Der Au : German (von der Au): topographic name from von der Au ‘from the water meadow or river island’.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain, ©2021, University of the West of England
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
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