Origin
BAILEY : A name of office; a corruption of Bailiff, which is derived from the French bailler, to deliver. A municipal officer in Scotland corresponding to an alderman.
ALAN : Derived, according to Julius Scaliger, from the Sclavonic Aland, a wolf-dog, a hound, and Chaucer uses Aland in the same sense. Bailey derives it as the same from the British. Camden thinks it a corruption of AElianus which signifies sun-bright. From the same we have Allen, Allin, Alleyne. In the Gaelic, Aluinn signifies exceedingly fair, handsome, elegant, lovely; Irish, Alun, fair, beautiful.
ALLAN : Derived, according to Julius Scaliger, from the Sclavonic Aland, a wolf-dog, a hound, and Chaucer uses Aland in the same sense. Bailey derives it as the same from the British. Camden thinks it a corruption of AElianus which signifies sun-bright. From the same we have Allen, Allin, Alleyne. In the Gaelic, Aluinn signifies exceedingly fair, handsome, elegant, lovely; Irish, Alun, fair, beautiful.
ALLEN : Derived, according to Julius Scaliger, from the Sclavonic Aland, a wolf-dog, a hound, and Chaucer uses Aland in the same sense. Bailey derives it as the same from the British. Camden thinks it a corruption of AElianus which signifies sun-bright. From the same we have Allen, Allin, Alleyne. In the Gaelic, Aluinn signifies exceedingly fair, handsome, elegant, lovely; Irish, Alun, fair, beautiful.
BAILLIE : (Fr.) Baille, a bailiff; same as Bailey.
BARRY : Local. From the Barry Islands in Glamorganshire, Wales; so called, says Bailey, from Baruch, a devout man who was interred there.
BRIAN : (Gaelic.) The nobly descended, from Bri, dignity, honor, and on, diminutive of that to which it is annexed, belonging to it; Gaelic, gin or gen, begotten. Bri, Welsh, honor; briadd, honorary. Bailey derives Brian from Bruiant, French, clamorous. Brian, in the Gaelic, also implies one who is fair-spoken, wordy, specious.
BRION : (Gaelic.) The nobly descended, from Bri, dignity, honor, and on, diminutive of that to which it is annexed, belonging to it; Gaelic, gin or gen, begotten. Bri, Welsh, honor; briadd, honorary. Bailey derives Brian from Bruiant, French, clamorous. Brian, in the Gaelic, also implies one who is fair-spoken, wordy, specious.
BURTON : Local. A town in Leicestershire, England. The name signifies either the town on the hill, or, as Bailey says, the Bur-town, from the abundance of burs growing thereabouts. There are several places by this name in England.
DURHAM : Local. Acoording to Bailey, this word is derived from the Saxon Dun and holm, a town in a wood. It seems rather to come from the British Dour, water, and holm, land surrounded mostly by water. It may be derived from Dovre, which, in the British and Celtic, signifies a woody place, abounding in oaks; hence Doireholm or Dourham, that is, the place or town surrounded by woods.
HANSON : The son of Hans or John, same as Johnson. Bailey derives it from Han, the diminutive of Randall, the son of Randall.
HATFIELD : Local. From a town in Hertfordshire also in Essex and Yorkshire, England. Bailey says it is from Hat, hot, Sax., and field from the hot sandy soil Houtfield, the field in the wood, from hout, Dutch, a wood. Perhaps the same as Heathfield.
HOLLAND : Local. A name given to a native of that country, which was so called from Hollow-land, because it abounds with ditches full of water. Bailey is of opinion that the Danes who conquered Holland, so called it from an island in the Baltic of the same name, from ol, beer, drink. Why not from Hold land, the land taken and kept, held, governed?
KENDRICK : From the Saxon Kenrick, from Kennen, to know, and ric, rich rich in knowledge. Bailey derives this name from cene, bold, and rich, a kingdom a valiant ruler.
LEICESTER : From Leicester, a borough town in England. Saxon, Leagceaster, from Leag or Ley, a field or common, and cester, a camp or city, from the Latin Castrum; because, says Bailey, it was probably built hard by a leag or common; a camp of the Roman legion. (See Chester.)
NOTTINGHAM : Local. From the borough town of Nottingham, in England. Bailey says the name is corrupted from Snottingham, from the Saxon Snottenga, caves, and ham, a village, from the many caves and places of security found in that county.
OXFORD : Local. From Oxford, in England, on the Isis, the seat of the celebrated university founded in 806; from Ox, Anglo-Saxon, water, corrupted by the Angles or Danes from the Gaelic uisge or isk, and ford, a pass or way the ford across the Isis. Bailey derives it from Oxen-ford, the ford of the oxen, like the Greek Bosphorus, or from the river Ouse, and ford. The name of the river Ouse is derived from uisge, water.
PELL : Pell, according to Bailey, is a house; in the Welsh it signifies far off, at a distance.
WORCESTER : Local. A county and city of England, which Bailey derives from Sax. Were, a forest, and Cester, a camp or city. I prefer deriving it from Worcester, the city or castle of strife, from the Saxon Woer, war, strife, with which the ancient British name agrees, called Caerwrangon, the castle or fort of strife and contention. It was a boundary for many years between the Britons and Saxons. (See Chester.)
Origin of name provided by Jean Tosti
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