Origin
Baron : 1: French English Dutch Polish Czech Romanian and Croatian; Breton (also Le Baron): from Old French barun baron Middle English barun baroun Middle Dutch baroen Polish Czech Romanian and dialectal Croatian baron ‘baron’ (i.e. a nobleman ranking below an earl and above a knight) a title of nobility which was in England also awarded to certain freemen of the cities of London and York and of the Cinque Ports. As a surname it is unlikely to be a status name denoting a person of rank. Generally it referred to service in a baronial household or was acquired as a nickname by a peasant who had ideas above his station or applied to a man showing characteristics of a nobleman. See also 3 and 4 below compare Barron and Lebaron.2: French: habitational name from (Le) Baron the name of several places in various parts of France. Compare Lebaron.3: German: status name for a freeman or baron from barūn ‘imperial or church official’ a loanword in Middle High German from Old French (see 1 above).4: Spanish (Barón): nickname from the title barón ‘baron’ applied as a nickname or as an occupational name for a member of the household of a baron (see 1 above); or from an old personal name of the same origin in the sense ‘free man’ (compare 3 above).5: Italian (Veneto): variant of Barone.6: Czech (also Baroň): from a pet form of the personal name Bartoloměj (see Bartholomew).7: Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Bearáin (see Barnes 3).8: Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): artificial name meaning ‘baron’ from German Polish or Russian (see 1 above). In Israel the surname is often interpreted by folk etymology as being from Bar-On ‘son of strength’.
Barnish : English (Lancashire): nickname from Old French barnage a shortening of baronage a term denoting the attributes of a baron namely courage fortitude etc.
Barona : 1: Spanish: from the feminine form of Barón ‘baron’ (see Baron) applied as a nickname or as an occupational name for a member of the household of a baroness.2: Italian: probably from the feminine form of Barone. The name is concentrated in Sondrio province (Lombardy).
Baronian : Armenian: patronymic from Middle Armenian baron ‘baron nobleman’ a word of French origin also used as a respectful term of address. This form of the surname is found mainly in the US; in Armenia it is spelled (transliterated) Paronyan.
Barron : 1: Scottish: status name from Scots baron which in the Highlands denoted a small proprietary landholder. In Angus it alluded specifically to a tenant of one of the small baronies attached to the Abbey of Coupar Angus. The surname was taken by Scottish migrants to Ulster. Compare Baron.2: Scottish: shortened form of McBarron from Scottish Gaelic Mac a' Bharain ‘son of the baron’. See Baron and 1 above.3: Irish: from Mac an Bharúin. In Ireland this is the name of a family that is a late offshoot of the northern family of O'Neill.4: Irish and Manx: from Ó Bearáin ‘descendant of Bearán’ a personal name based on a diminutive of bior ‘stake spit spear’. See Barnes 3 and Barrington.5: Spanish: augmentative of Barro.6: Spanish (Barrón): habitational name from Barrón in Biscay or in some cases a variant of Barón ‘baron’ (see Baron).7: French: variant of Baron ‘baron’.
Feerick : Irish: variant of Ferrick from Mac Phiaraic ‘son of Piers or Peter’. The Piers in question is probably the 12th-century Norman baron Piers de Bermingham founder of the McCorish family of which this is a branch.
Ferrick : Irish (County Mayo): shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Phiaraic ‘son of Piers’. The Piers in question is probably the 12th-century Norman baron Piers de Bermingham founder of the McCorish family of which this is a branch. See also Feerick.
Fitzgibbon : Irish: from Anglo-Norman French fi(t)z ‘son’ (see Fitz) + the personal name Gibbon a Norman French pet form of Gilbert; ‘son of Gibbon’. This name has long been a widespread and important surname in Ireland and Gaelicized as Mac Giobúin. Sir Gilbert (Gibbon) FitzJohn illegitimate son of John FitzGerald 1st Baron Desmond (died 1261) was the ancestor of a line of Anglo-Norman aristocracy in Ireland who acquired the surname Fitzgibbon with reference to him. Gilbert and his Fitzgibbon descendants were known as ‘the White Knights’ on account of their fair complexion.
Fitzmaurice : Irish: from Anglo-Norman French fi(t)z ‘son’ (see Fitz) + the personal name Maurice (see Morris 1) ‘son of Maurice’. This surname is common in Ireland where it has also been Gaelicized as Mac Muiris. The Irish family of Fitzmaurice share a common Norman ancestry with the Fitzgerald family. They can be traced to Thomas Fitzmaurice whose brother Gerald was the ancestor of the Irish Fitzgerald dynasty. Their father was Maurice Fitzgerald a Norman baron (died 1176).
Kingsman : from Middle English king ‘king’ + the genitival inflection -(e)s- + man(n) ‘man’ denoting one who had commended his services to the king and not to some baron. Compare Walter Kingesbonde 1205 in Pipe Rolls (Northumb) Godwin Kingesreive 1208 in Feet of Fines (Lincs).
Lebaron : 1: French; Breton (Le Baron): variant of Baron 1 ‘baron’ with the French masculine definite article le.2: French: habitational name from Le Baron the name of several places in various parts of France. Compare Baron 2 and Lebarron.
Lebarron : Altered form of French Lebaron or Breton Le Baron.
Maude : English (of Norman origin):: 1: habitational name from Mold in Flintshire Wales which name derives from Anglo-Norman French mont haut ‘high hill’ (Latinised as mons altus) the Norman name for Bailey Hill on which the castle stood. The name de Montalt de Mohaut was borne by an Anglo-Norman aristocratic family who acted as castle wardens there but who had their chief seat in Riddlesden in Yorkshire where the surname proliferated as Mawhood and Maude. In the 17th century one branch of the family acquired lands in Ireland. The Maude baronetcy of Dundrum Tipperary was created in 1705 for Robert Maude. His son Cornwallis Maude Baron de Montalt was created first Viscount Hawarden in 1793. Mowatt is the Scottish form of the name from a different branch of the same family.2: occasionally from Middle English and Norman French female personal name Mahald or Maud which are Old French forms of ancient Germanic Mahthild (Latinised as Matilda) composed of the Germanic elements maht ‘might power’ + hild ‘battle’. This personal name partly owed its great popularity among Normans in England to the fact that it was the name of the wife (c. 1031–83) of William the Conqueror. Surnames derived from this personal name are found in many forms and spellings for example Mould and Moll">Moll.
McBarron : from Irish Mac an Bharúin Scottish Gaelic Mac a' Bharain ‘son of the baron’. In Ireland this is the name of a family that is a late offshoot of the northern family of O'Neill. In Scotland a baron was a small proprietary landholder see Barron.
Ratliff : English (Suffolk): habitational name from one or more of the places so named such as Radcliffe (Lancashire) Radcliffe on Trent and Ratcliffe on Soar (both Nottinghamshire) Radclive (Buckinghamshire) Ratcliffe Culey and Ratcliffe on the Wreake (both Leicestershire) Ratclyffe in Clyst Hydon Ratcliffes in Thorverton and Ratcliffes in Broad Clyst (all Devon) Ratcliff in Stepney (Middlesex) and Rackley in Compton Bishop (Somerset). The placenames derive from Old English rēad ‘red’ + clif ‘cliff bank steep slope’ (see also Rutley). A family of the name Radcliffe trace their descent from Sir Nicholas de Radclyffe. He is said to have been a knight who held the major of Radcliffe in Lancashire and served Roger de Poitou Baron de Marsey in the 11th century.
Vasseur : 1: French: status name from Old French vasseor vasseur a short form of vavasour a term of the feudal system for a tenant ranking immediately below a baron. Such a tenant would have been a prosperous man and the surname may have been used for someone in his service more often than for the man himself. The term vavasour is probably derived from medieval Latin vassus vassorum ‘vassal of vassals’ i.e. vassal-in-chief. Compare Levasseur Vassar and Vasser.2: Shortened form of French Levasseur a variant of 1 with fused masculine definite article le.
Vavasour : for a feudal tenant ranking immediately below a baron Old French vavas(s)our vavasseur Latin vassus vassorum ‘vassal of vassals’.
Voshall : English: variant of Vauxhall a habitational name from a place in Surrey so called on the south bank of the River Thames now part of Greater London. This was named in the 13th century as Faukeshalle ‘the Hall of Fauke’ a reference to Baron Falke de Breaulté who was granted the manor by King John in 1233. This was the site of a famous pleasure garden frequented by 18th-century Londoners.
Weir : 1: Scottish and English: topographic name for someone who lived by a dam or weir on a river from Middle English Older Scots wer(e) ‘weir; fish-trap’. Compare Ware and Wear. In northern England and lowland Scotland there has been much confusion with the Irish and Scottish Gaelic names in 2 4 and 5 below.2: Scottish: in Scotland this surname was sometimes used for Gaelic Mac an Mhaoir ‘son of the steward’ more often Anglicized as McNair.3: Scottish (of Norman origin): surname of a family of Blackwood (Lanarkshire) which is said to be descended from Ralph de Ver a Norman baron associated with William the Lion between 1174 and 1184. The change in pronunciation from Vere to Were would be unusual in Anglo-Norman French and the true source of the surname may lie elsewhere. One possibility is Wierre in Pas-de-Calais. Another possibility is that the surname may represent versions of the Norman surname de la Were ‘of the war’ a nickname for a warrior; see Warr.4: Irish: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Mhaoir ‘son of the steward’ (see McNair). This surname was formerly Anglicized as McMoyer whence Moyers. In Scotland it more often became McNair.5: Irish: Anglicized form based on an erroneous translation (as if from Gaelic cora ‘weir stepping stones’) of various Gaelic names such as Ó Corra and Ó Comhraidhe (see Corr and Curry).
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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
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