Origin
BARON : The word Baron is of Celtic extraction, and originally synonymous with man in general It has this meaning in the Salic law, and in the laws of the Lombards; in the English law, the phrase baron and. feme is equivalent to man and wife. It was afterward used to denote a man of respectability, a stout or valiant man; and Barone was also used by the Italians to signify a beggar. From denoting a stout or valiant man, it was employed as a name for a distinguished military leader, who having fought and conquered under some great commander, was afterward rewarded by him with a part of the lands which he had acquired. As a surname, it was originally Le Baron, The Baron. Gaelic, Baran, a baron.
BARRON : The word Baron is of Celtic extraction, and originally synonymous with man in general It has this meaning in the Salic law, and in the laws of the Lombards; in the English law, the phrase baron and. feme is equivalent to man and wife. It was afterward used to denote a man of respectability, a stout or valiant man; and Barone was also used by the Italians to signify a beggar. From denoting a stout or valiant man, it was employed as a name for a distinguished military leader, who having fought and conquered under some great commander, was afterward rewarded by him with a part of the lands which he had acquired. As a surname, it was originally Le Baron, The Baron. Gaelic, Baran, a baron.
BLACKWOOD : Local. This family derived their name from the lands of Baron Dufferin and Claneboye, in Scotland, called Blackwood.
FITZ GERALD : (Nor. Fr.) The son of Gerald, Fitz, a son, Gerald (Teutonic), all-surpassing, excellent. This ancient and honorable famlly is traced from Otho or Other, a Baron in Italy, descended from the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. Walter, son of Otho, came into England with William the Conqueror, and afterward settled in Ireland. Maurice Fitz Gerald assisted Richard Strongbow in the conquest of that kingdom.
LENNOX : (Gaelic.) Local. From the County of Lennox; Scotland. The original name was Leven-ach, the field on the Leven, from the river Leven, which flows through the county, called in Latin Levinia. The river was so called from Llyfn, in the Welsh, which signifies a smooth, placid stream. Leven-achs, for a while spelt and written Levenax, and finally Lennox. Arkil, a Saxon, a baron of Northumbria, who took refuge from the vengeance of the Norman William under the protection of Malcom Canmore, appears to have been the founder of the Lennox fannly.
MANNERS : (Fr.) From Manoir, and that from the Latin Manere, to stay or to abide. Lands granted to some military man or baron by the king, a custom brought in by the Normans. Manners, first Earl of Rutland, soon after his creation, told Sir Thomas More that he was too much elated by his preferment, and really verified the old proverb, Honores mutant Mares. Nay, my lord, retorted Sir Thomas, the proverb does much better in English, 'Honors change Manners.' It is the opinion of Camden that this family received its name from the village of Manor, near Lanchester, in Durham, England.
Origin of name provided by Jean Tosti
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