Origin and popularity of the name ENSIGN

Origin

Ensign : English: of uncertain etymology. From the 16th to the 19th century the English vocabulary word ensign denoted a junior rank of infantry officer which may be the source of the surname.

Fehnel : South German: nickname for the standard bearer of a town guild or occupational name for an ensign from a dialect diminutive of Fahne ‘flag banner’ (Middle High German van(e)).

Fenley : 1: Irish: from Ó Fionnghaile or Ó Fionnghalaigh see Fennell 2 and Fennelly.2: English: perhaps a variant of Scottish Finley or English Fendley.3: Possibly an altered form of South German Fähnle an occupational name for an ensign bearer from a diminutive of Middle High German van(e) ‘flag banner’ (from Old High German fano ‘cloth’).

Fenner : 1: English: from Middle English fen(ne) ‘fen marsh’ (Old English fenn) + -er a topographic name for someone who lived in or by a marsh or fen. Fenn Place in Worth in Sussex had owners called atte Fenne who in the time of King Henry VI (1421–1471) apparently changed their name to Fenner. See Fenn.2: English: variant of Fainer from Middle English feiner fener ‘haymonger one who sells hay’ (Old French fenier) or perhaps a nickname from Middle English feiner ‘inventor; hypocrite’.3: South German and Swiss German: occupational name for an ensign or standard bearer from Middle High German vener an agent derivative of Middle High German vane ‘flag’. See also Fenrich.

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Last name frequency

Geographic distribution of the 11,916 individuals with the name ENSIGN on Geneanet.

This last name in the family trees

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