Origin
Fenn : 1: English: topographic name in south-east England for someone who lived in a low-lying marshy area from Middle English fen(ne) ‘fen marsh’ (Old English fenn).2: South German: topographic name from Old High German fenni Middle Low German and Old Frisian fenne ‘bog’. Compare Fehn.3: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 馮 see Feng 1.
Fenby : English: habitational name from Fenby in Lincolnshire. The placename derives from Old English fenn ‘fen marsh’ + Old Norse bý ‘farmstead settlement’.
Fencott : from one or more of the places so named such as Fencote Abbey in Hatfield (Herefs) which is recorded as Fencote in 1086 Fancott in Toddington (Beds) recorded as Fencote in 1212 and Fancote in 1224 Fencott (Oxon) recorded as Fennecote in 1218 and Great and Little Fencote in Kirkby Fleetham (NR Yorks) recorded as Fencotes in 1270. The place-names derive from Old English fenn ‘fen marshy ground’ + cot ‘cottage(s)’.
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.
Fenning : English: topographic name from Middle English fen(ne) ‘fen marsh’ (Old English fenn) + -ing for someone who lived by a fen or marsh. Compare Fenn.
Fenton : 1: English: habitational name from any of various places in Yorkshire Lincolnshire Northumberland Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire so called from Old English fenn ‘marsh fen’ + tūn ‘enclosure settlement’.2: Irish: English surname adopted by bearers of Gaelic Ó Fionnachta or Ó Fiachna ‘descendant of Fiachna’ an old personal name Anglicized as Feighney and sometimes mistranslated as Hunt (see Fee 1 and Finnerty).3: Scottish: habitational name from Fenton in East Lothian.4: Americanized form of various like-sounding Jewish surnames for example Finkelstein.
Fenwick : English (northern) and Scottish: habitational name from either of two places in Northumberland or from one in Yorkshire all of which are so named from Old English fenn ‘marsh fen’ + wīc ‘outlying dairy farm’. There is also a place in Ayrshire Scotland which has the same name and origin. This last is the source of at least some early examples of the surname: Nicholaus Fynwyk was provost of Ayr in 1313 and Reginald de Fynwyk or Fynvyk appears as bailie and alderman of the same burgh in 1387 and 1401. The name is usually pronounced ‘Fennick’.
Gorvin : from Gorvin in Hartland (Devon) which is recorded as Garfin in 1204 or Gorwyn in Cheriton Bishop (Devon) which is recorded as Gorefenne in 1288 and Gorven al. Gorwin in 1696. The place-names derive from Old English gor ‘dirt dung filth’ + fenn ‘fen marsh marshland’.
Mavin : English (Northumberland and Durham): habitational name from Matfen in Northumberland which probably derives from the Old English personal name Mata + Old English fenn ‘fen marshland’.
Venton : English: habitational name from any of several places in Devon named with Old English fenn ‘fen marsh’ + tūn ‘farmstead estate’. See also Fenton.
Viney : English (Hampshire and Wiltshire):: 1: from one or more of the minor places called with Middle English fin-hawe ‘wood-heap enclosure’ (Old English fīn-haga) such as Viney's Wood in Crundale (Kent) Vinehall in Mountfield (Sussex) and the lost Vinals Farm in Cuckfield (also Sussex). Pronunciation of initial f- as /v/ was common in medieval Surrey Sussex and Kent.2: from Venhay in Rose Ash (Devon) named from Old English fenn ‘marsh’ + (ge)hæg ‘enclosure’. Pronunciation of initial f- as /v/ is typical of Devon dialect.
Woolven : 1: from the Middle English personal name Wolwin Wolvin (Old English Wulfwine wulf ‘wolf’ + wine ‘friend’). 2: occasionally perhaps from Wolvens Farm in Shere with Gomshall (Surrey) which is recorded as Fulefenne in 1241 and Woolvine in 1680. The place-name derives from Old English fūl ‘foul’ + fenn ‘fen marsh’.
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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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