Origin and popularity of the name HOME

Origin

Home : 1: English and Scottish: variant of Hume.2: English: variant of Holm.3: English: habitational name from Home in Clifton on Teme or in Feckenham (Worcestershire) or from a minor place similarly named a variant of Hamm (from Middle English ham(me) with rounding of the vowel before the nasal consonant to give hom(me)).4: English: habitational name from Holme in Newton Saint Cyres (Devon). The etymology of this placename is uncertain.

Adebowale : from the personal name Adébò̩wálé (Yoruba adé bò̩ wá (sí) ilé ‘the crown has come home again’).

Ahlin : 1: Swedish: ornamental topographic or habitational name from an ornamental spelling of al ‘alder’ (also from placenames containing this word or from a placename such as Altuna of uncertain etymology) + the adjectival suffix -in a derivative of Latin -in(i)us ‘relating to’. In a topographic sense it could have been adopted on account of a prominent alder tree at the home farm.2: Slovenian: nickname derived from ahle ‘hackle teasel’.

Ahlman : 1: Americanized form of German Ahlmann: topographic name literally meaning ‘swamp man’.2: Swedish: ornamental or topographic name from an ornamental spelling of al ‘alder’ + man ‘man’ or a habitational name for someone from a place called with the element al. In a topographic sense it could have been adopted on account of a prominent alder tree at the home farm. Compare Allman and Alman.

Angers : French: habitational name from Angers in Maine-et-Loire France the capital of Anjou before the French Revolution. It was called in Latin Andrecavis being the home of the Gaulish tribe known as the Andrecavi in Roman times.

Baguio : Filipino: habitational name for someone from Baguio a mountain city in the Benguet province of northern Philippines home of the Ibaloy ethno-linguistic group whose name is derived from bagiw ‘moss’.

Bala : 1: Indian (Gujarat and Mumbai): Parsi name probably from Persian bālā ‘high exalted’.2: Indian (southern states): variant of Balan among speakers of Tamil and Malayalam who have migrated away from their home state. — Note: Since South Indians traditionally do not have hereditary surnames this name was in most cases registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to US.3: Polish: from a shortened form of the personal name Baltazar.4: Hungarian: from a pet form of the personal name Balázs a vernacular form of Blasius.5: Albanian: from the personal name Balë (definite form Bala) which could be ultimately derived from a South Slavic name beginning with Bal- (see Balic 2) or from Albanian balë ‘whitish having a white spot on the face or muzzle’ (compare 6).6: Albanian: nickname from balë (definite form bala) a term denoting a ‘(domestic animal with a) white spot on forehead or body’ or a ‘badger’.

Berkheimer : South German:: 1: habitational name for someone from either of two places called Berkheim near Biberach and near Esslingen in Württemberg. The placename is a compound of Old High German berg ‘mountain hill’ + the common suffix of placenames -heim (related to English home).2: in some cases possibly a habitational name for someone from any of various places in Hesse and Alsace named Bergheim.

Casbolt : from Middle English casbalde ‘bald head’ apparently a term of reproach: ‘Go home casbalde with þi clowte’ (about 1440 York Plays).

Dillenburg : German: habitational name from a place in Hesse now named Dillenburg but formerly called Dillenberg. This was the ancestral home of William of Orange (Willem van Oranje) of the house of Nassau.

Dogra : Indian (Punjab and Kashmir): ethnic name for a member of the Dogra community a Rajput (predominantly Saraswat Brahmins) and Sikh people. The name is said to be derived from Sanskrit dwigart desh ‘land of two hollows’ a reference to their ancestral home in Jammu which lies between Lake Mansar and Lake Surinsar.

Esterline : Americanized form of German Österlein or of its variant Esterlein: topographic name for someone whose home was to the east of a settlement from Middle High German ōster- ‘easterly’ + the hypocoristic suffix līn or a nickname for someone born at Easter from Middle High German ōster- ‘Easter’.

Fothergill : English: possibly a habitational name from an altered form of the placename Faggergill in Arkengarthdale North Yorkshire. This is recorded in 1280 as Fagardegile (‘sheep enclosure ravine’?) and was presumably the home of Robert de Fagardgill recorded in 1327. Arkengarthdale in Upper Swaledale is not far from Kirkby Stephen just over the county border in Westmorland where the earliest example of Fothergill (spelled Fothergall) is found in 1379. The long-standing social network that existed between Upper Swaledale and Kirkby Stephen families is illustrated by the marriage in 1663 in Grinton parish church of “William Harrison and Alice Fothergill of Mallerstang in the parish of Kirby Stephen”. If this is the correct origin obscure Fagard- has been replaced by Middle English fother futher ‘cart-load measure of weight used in selling lead’; Upper Swaledale and Arkengarthdale were areas of sheep farming and lead mining during the high Middle Ages and subsequent centuries. However there is no evidence that the placename was ever referred to as Fothergill.

Ganesh : Indian (southern states): from a personal name based on Hindi and Sanskrit gaṇeṣa ‘lord of the army’ (from gaṇa ‘army’ + īša). This is an epithet of the elephant-headed Hindu god the son of Shiva. Among Tamil and Malayalam speakers who have migrated from their home states it is a variant of Ganesan. — Note: Since South Indians traditionally do not have hereditary surnames this name was in most cases registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.

Gegenheimer : German: topographic name for someone whose home is across the way from gegen ‘against across’ + heim ‘home’ + -er suffix denoting an inhabitant.

Godley : English: habitational name found mainly in Yorkshire and Surrey from Godly in Rishworth (Yorkshire) or Godley Bridge in Surrey which was the home of Geoffrey de Godelegh in 1228 and William de Godelegh in 1332. However the place in Surrey may have been named after this family as was Godley's Green in Sussex. Godley was the name of a hundred in Surrey but it was not a settlement and the Surrey and Sussex families may have originated outside the county from Godley in Cheshire for example or from Goodleigh in Uffculme (Devon) both of which are known to have given rise to surnames. These are all named from the Old English byname Gōda meaning ‘good’ + Old English lēah ‘woodland clearing’.

Gonzaga : Spanish: habitational name from a place so named in Mantua Italy; this was the home of the ruling family of Mantua for almost four centuries whose most famous son was Saint Aloysius (Luigi) Gonzaga (1568–91) a young Jesuit who died in Rome nursing plague victims.

Hindmoor : apparently from Old English hind ‘hind female (red) deer’ or (bi)hindan ‘behind beyond’ + mōr ‘moor’ or perhaps mere ‘pool’. No such place-name has been identified and it may instead be a description of the first bearer's home.

Homewood : English (Kent and Sussex): topographic name for someone who lived ‘(by the) manor-house wood’ from Old English hām-wudu (hām ‘homestead’ + wudu ‘wood’). The placename still survives in various locations as such Home Wood and Holmwood.

Hume : 1: Scottish (Lowlands) and northern English: variant of Hulme with loss of l before the bilabial consonant /m/ as in the vocabulary word calm. See Holm and Home.2: Scottish: habitational name either from the barony of Home or from Hume (or Home) in Berwickshire from which the barony took its name. The placename derives from Old English hōum dative plural form of hōh ‘heel spur of land’.

Inwood : English: from Middle English in + wōde ‘in wood’. The surname may be topographic denoting one who lived or worked in a wood (or perhaps at the ‘in wood’ or ‘home wood’ i.e. the wood nearest the home farm (the main farm) of an estate as opposed to the ‘out wood’) or toponymic from a place so named such as Inwood in Lacock (Wiltshire).

Kong : 1: Korean: there are two Chinese characters for the surname Kong. One of these is borne by only one clan the other by two clans. One of the Kong clans claims Confucius as its ancestor the 53rd ancestor of Confucius having migrated from his home in China to Koryŏ and settled in Ch’angwŏn where his grave can still be seen today. The other two Kong clans the Kimhae Kong and the Munch’ŏn Kong clans both sprang from descendants of a famous T’ang Chinese scholar Kong Yun-po. A man named Kong Myŏng-nye founded the Kimhae Kong clan when he was exiled to Kimhae during the reign of Chosŏn King Sŏngjong in the latter half of the fifteenth century. The founder of the Munch’ŏn Kong clan Kong Chin-ŏn was banished to Munchŏn in Hamgyŏng province during the reign of Chosŏn King Sejong during the first half of the fifteenth century.2: Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 孔 meaning ‘hole’ in Chinese: (i) from the first element of the personal name Kong Fu (孔父) style name of Kong Fu Jia (孔父嘉) an official in the state of Song who was murdered in 710 BC. His son then fled to the state of Lu and inherited 孔 as his surname. The philosopher Confucius (551–479 BC) was one of his descendants. (ii) from the first element of the personal name Kong Kui (孔悝) style name of an official in the state of Wey (衛) (located mainly around present-day Hebi and Xinxiang in Henan province) during the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC). (iii) from the first element of the personal name Kong Ning (孔寧) style name of an official in the state of Chen (mainly in present-day eastern Henan province and northwestern Haozhou in Anhui province) during the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC). (iv) from the second element of the personal name Zi Kong (子孔) style name of a prince from the state of Zheng (located in part of present-day Shaanxi and Henan province) during the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC).3: Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 江 see Jiang 1.4: Chinese: Cantonese form of the surnames 龔 鞏 宮 公 弓 貢 and 恭 see Gong 1-7.5: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 鄺 see Kuang 1.6: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 康 based on its Hakka pronunciation see Kang 1.7: Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 亢 see Kang 2.8: Cambodian: written គង់ from a Khmer word meaning e.g. ‘(to be) invulnerable’.9: Cambodian: written កង same as Kang 9.10: Southeast Asian (Hmong): from the name of the Kong clan of the Hmong people in Laos China and Vietnam; in Chinese characters it is written 龔 or 鞏 (see Gong 1 and 2).11: Danish: nickname from kong ‘king’ or an occupational name for someone in the service of the king.

Konigsberg : 1: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) (Königsberg): habitational name from any of the twenty or more places in Germany Austria Bohemia Moravia and elsewhere named Königsberg in German literally ‘king's mountain’. The most famous of these is the city of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) in former East Prussia the home of the philosopher Immanuel Kant.2: Jewish (Ashkenazic) (Königsberg): artificial name from German Königsberg ‘king's mountain’. Compare Koenigsberg.

Krishna : Indian (mainly southern states): from a personal name based on Sanskrit krṣṇa ‘black dark’ an epithet of the eighth incarnation of the god Vishnu. Among Tamil and Malayalam speakers who have migrated from their home states it is a variant of Krishnan. — Note: Since South Indians traditionally do not have hereditary surnames the southern Indian name was in most cases registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.

Lako : Hungarian (Lakó): status name for a home owner as distinct from a tenant farmer a derivative of lak ‘house’.

Levander : Swedish: ornamental or habitational name of various origins. One 19th century bearer of the name a priest took it from the name of his home farm Hjärtungen translating Swedish hjärta ‘heart’ into Hebrew lev and adding the suffix -ander derived from Greek anēr (genitive andros) ‘man’. In another example the surname was taken from Levene a place in Västergötland province. This surname is also found in Finland.

Linden : 1: Dutch German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): plural form of Linde.2: Flemish and Dutch (Van Linden): habitational name from any of the places called Linden or Lienden in Brabant and North Brabant.3: Flemish and Dutch: shortened form of Vanderlinden.4: Swedish (Lindén): topographic ornamental or habitational name formed with the element lind ‘lime tree’ (also from placenames such as Lindesberg or Linde) + the adjectival suffix -én a derivative of Latin -enius ‘relating to’. In a topographic sense it could have been adopted on account of a prominent lime tree at the home farm. Compare Lindeen.5: English: variant of Lindon.6: Irish: shortened form of McLinden.

Loreto : Spanish Portuguese and Italian: from a short form of a Marian name Portuguese Maria do Loreto Italian Maria di Loreto a reference to the placename Loreto in Ancona province Italy the center of a cult of the Virgin Mary dating from the 15th century. Loreto is the site of the Santa Casa the childhood home of the Virgin Mary which according to legend was miraculously transported by angels from Nazareth to Loreto in the 13th century. The placename is from Latin lauretum ‘place of laurels’. Compare Loretto.

Narayan : Indian (northern and southern states): from Sanskrit nārāyaṇa ‘protector of all men’ an epithet of Vishnu. In the northern states it evolved into a surname from the final element of compound personal names such as Ramnarayan (from Ram the name of an incarnation of Vishnu + Narayan). Among Tamil and Malayalam speakers who have migrated from their home state it is a variant of Narayanan.

Norrington : English:: 1: (southeastern): from Norringtonend in Redbourn (Hertforshire) Northingtown Farm in Grimley (Worcestershire) or Norrington in Alvediston (Wiltshire). All three names are from Old English north in tūne ‘to the north of the village’.2: possibly a variant of Northampton a habitational name from the city of this name which was named with Old English north ‘north’ + hām + tūn ‘homestead home farm’.3: variant of Northington.

Paddle : 1: from an unrecorded Middle English personal name *Padel *Pedel (Old English *Pæddel) apparently attested in the Kent place-name Paddlesworth. For further possible bearers especially in Dorset London and the home counties see Peddle (2).from Middle English padel ‘long-handled spade paddle’. 2: in Gloucs and Somerset probably a late variant of Peddle (1). 3: perhaps from Padwell in Southampton (Hants) or a minor place similarly named with Old English or Middle English pad(e) ‘toad’ + Old English wielle Middle English welle ‘well spring’. There is a Paddle or Padwell (Cottage) in Edgcote (Northants) which may be of medieval origin and a lost or unidentified place called Padwell in 1411 near Great Yarmouth (Norfolk). However no medieval surnames have been found that can be linked to any of these places.

Pilgrim : English (southeastern) and German: from Middle English pil(e)grim Middle High German bilgerīn pilgerīm ‘pilgrim’ (from Latin peregrinus pelegrinus ‘traveler’) a nickname for a person who had been on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land or to some seat of devotion nearer home such as Santiago de Compostella Rome or Canterbury. Such pilgrimages were often imposed as penances graver sins requiring more arduous journeys. In both England and Germany Pilgrim was occasionally used as a personal name from which the surname could also have arisen.

Pitson : from Pitsham (Farm) in Cocking (Sussex) recorded as Pydesham 1477 in West Sussex Record Office COWDRAY/4733/4 and Pitsom 1823 in Place-Names of Sussex p. 16. Cocking is about twelve miles from Guildford (Surrey) where the surname Pitsom alias Pitson occurs in 1611. The place-name probably denoted the home (Old English hām) or enclosure (Old English hamm) of a man named with the Old English personal name *Pyddi or *Piddi.

Raj : 1: Indian (northern and southern states): from a personal name based on Sanskrit rājā ‘king’. In the northern states it probably evolved into a surname from use as the final element of a compound personal name such as Prithviraj ‘king of the earth’. Among Tamil and Malayalam speakers who have migrated from their home states it is a variant of Rajan. — Note: Since South Indians traditionally do not have hereditary surnames the southern Indian name was in most cases registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.2: Polish: nickname from raj ‘heaven paradise’ or a derivative of the verb raić ‘to pander’.3: Slovenian: probably a nickname from raj ‘heaven paradise’. Compare Ray.

Raja : 1: Indian Pakistani and Bangladeshi: from Sanskrit rājā ‘king ruler’ (see Raj). Among the Tamil and Malayalam speakers who have migrated from their home state it is a variant of Rajan.2: Muslim (Maghreb Iraq and Iran): from a personal name based on Arabic rajā’ ‘hope’.

Rajagopal : Indian (southern states): from a personal name based on Sanskrit rājagopāla ‘king of cowherds’ from rāja ‘king’ + gopāla ‘cowherd’. This is an epithet of the Hindu god Krishna who is said to have been brought up among cowherds. Among Tamil and Malayalam speakers who have migrated from their home states it is a variant of Rajagopalan. — Note: Since South Indians traditionally do not have hereditary surnames this name was in most cases registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.

Ram : 1: Indian: from a personal name based on Sanskrit rāma ‘pleasing charming’ the name of one of the chief incarnations of the god Vishnu. In the northern states of India it probably evolved into a surname from use as the final element of a compound personal names such as Atmaram (with Sanskrit ātmā ‘soul’) or Sitaram. Among Tamil and Malayalam speakers who have migrated from their home states it is a variant of Raman. In the epic poem Ramayana Rama is the elder brother of Lakshmana (see Lakshmanan). Compare Rama.2: Dutch German and English (East Anglia): from Middle Dutch Middle High German Middle English ram ‘ram’ either in the sense ‘male sheep’ or denoting an implement such as a battering ram or pile driver. Compare Ramm.3: Dutch: shortend form of a personal name composed with ram (from ancient Germanic hramn) ‘raven’ as in Ingelram or Bertram.4: Swedish: ornamental name from a placename element either from Old Norse hrafn ‘raven’ (Swedish ramm) or from dialect ramm ‘water meadow’.5: Jewish (Israeli): artificial name from Modern Hebrew ram ‘lofty’.6: Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): acronymic surname of uncertain etymology.

Rauch : German Swiss German and Jewish (Ashkenazic):: 1: variant of Rau.2: from Middle High German rouch German Rauch ‘smoke’ perhaps an occupational name for a blacksmith or charcoal burner or in the case of the German name a status name or nickname relating to a hearth tax (i.e. a tax that was calculated according to the number of fireplaces in each individual home). This surname is also found in France (mainly Alsace and Lorraine) Hungary Poland Czechia Croatia and Slovenia. In part it is a Gottscheerish (i.e. Gottschee German) surname originating from the Kočevsko region in Lower Carniola Slovenia (see Kocevar); compare Rauh.

Ross : 1: Scottish: habitational name from one or other of a number of Scottish and English places called Ross or Roos(e) especially Roose (Lancashire) and Roos (East Yorkshire). The placenames derive from a British ancestor of Welsh rhos ‘moor heath plain’ which is the sense of the cognate Gaelic word ros. The Scottish surname has at least three origins. First the Anglo-Norman family from Roos (East Yorkshire) was introduced to Scotland when Robert of Roos lord of Wark Castle (Northumberland) married Isabella an illegitimate daughter of King William the Lion. Second various families took the name from the province of Ross in northern Scotland and other places of that name. Third there were Norman families in Scotland by the 13th century who probably derived their name from Rots in Normandy (see 2 below). The descendants of Godfrey de Ros tenant of the de Morville lords of Cunninghame were major landholders in Ayrshire and almost certainly took their name from Rots. The Rose family of Kilravock (Nairnshire) may take their name from either of these three (see Rose). The lairds of Balnagown adopted the surname Ross after the earldom of Ross (to which they considered themselves rightful heirs) had passed into other hands through the female line.2: English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Rots in Calvados (France) probably named with the ancient Germanic element rod ‘clearing’ (compare Rhodes). This was the original home of a family de Ros who were established in Kent in 1130 and had major estates in Kent until well into the 13th century.3: English: habitational name from Wrose in Shipley near Bradford (Yorkshire) with re-spelling of Wr- as R- due to the loss of /w/ before /r/ in early modern English pronunciation. The spelling Wrose is no longer current. The placename derives from Old English wrāse ‘knot something twisted’ referring to the steep-sided hill on which the settlement stands with the sense ‘broken or twisting hill’.4: English and German: from the ancient Germanic personal name Rozzo a short form of various compound names with the first element hrōd ‘fame renown’ introduced into England by the Normans in the form Roce Rosce Rozo. Compare Rossell.5: Cornish: habitational name from one or other of a number of minor places in Cornwall called Rose Roose or Rowse (see Rouse) named with Middle Cornish ros ‘promontory hill spur moor’.6: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a breeder or keeper of horses from Middle High German ros German Ross ‘horse’; perhaps also a nickname for someone thought to resemble a horse or a topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by the sign of a horse.7: Americanized form of Jewish Rose 9.

Rumbelow : from any of the places named from Old English (æt) þrēom hlāwum ‘(at the) three mounds or barrows’ including The Rumbelow in Aston (Warwicks) which is probably home to the 1334 early bearer and Rumbelow in Wednesfield (Staffs). A third example of the compound occurs in the name of Tremelau hundred (Warwicks).

Song : 1: Korean: written 송 in Chinese characters 宋 denoting the Song kingdom. There are actually two Chinese characters for this surname covering sixteen clans. The smaller clan is the only clan to use another one of the two Chinese characters and it has only one or two households. The remaining clans all descend from a common ancestor Song Chu-ŭn (宋 株殷) who seems to have migrated from Tang China to Korea sometime during the Shilla period. Sixty percent of the Songs live in southern Korea.2: Korean (Sŏng): written 성 in Chinese characters 成 meaning ‘success’. There are actually two Chinese characters for the surname Sŏng but one of them is registered for just a single household. Only the common Sŏng clan the Ch’angnyŏng clan is treated here. This was founded by Sŏng In-bo (成 仁輔) just prior to the establishment of the Koryŏ kingdom in 918. According to legend Sŏng In-bo died in Seoul. His son set out to transport his father's body back to Ch’angnyŏng but the weather being poor he decided to stop for the night and finish the journey in the morning. When he awoke he discovered that his father's body was missing. Upon investigation he found that a tiger had dragged the body to a secluded grave site in the mountains near Ch’angnyŏng. It was there that the son buried his father and established his home. Many of the members of the Sŏng clan today live in the Ch’angnyŏng area of Kyŏngsang province. Compare Sung 5.3: Chinese: Mandarin form and Cantonese variant of the surname 宋: (i) from Song (宋) the name of a state (located in Shangqiu in Henan province) granted to Wei Ziqi by King Wu of Zhou (c. 1087–1043 BC). After the state was annexed by the state of Qi (located mainly in present-day Shandong province) in 286 BC some descendants of the royal family from the state adopted 宋 the name of the state as their surname. (ii) said to be traced back to the personal name Song (宋) personal name of a prince in the state of Zheng during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC).4: Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 松 meaning ‘pine tree’ in Chinese: It was said that Qin Shi Huang (259–210 BC) the first emperor of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) once took shelter from the rain under a giant pine tree on his way back to the palace after a ceremony. He later honored the tree and the local residents nearby adopted Song (松) as a surname.5: Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 桑 see Sang 4.6: Chinese: Hakka form of the surname 常 see Chang 1.7: Southeast Asian (Hmong): variant of Xiong 2.8: Cambodian: written សុង of Chinese origin but unexplained etymology (probably corresponding to one of the surnames above). The surname សុង also corresponds to the archaic Khmer word meaning ‘(to be) black as night’.

Srinivas : Indian (southern states): from a personal name based on Sanskrit šrīnivāsa ‘abode of Lakshmi’ or ‘abode of good fortune’ (from šrī a byname of Lakshmi wife of Vishnu also meaning ‘good fortune’ + nivāsa ‘abode’) an epithet of the god Vishnu. Among Tamil and Malayalam speakers who have migrated from their home states it is a variant of Srinivasan. — Note: Since South Indians traditionally do not have hereditary surnames this name was in most cases registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.

Stancliff : English: habitational name from Scout in Northowram (Yorkshire) recorded as Staynclif in 1309 and Stancliff Skoute (the home of Edward Stankliff) in 1536. The placename derives from Old English stān ‘stone rock’ with influence from Old Norse steinn ‘stone rock’ + Old English clif ‘cliff bank’ later with Middle English scoute ‘projecting cliff overhanging rock’ (Old Norse skúti). No evidence has been found to link the modern surname with other Yorkshire places similarly named.

Stancliffe : as Redmonds has shown this is from Scout in Northowram (WR Yorks) which is recorded as Staynclif in 1309 and Stancliff Skoute (the home of Edward Stankliff) in 1536. The place-name derives from Old English stān ‘stone rock’ with influence from Old Scandinavian steinn ‘stone rock’ + Old English clif ‘cliff bank’ later with Middle English scoute ‘projecting cliff overhanging rock’ (Old Scandinavian skúti). No evidence has been found to link the modern surname with other WR Yorks places similarly named such as Stancliffe in Kirkheaton Stonecliff Lodge in Shitlington Staincliffe in Bank Newton or Staincliffe in Batley. Derivation from Stancliffe Hall in Darley (Derbys) is difficult to assess since all the earliest forms cited in Place-Names of Derbys appear to be surnames and the Hall may therefore have been named from the family (a branch of the Northowram family?) which is recorded there since before 1231. Here belongs Alicia de Stanclyf 1381 in Poll Tax (Darley Derbys).

Sunder : 1: German (Sünder): topographic name from Middle High German sunder ‘separate’.2: Indian (southern states): from a personal name a variant of Sundar. Among Tamil and Telugu speakers who have migrated away from their home state it is a variant of Sundaram. — Note: Since South Indians traditionally do not have hereditary surnames this name was in most cases registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.

Toledo : 1: Spanish and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from the city in central Spain which was the capital of the Visigothic state between the 6th and 8th centuries. Its role declined for three centuries after the Muslim invasion of Spain until it was taken as the capital of the kingdom of Castile between the 11th and 16th centuries. It was a major cultural and political center throughout the Middle Ages and was also the home of an important Jewish community. The placename first recorded in Latin as Toletum is of obscure etymology possibly connected with Toleto in Piedmont; Jewish tradition connects it with Hebrew toledot ‘generations’ but this is no more than folk etymology. Compare Toledano.2: Jewish (Sephardic): also an adoption of the Spanish surname (see 1 above) at the moment of conversion to Roman Catholicism. After the return to Judaism (generations later) some descendants retained the surname their families used as Catholics.

Trujillo : Spanish: habitational name from the city so named in Cáceres province called in Latin Turgalium which is probably of Arabic origin. This place was the home of various conquistadors hence its great frequency in the Americas. Compare Truxillo.

Tufton : primarily from Tufton Place in Northiam (Sussex) the home of Matilda de Tuktone in 1332 but also from Tufton (Hants) which is recorded as Tokinton in 1189–99 and Tuketon in 1256. The Sussex place-name may derive from the Old English personal name Tucca + Old English tūn ‘farmstead estate’. The Hants place-name derives from the Old English personal name Tucca in the genitive case Tuccan + Old English tūn or Tucca + Old English connective -ing- + tūn.

Tunbridge : principally from Tonbridge (Kent) but occasionally from other places similarly named such as Two Bridge in Writtle (Essex) home to the 1274 bearer and Tunbridge in Stapleford Abbots (Essex) home to the 1323 bearer. The place-names derive from Old English tūn ‘farmstead estate’ + brycg ‘bridge’.

Twitchen : from Middle English twichen(e) ‘crossroads; place where two or more roads meet’ (Old English twicen(e)). The surname may be topographic for someone who lived in such a place or toponymic for someone from one of various places so named such as Touchen End in Bray (Berks) recorded as Twychene in 1274–75 Bonsey's Farm in Horsell (Surrey) recorded as Twichen in 1615 and home to the 1317 early bearer below and Twitchen (Devon). There are at least seven minor places in Devon named with the element six called Twitchen and one called Tutchenor. See also Titchener.

Twizell : from Middle English twisel(e) ‘fork (of a river)’ (Old English twisla). The surname may be topographic for someone who lived by a fork in a river or toponymic for someone from a place so named such as Twizel in Norham (Northumb) Twizell in Bamburgh (Northumb) Twizzle Well in Hawkesbury (Gloucs) or Twissell's Mill in Heathfield (Sussex) home to the 1379 Sussex early bearer.

Verburg : Dutch: shortened form of Van der Burg a topographic name for someone who lived by a fortification or a stately home Middle Dutch burch(t).

Vere : 1: English (of Norman origin): habitational name mostly from Vair in Ancenis named with Gaulish ver(n)- ‘alder’. This was the probable home in the 11th century of the Breton lord Aubrey (Albericus) de Ver who followed William the Conqueror to England and founded an influential family who held the earldom of Oxford until 1703. In a few cases the surname could be from other places in France such as Ver in Manche and Calvados which have the same etymology as Vair.2: French (mainy Vendée; Veré): variant of Vairé from Old French vairie ‘variegated spotted’ applied as a nickname for someone who has freckles.

Weyrauch : German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German wī(h)rouch German Weihrauch ‘incense’ hence a nickname for a priest or a metonymic occupational name for a seller of incense and spices or among Jews an artificial name. Incense was not used exclusively for religious ceremonies but was also burnt in the home as well as being used for medicinal purposes.

Zarse : German: probably from a short form of the medieval personal name Nazarius ‘Nazarene from Nazareth’ an allusion to Jesus's childhood home.

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Last name frequency

Geographic distribution of the 34,071 individuals with the name HOME on Geneanet.

This last name in the family trees

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