Origin
Cavendish : 1: English: habitational name from a place in Suffolk named Cavendish from an Old English byname Cāfna (meaning ‘bold daring’) + Old English edisc ‘enclosed pasture’. Cavendish is the surname of the Dukes of Devonshire. They are descended from Sir John Cavendish who served as Chief Justice of the King's Bench (1372–81). Under the Tudors and Stuarts a succession of shrewd and powerful heads of the family achieved political prominence and became extremely wealthy. William Cavendish 2nd Earl of Devonshire was a strong supporter of the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688 and of William of Orange (William III) against James II. In 1694 he was created Duke of Devonshire. The Latin family motto Cavendo tutus ‘safe through taking care’ is a pun on the surname.2: Manx: Anglicized form of Corjeag a shortened form of Mac Quartag ‘son of Svarteygr’ (from Old Norse meaning ‘black-eyed’). Folk etymology interpreted Corjeag incorrectly as Manx curjeig ‘alms-dish’ and equally incorrectly supposed that the surname Cavendish was a synonym meaning ‘giving-dish’. Manxmen's familiarity with the English surname presumably led to the substitution.
Clarence : 1: English: apparently from the name of the royal dukedom created in 1362 for Lionel the third son of Edward III who had married the heiress of the estate of Clare in Suffolk. It is a conventional rendering in French of the placename used in parallel with its conventional name in Latin Clarentia. These names are originally those of a similarly named city founded in the 13th century by the Norman Villehardouin dynasty in the Peloponnese Greece whose site is now called Glarentza and its application to Clare in Suffolk is a kind of toponymic pun. Formally the name is a parallel based on clarus ‘brilliant illustrious’ for other auspicious Latin names like Florentia as if ‘flourishing (place)’ and Valentia as if ‘strong healthy (place)’. The surname may simply have originated as a French habitational name for someone from Clare but playing on the ducal title or possibly for a man in one of the early dukes' service.2: French: variant of Clarens a habitational name from a place so named (Hautes-Pyrénées Gers).
Connop : from Cannop in the Forest of Dean (Gloucs) recorded as Konhop in 1282 (Place-Names of Gloucs III p. 227).
Drummond : 1: Scottish: habitational name from any of various places notably the barony of Drummond which is probably identical with the parish of Drymen (Stirlingshire) named from Gaelic drumainn a derivative of druim ‘ridge’. It has been said that the principal family of this name are descended from a Hungarian nobleman Maurice who accompanied Edgar Atheling and his sister Margaret to Scotland in 1068 where she married King Malcolm III. However there is disagreement on whether or not this was the case.2: English: occasionally perhaps from an unrecorded Middle English personal name Dromund (Old Norse Drómundr apparently from a word denoting a kind of Byzantine galley prevalent till the 12th cent. from Greek dromōn ‘runner’).
Ferdinand : German French English and West Indian (mainly Haiti): from an ancient Visigothic personal name composed of the elements farthu ‘journey expedition’ (or a metathesized form of frithu ‘peace’) + nanths ‘daring brave’. As a surname this is of comparatively recent origin in German-speaking countries and in France for the personal name was not introduced from Spain (see Fernando) until the late 15th century. It was brought to Austria by the Habsburg dynasty among whom it was a hereditary name and from Austria it spread to France. Iberian cognates are of more ancient origin and more frequently found today since the name was much favored in the royal house of Castile. It owes its popularity in large part to King Ferdinand III of Castile and León (1198–1252) who recaptured large areas of Spain from the Moors and was later canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.
Habgood : from Middle English habe have + god ‘may he have good’ (Old English habban gōd) applied as a nickname for someone who habitually used this expression. Compare John Havejoy ‘may he have joy’ 1523 in Subsidy Rolls (Kent); John Havelove ‘may he have love’ 1259 in Henry III Building Accounts.
Max : 1: German Flemish and Dutch: from a short form of the personal name Maximilian (from Latin Maximillianus a derivative of Maximillus a diminutive of Maximus ‘greatest’) borne by a 3rd-century Christian saint venerated particularly in the region of Passau where he founded a church. The personal name was comparatively rare at the most productive period of surname formation; it gained popularity from the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (born 1459) who was named by his father Frederick III of Austria in honor of the Roman heroes Q. Fabius Maximus and Scipio Aemilianus as if with a combination of their names. The name is also borne by Ashkenazic Jews presumably as an adoption of the German surname.2: English: variant of Macks.
Somerset : English:: 1: habitational name from the English county of Somerset which takes its name from Somerton in Somerset (see Summerton) + Old English sǣte ‘settlers dwellers’. The Somerset family who are Dukes of Beaufort are descended from the Plantagenets. The surname was assumed by Charles Somerset (1460–1520) illegitimate son of Henry Beaufort Duke of Somerset. The latter was himself descended illegitimately from Edward III through John of Gaunt. A later member of the family was Fitzroy Somerset (1788–1855) who as Lord Raglan was the commander of British forces in the Crimea one of the men responsible for the charge of the Light Brigade.2: possibly a habitational name from one or more places called with Old Norse sumar ‘summer’ + sætr ‘shieling hill pasture’ such as Summerseat in Elton (Lancashire) but decisive northern early bearers are lacking.
Theed : from an Old English personal name *Þēoda a short form of names with the first element þēod ‘people’ such as Þēodwulf. Alan son of Thede held land called Theduluesmere in Burstall (Suffolk) 1216–72 in Ancient Deeds iii. Compare Geoffrey Thedolf 1276 in Hundred Rolls (Bucks); John Thedwyne 1317 in Assize Rolls (Kent).occasionally perhaps from the Old English female personal name *Þēode or a name of which þēod ‘people’ was the first element. Compare Theberga vidua about 1250 in Ramsey Cartulary (Hunts); Richard Thedware 1252 in Ramsey Cartulary (Hunts); Gerbaga Thedlef 1327 in Subsidy Rolls (Suffolk).
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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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