Origin
AMAKER : (LocaL) Derived from Amager, a small Danish island to the east of Copenhagen.
CHEDSEY : Local. From Chertsey, a town in Surrey, England, near the Thames, pronounced by the natives, Chedsey, meaning Cerot's Island.
COFFIN : Local. Cyffin, in Welsh, signifies a boundary, a limit, a hill; cefyn, the ridge of a hill. This name has its origin from Co, high, exalted, and fin, a head, extremity, boundary. This family settled early in this country, on the sland of Nantucket, near Cape God, where the name is very common. The following humorous lines, descriptive of the characteristics of the different families residing on that island, were written by one Daniel Allen, a native of the island, more than a hundred years ago: The hasty Coffin, fractious, loud, The silent Gardiner, plotting, The Mitchells good, the Barkers proud, The Macys eat the pudding; The Rays and Russels coopers are, The knowing Folger lazy, A learned Coleman very rare, And scarce an honest Hussey
CONTIN : Local. From Contin, a parish in Rosshire, Scotland, derived from the Gaelic Con-tuinn, signifying the meeting of the waters, alluding to the forking of the river Rasay, which here form an island.
DIXIE : (Sax.) Local. From the Saxon Dic, a ditch, dike, or fosse, and ea, water, or ig, an island.
DOWELL : (Welsh and Gaelic.) Dowyll, Welsh, shady, dark. Ynis Dowyll, the shady island.
ENNIS : (Celtic or Gaelic.) Local. An island or peninsula, made so either by a fresh water river or the sea. Ynys in the Welsh.
ENNES : (Celtic or Gaelic.) Local. An island or peninsula, made so either by a fresh water river or the sea. Ynys in the Welsh.
INNIS : (Celtic or Gaelic.) Local. An island or peninsula, made so either by a fresh water river or the sea. Ynys in the Welsh.
EYTINGE : (Saxon) Local. From Ey, Saxon, ig, an island, a watery place, and ing, a meadow the meadow on the island or near the water.
FAIRHOLM : Local. The fair island, or fair lands bordering on water; also, where a fair or market is held.
GARDINER : This name may be derived from the same roots as Gairden. It is probably, however, the same as Gardener, the orthography having been changed. Camden says, Wise was the man that told my Lord Bishop (Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester) that his name was not Gardener as the English pronounce it, but Gardiner, with the French accent, and therefore a gentleman. The principal family of the Gardiners in this country derive their descent from Lion Gardiner, a native of Scotland, who served under General Fairfax in the Low Countries as an engineer. He was sent to this country in 1635, by Lords Say and Sele, Brooke, and others, to build a fort, and make a settlement on their grant at the mouth of the Connecticut river. He built the fort at Saybrook, which name he gave to it after the names of his patrons Lords Say and Brooke. His eldest son, David, born at Fort Saybrook, in 1636, was the first white child born in Connecticut He afterward bought from the Indians the island in Long Island Sound, called by them Monchonack, and by the English the Isle of Wight, paying for it. as the old records say, a black dog, a gun, and some Dutch blankets. He removed there with his family, and gave it the name of Gardiner's Island. The island still remains in the possession of the family, having descended in a direct line from Lion Gardiner.
HALSEY : Local. From Hals, and ey or ig, Saxon, an island, water, the sea; the neck on the water, or running into the sea. The island neck.
HOLLAND : Local. A name given to a native of that country, which was so called from Hollow-land, because it abounds with ditches full of water. Bailey is of opinion that the Danes who conquered Holland, so called it from an island in the Baltic of the same name, from ol, beer, drink. Why not from Hold land, the land taken and kept, held, governed?
HOLME : Local. Meadow lands near or surrounded by water, grassy plains; sometimes an island.
HOLMES : Local. Meadow lands near or surrounded by water, grassy plains; sometimes an island.
HOME : Local. Meadow lands near or surrounded by water, grassy plains; sometimes an island.
HUME : Local. Meadow lands near or surrounded by water, grassy plains; sometimes an island.
ILSLEY : Local. Isles-ley, the place on the island.
INNIS : The same as Ennis (which see). This family is of great antiquity in Scotland, and derives its surname from the lands of Innia, a word supposed to be derived from the Gaelic Inch, an island, part of that barony being an island, formed by the two branches of a stream running through the estate.
INNES : The same as Ennis (which see). This family is of great antiquity in Scotland, and derives its surname from the lands of Innia, a word supposed to be derived from the Gaelic Inch, an island, part of that barony being an island, formed by the two branches of a stream running through the estate.
IRELAND : A name given to a native of that island. Ireland signifies West-land, from the Gaelic Iar, the West, and the Teutonic land, Welsh, Llan, a clear place, a lawn.
ISLIP : Local. A village near Oxford, England; the name signifies a place on the edge or brink of the water; an island.
LELAND : Local. Laland, an island in Denmark, the same as Leylande, the ancient manner of spelling the name, and denotes Low lands. In Welsh, Lle is a place, and Lan a church. Lan may signify any kind of inclosure, as Gwin-lan, Perlan, an orchard, a word applied to gardens, houses, castles, or towns.
LISLE : (Fr.) Local. L'isle, an island.
MENAL : Welsh. So called from Menai, a strait which divides the island of Anglesea from the coast of Wales. The Mena or Mona, worshiped by the Sequani, was the moon. The Gaels blessed the beams of this luninary that saved them from the danger of precipices, and Augustine says that the Gaelic peasants invoked Mena for the welfare of their women.
MOON : A corruption of Mohun, or it may be local, from the island Anglesey or Mona, so called, as some suppose, from mwyn, Welsh, mines, from its stone-quarries and mines; others derive it from mon or mona, alone, separated. Mwyn, Welsh, affable, pleasant.
MORSE : Probably a contraction of Morris. Mors, the name of a large island in Denmark, a marsh.
NYE : The familiar abbreviation of Isaac, among the Dutch. Noie, Danish, exact, precise, nice. Ny, Danish, new, recently produced. Lower gives the name from Atten-Eye, at the island.
OLMSTEAD : Local. A place or town by the green oaks, from Holm, an oak, and stead, a place. Holme, low lands on a river, an island.
PARIS : Local. The metropolis of France, on the Seine, anciently called Lutetia Parisiorum, Lutum, mud, from its situation in a marshy place. A place where the Pars or Peers met in Congress. Paro, to make civil or military arrangements; Paries, a wall, a walled town; Pert, as island.
RAMSEY : Local. From Ea, Saxon, water, or an isle, and Ram, Ram's Isle, a place in Huntingdonshire, England; where the family originated, and afterward settled in Scotland. Ramus, Latin, branches, young trees the isle of underbrush, branches, or young trees; a place where cattle browse. Reomasey, Saxon, from Reoma, the rim, edge, extremity, a border, and ey, an island.
RHODES : Local. From the island of Rhodes, in the Mediterranean Sea. Rhodes, a town in Guienne, France.
SEAFORTH : Local. The name of a projection of the sea on the east coast of Lewis, on the Long Island, Scotland.
VAN SLYCK : Local. From the channel called Het Slaeck, in the Netherlands, which makes Tolen an island. Slyk, Dutch, signifies dirt, mire. Van Slyk, from the dirt .
VAN TESSEL : (Dutch.) From Tessd or Texel, an island in North Holland.
VAN TASSEL : (Dutch.) From Tessd or Texel, an island in North Holland.
VAN ZANDT : (Dutch.) From the sand; or from Zante, an island in the Mediterranean.
WINCH : Local. A place in the county of Norfolk, England. Ynyis, Welsh, an island.
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