Origin
Lay : 1: English: variant of Lee.2: Scottish: shortened form of McClay.3: German: habitational name from any of the places so named in the Rhineland near Koblenz and in Bavaria from lay(h) a word meaning ‘stone rock slate’.4: French: habitational name from any of several places so named in Loire Meurthe-et-Moselle and Pyrénées-Atlantique.5: Burmese: from a name element originally forming part of a compound personal name denoting the younger sibling. — Note: Since Burmese do not have hereditary surnames this name was registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.6: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 雷 see Lei 1.7: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 賴 see Lai 1.8: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surnames 李 and 黎 see Li 1 and 2.
Abadia : Spanish: topographic name or metonymic occupational name denoting a lay person who lived and/or worked at an abbey or nunnery (abadía from Latin abbatia) or a habitational name from any of several places called Abadía for example in Cáceres.
Bachmeier : German: from Middle High German bach ‘stream’ + meier ‘steward tenant farmer’ (see Mayer) denoting a farmer whose farm lay beside a stream.
Bauler : German: from a derivative of Paul a nickname for a lay person who worked at a Paulinian monastery or who was connected with one in some other way.
Beckert : German:: 1: nickname from Begehart ‘Beghard’ a member of a lay brotherhood founded in Flanders in the 13th century the male counterpart of the Beguines (see Beguin).2: enlarged form of Becker.
Boehner : German (Böhner):: 1: occupational name for a floorer an agent derivative of Middle Low German bönen ‘to cover with planks to lay a floor’.2: topographic name for someone who lived in a loft a variant of Boehne + the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant.
Broekemeier : Dutch and North German: distinguishing name for a tenant farmer (see Meyer) whose farm lay in a marsh (see Broeker).
Brunmeier : German: variant of Brunnmeier distinguishing name for a tenant farmer (see Meyer) whose farm lay by a spring from Middle High German brun(ne) ‘spring’. The surname Brunmeier is rare in Germany.
Churchman : 1: English: from Middle English chirch(e)man ‘clergyman; churchwarden; lay official responsible for church finances’. The earliest examples would have denoted a custodian or keeper of a church (Old English cyriceman) not a clergyman though the earlier sense had probably been superseded by the time the surname arose.2: Possibly an Americanized form (translation into English) of German Kirchmann (see Kirchman).
Converse : English: nickname from Old French convers literally ‘converted’ used to denote someone converted from secular to religious life in adult age or earlier a lay member of a convent. The Cistercian and Augustinian conversi were men living according to a rule less strict than that of the monks or canons engaged chiefly in manual work with their own living quarters and their own part of the church. They were numerous among the Cistercians in the 12th and 13th centuries often outnumbering the monks and were by rule illiterate. These lay brothers were employed on the monastic manors and granges where they were liable to fall into the sin of owning private property. They acquired a reputation for violence and misbehaviour (at Neath in 1269 they locked the abbot in his bedroom and stole his horses) and they were gradually replaced by more manageable paid servants.
Dammeyer : North German: distinguishing name for a tenant farmer (see Meyer) whose land lay near a dike or highway Middle Low German damm.
Delay : 1: Irish (Cork): shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Duinnshléibhe ‘descendant of Donn Sleibhe’ (see Dunleavy).2: English: variant of Delea a name of uncertain meaning possibly a variant of Duley.3: French: habitational name with fused preposition de ‘from’ denoting someone from Lay (Loire).
Dickmeyer : German: variant of Dieckmeyer a topographic name for a tenant farmer whose land lay close to a dike from Middle Low German dīk ‘dike’ + meier ‘tenant farmer’ (see Meyer). The surname Dickmeyer is very rare in Germany.
Duley : 1: English (of Norman origin): variant of Olley a habitational name with fused Old French preposition d'. Compare Dolley. Alternatively a variant of Dilley and perhaps occasionally a variant of Ulley (see Hulley) with fused Old French preposition. Early forms of the name have the appearance of a topographic name from Old French du ‘of the’ + Middle English le(y) ‘woodland clearing pasture meadow’ but this is an unlikely linguistic combination given that topographic names are typical of the lower classes of society who would not speak French.2: English (of Norman origin): perhaps from Anglo-Norman French du lai ‘(man) of the law’ (Old French lei loi Anglo-Norman French lai) but a Huntingdonshire family so named belonged to the upper gentry so it seems an unlikely origin. An alternative derivation from Anglo-Norman French lai a variant of Old French lac ‘lake’ is formally possible and might refer to one of the lakes in Huntingdonshire such as Whittlesey Mere but evidence is lacking for Anglo-Norman French naming of these features and it is not easy to see why an Anglo-Norman family might be named after one of them. This surname may not have survived into modern times. The du Lay family's principal holding was in Great Paxton (Huntingdonshire) held of the Honour of Huntingdon.3: English: perhaps a nickname from Middle English duely duly douly ‘lawful rightful’ although the circumstances in which this word might have been used as a name are not obvious.4: Scottish: perhaps a habitational name from Dowally (Perthshire) which is now part of Dunkeld. The placename derives from Scottish Gaelic dubh bhaile ‘dark black village’.5: Irish: variant of Dullea.
Fassnidge : from the lost place Fastendich which lay in or near West Wycombe (Bucks) recorded as Fastindige in 1197 Fastendich in 1269 and Fastyngdiches in 1477. The place-name derives from Old English fæsten ‘stronghold’ + dīc ‘ditch’.
Fellows : English: patronymic from Fellow from Middle English felau(e) ‘partner co-worker companion’ (late Old English fēolaga from Old Norse félagi which is composed of fé ‘fee money’ + legja ‘to lay place put’). In Middle English the term was used in the general sense of a companion or comrade and the surname thus probably denoted a (fellow) member of a trade guild. Compare Fear 1.
Grundmeier : German: distinguishing name for a tenant farmer (see Meyer) whose farm lay at the bottom of a valley (see Grund).
Guerin : 1: French (Guérin) and Irish (of French Huguenot origin): from the ancient Germanic personal name Warino Latinized as Guarinus a short form of various compound names based on the element warin ‘protection shelter’ or ‘guard’. The name was popular in France partly as a result of the popularity of the Carolingian lay Guérin de Montglave. This was the name of several Huguenot families who came to England as refugees at different times in the 16th and 17th centuries. The surname became established as a surname in Ireland (County Limerick) as early as the 16th century. Compare Garin Garing Gearing Geren Geron Gerren Geurin Guerrant and Ward.2: Italian (Friuli Venezia Giulia): variant of Guerino.
Hinnenkamp : North German: topographic name for someone whose property lay at the back of a village or beyond the main settlement from Middle Low German hindene ‘behind’ + kamp ‘enclosed field domain’.
Holtmeyer : North German: occupational name for a steward of woodland or a tenant farmer (see Meyer) whose farm lay by a wood (Middle Low German holt).
Kallmeyer : German: from a Germanized form of Slavic kal ‘marshland bog’ or from Middle High German Middle Low German kalc ‘lime’ + Middle High German meier ‘tenant farmer’ (see Meyer) hence a distinguishing nickname for a farmer whose farm lay on marshy land or near a lime pit.
Kirkman : 1: English (Lancashire): from Middle English kirkman ‘clergyman; churchwarden; lay official responsible for church finances’.2: Americanized form of German Kirchmann a cognate of 1 above or of its North German cognate Kerkmann (see Kerkman) and a very rare variant Kirkmann.
Klostermann : German: occupational name for a servant in a monastery or for a lay member of a monastic community from Middle High German klōster ‘monastery or convent’ (see Kloster) + man ‘man’. The surname may also have denoted someone who farmed land belonging to a monastery and who paid rent in the form of provisions for the monks.
Lamont : 1: Scottish and northern Irish: from the medieval personal name Lagman which is from Old Norse Lǫgmathr composed of the elements lǫg plural of lag ‘law’ (from leggja ‘to lay down’) + mathr ‘man’ (genitive manns).2: French: habitational name with fused definite article l' from any of the places called Amont in Haute-Saône and Haute-Vienne.3: Altered form of French Lamothe.
Mitchelmore : from a lost or unidentified place seemingly in Devon with a name deriving from Old English mycel + mōr ‘large moor’. One candidate is the lost Muchelmore in Southleigh (Devon) mentioned in various medieval deeds in Devon Record Office although the earliest bearers of the surname occur in the Salcombe area and it is more likely that its source lay here.
Mittag : 1: German: from Middle High German mittag ‘midday south’ hence a nickname for someone who lived or held property which lay to the south of a main settlement.2: Germanized form of Sorbian Mětak: from an augmentative derivative of the personal name Mět (see Mieth).
Orten : Norwegian: habitational name from a farmstead in Romsdal named Orten probably originally an island name from Old Norse Urptir from an unrecorded word meaning ‘place where seabirds lay their eggs’.
Priolo : Italian:: 1: (southern Calabria and Sicily): from priòlu southern Italian derivative of Greek priolos ‘prior; lay authority’ (itself a derivative of Latin prior) applied as a nickname for someone thought to resemble a prior or as a metonymic occupational name for a servant of a prior or some important lay personage. Compare Priore.2: habitational name from Priolo Gargallo in Siracusa province Sicily.
Priore : Italian: from priore ‘prior’ a nickname or occupational name which probably most often originated as a metonymic occupational name for a servant of a prior or some important lay dignitary. Compare Priolo.
Schrenk : German: from Middle High German schrenk ‘slanting crossed’ (from schrenken ‘to put across to lay diagonally’) possibly a metonymic occupational name for someone who did wickerwork or made fences.
Shiverdecker : Americanized form of German Schieferdecker an occupational name for a slater from Middle High German schīver ‘piece of wood or stone slate’ + the agent derivative of decken ‘to lay a roof’.
Snowden : English: habitational name from any of the many minor places called from hills where the snow lay long (Old English snāw ‘snow’ + dūn ‘hill’). In Yorkshire the name is either from High and Low Snowden in Askwith (Yorkshire) or Snowden Hill in Hunshelf while in Devon the name is probably from Snowdon in Buckfastleigh or Snowdon in Rattery. The precise sources of the name in other counties have not been identified. Snow End in Anstey (Hertfordshire) recorded as Snowdon in 1362 is a possibility but it is not known if it gave rise to a surname. Compare Sneddon.
Soller : 1: English: topographic or nickname from Middle English soler(e) solar(e) ‘upper chamber or story of a house’ probably used for a servant whose duties lay there.2: German: topographic name for someone who lived in a marshy place from Soll (variant of Sohl) the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant.3: South German (Söller): nickname for someone whose house had a characteristic arbor or sunroom attached or a loggia in the upper story from Latin solarium ‘sun room’.
Sutherland : Scottish (Caithness): habitational name from the Scottish county of Sutherland named with Old Norse súthr ‘south southern’ + land ‘land’ because the territory lay south of Scandinavia and the Norse colonies in the Orkney and Shetland Islands.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain, ©2021, University of the West of England
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
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