Origin
LORD : A term of civil dignity, a master, ruler, the proprietor of a manor, derived from the Anglo-Saxon ord, which comes from ored, a governor, with the prefix of the letter L, le, denoting the person or place. Gaelic, ard, ord, high, lofty, the prime chief, superior. Lord has been derived from Hla-ford, which is compounded of Hlaf a loaf, and ford, to give, a bread-giver.
ADAIR : (Celtic and Gaelic.) Local. From Ath, a ford, and dare, from darach, the place of oaks, The ford of the oaks.'' There is the following tradition of the origin of this surname: Thomas, the sixth Earl of Desmond, while on a hunting excursion was benighted, and lost his way, between Tralee and Newcastle, in the county of Limerick, where he was received and hospitably entertained by one William McCormic, whose daughter he subsequently married. At this alliance, the family and clan took umbrage. Resigning his title and estate to his youngest brother, he fled to France in 1418, and died of grief at Rouen, two years afterward. The King of England attended his funeral. He had issue, Maurice and John; Robert, the son of Maurice, returning to Ireland, with the hope of regaining the estates and title of Thomas, his ancestor, slew Gerald, the White Knight in single combat at Athdare, the ford of the oaks, whence he received the name of Adaire. He embarked for Scotland, where he married Arabella, daughter of John Campbell, Lord of Argyle.
BALLARD : (Celtic and Gaelic.) From Ball, a place, a round elevation; and ard, high. The Gaelic word Ballart signifies noisy, boasting. Bal also signifies a lord, and ard, high.
CADWALLADER : (Welsh.) Derived from cad, battle, and gwaladr, a leader, a lord the leader or lord of the battle. Gwaladr would seem to come from gwal, a wall or defense, and adre, signifying at home or abroad, everywhere.
CHOLMONDELEY : (Norman.) Local. The place at the gorge or neck of the mountain; from Col, a strait or defile, and mond or mont, a hill. This name is pronounced Chum-ley. An English gentleman meeting the Earl of Cholmon-deley one day coming out of his own house, and not being acquainted with him, asked him if Lord Chol-mond-e-ley (pronouncing each syllable distinctly) was at home. No, replied the peer, without hesitation, nor any of his pe-o-ple.
ELIAS : (Hebrew) Signifies Lord God.
FLAHERTY : (Celtic.) A man of chiefkain-like exploits. From flaith, a lord or chief, and oirbheartach, noble-deeded; the man of noble deeds.
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.
GUELPH : A wolf; the surname of the present Royal Family of England. We have the following amusing tradition of the origin of the royal house of Guelph: It is told in the chronicles that as far back as the days of Charlemagne, one Count Isenbrand, who resided near the Lake of Constance, met an old woman who had given birth to three children at once, a circumstance which appeared to him so portentous and unnatural that he assailed her with a torrent of abuse. Stung to fury by his insults, she cursed the Count, and wished that his wife, then enciente, might bring at a birth as many children as there are months in the year. The imprecation was fulfilled, and the countess became the mother of a dozen babes at once. Dreading the vengeance of her severe lord, she bade her maid go drown eleven of the twelve. But whom should the girl meet while on this horrible errand but the Count himself, who, suspecting that all was not right, demanded to know the contents of the basket. 'Welfen,' was the intrepid reply (i e., the old German term for puppies or young wolves). Dissatisfied with this explanation, the Count lifted up the cloth, and found under it eleven bonny infants nestled together. Their unblemished forms reconciled the sorupulous knight, and he resolved to recognize them as his lawful progeny. Thenceforward, their children and their descendants went by the name of Guelph or Welf
HATTON : Local. A town in Warwickshire, England. The town on the height; haut, Fr., high. Haughton, the town in the meadow or vale. Houdt-ton, Dutch, the town in the wood. Shortly after the Conquest, Hugh Montfort's second son, Richard, being Lord of Hatton in Warwickshire, took the name of Hatton.
HENRY : Verstegan derives this name from Einrick, ever rich; others from Herrick, rich lord or master; Camden, from the Latin Honoricus, honorable. Kilian writes it Heynrick Heymrick, i.e., rich at home.
HERIOT : A provider of furniture for an army. A fine paid to a lord at the death of a landlord.
HERMAN : (Sax.) From Here, an army, and man. A man of the army; a soldier. Here and Hare signify both an army and lord.
HERMANCE : (Germ.) A ruler. Heermensch, Dutch, a master, from, Heer, a master, lord, or ruler, and mensch, a man.
HERR : (German.) Sire, lord, master.
LAIRD : The same as Lord, from L, the, and ord or aird, Gaelic, supreme, high, eminence, highness; Lerad, Laird, from radh, Gaelic, saying, declaring, expressing, aflirming an adage or proverb; giving or uttering law, from the verb abair. (See Lord.)
LANDSEER : (Dutch.) From Landsheer, a lord of the manor, fronitowd and heer, a master or lord.
MALLET : This name has been ascribed by some to a place so termed in Normandy; and by others to the courageous blows of the family in battle. Malleus, Maule, Mall, and Mallet was one of the offensive weapons of a well-armed warrior, being generally made of iron, and used to destroy by pounding or bruising the enemy through or under the armor, that could not be penetrated by edged or pointed weapons, Edward I was called Malleus Scotorum. All the families of this name in England trace their descent from the renowned William Lord Mallet de Graville, one of the great barons who accompanied William the Conqueror.
MA LET : This name has been ascribed by some to a place so termed in Normandy; and by others to the courageous blows of the family in battle. Malleus, Maule, Mall, and Mallet was one of the offensive weapons of a well-armed warrior, being generally made of iron, and used to destroy by pounding or bruising the enemy through or under the armor, that could not be penetrated by edged or pointed weapons, Edward I was called Malleus Scotorum. All the families of this name in England trace their descent from the renowned William Lord Mallet de Graville, one of the great barons who accompanied William the Conqueror.
MANNERS : (Fr.) From Manoir, and that from the Latin Manere, to stay or to abide. Lands granted to some military man or baron by the king, a custom brought in by the Normans. Manners, first Earl of Rutland, soon after his creation, told Sir Thomas More that he was too much elated by his preferment, and really verified the old proverb, Honores mutant Mares. Nay, my lord, retorted Sir Thomas, the proverb does much better in English, 'Honors change Manners.' It is the opinion of Camden that this family received its name from the village of Manor, near Lanchester, in Durham, England.
MATTHEW : (Hebrew) The gift of the Lord.
McDONALD : This family was for many centuries reputed the most powerful of any in the Highlands of Scotland, being styled King of the Isles, for many generations, during which they were successful in asserting their independence. Somerled, Thane of Argyle, flourished about the year 1140, and was the ancestor of all the McDonalds. He married the daughter of Olans, Lord of the Western Isles, whereupon he assumed the title of King of the Isles. He was slain, in 1164, by Walter, Lord High Steward of Scotland. Donald, from whom the clan derived their name, was his grandson.
McDONELL : This family was for many centuries reputed the most powerful of any in the Highlands of Scotland, being styled King of the Isles, for many generations, during which they were successful in asserting their independence. Somerled, Thane of Argyle, flourished about the year 1140, and was the ancestor of all the McDonalds. He married the daughter of Olans, Lord of the Western Isles, whereupon he assumed the title of King of the Isles. He was slain, in 1164, by Walter, Lord High Steward of Scotland. Donald, from whom the clan derived their name, was his grandson.
OCHIERN : (Gaelic.) A term applied to the heir apparent to a lordship, from Oig, young, and tierna, a lord.
OIGTHIERNA : (Gaelic.) A term applied to the heir apparent to a lordship, from Oig, young, and tierna, a lord.
OSTRANDER : (Dutch.) The lord of the east shore, from osie, east, stircmd, the shore, and heer, lord or master; he that must have his due of a stranded ship.
STEWART : Walter, the son of Fleance, and grand-son of Banquo, was created, by Malcom III. Lord High Steward of Scotland, from which office his family afterward took and retained the name of Stewart, and from them descended the royal family of Stuart.
TIERNAY : (Gaelic.) Tighearna, a lord, a judge, a landed proprietor. (See Tournay.)
TOURNAY : Local. From Tournay, a town in Artois, France, and may signify the tower or castle near the water. Tierna, in Gaelic, written Tighearna, means a landlord, a lord, or judge, and was applied to all great men, and is derived, according to Dr. MacPherson, from te or ti, an old word for one, and eren, land, as implying a landed gentleman; I think the root of the name is Tir, land, and earr or earran, a division, share, or portion.
VASSER : (Fr.) A corruption of Vavsaour, one who holds an estate next to a lord.
VICKERS : Vicar, the incumbent of a benefice; one who performs the functions of another. Vicar, Cor. Br., a Sovereign lord.
Origin of name provided by Jean Tosti
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