Origin
ABERCROMBIE : (Celtic and Gaelic.) Local. The name of a parish in Fife, Scotland, on the northern shore of the Frith of Forth, whence the possessor took his surname; from Aber, marshy ground, a place where two or more streams meet; and cruvme or crombie, a bend or crook. Aber, in the Celtic and Gaelic, and also in the Cornish British, signifies the confluence of two or more streams, or the mouth of a river, where it flows into the sea; hence it is often applied to marshy ground, generally near the confluence of two rivers. It also signifies, sometimes, a gulf or whirlpool.
ACKERS : (Saxon) Camden derives this surname from the Latin Ager, a field. The name, however, is Saxon, and signifies the place of oaks, or oak-man; ac and ake being old terms for oak. The tennination er, in many nouns has the same signification as the Latin vir, a man as Plower, i.e., Plowman; Baker, Bakerman. Like oak, the first Acker might have been firm and unyielding in his disposition, or he might have used or sold acorns.
ACKLAND : (Saxon) Local. The name of a place in North Devonshire, England, whence the surname is derived; so called, because it was situated among groves of oaks from ack, oak, as above, and land.
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.
AINSWORTH : (British and Welsh.) Local. From ains, a spring, a river, and gwerth, a place, possession, or court. In the British and Gaelic, Aun, Ain, Au, Hain, Aon, and Avon, signify a river; the place or possession on the river.
AKERS : (Saxon) Camden derives this surname from the Latin Ager, a field. The name, however, is Saxon, and signifies the place of oaks, or oak-man; ac and ake being old terms for oak. The tennination er, in many nouns has the same signification as the Latin vir, a man as Plower, i.e., Plowman; Baker, Bakerman. Like oak, the first Acker might have been firm and unyielding in his disposition, or he might have used or sold acorns.
ARDAL : (Celtic.) Bravery or prowess. Ardol, local, Welsh, from or, upon, and dol or dal, a vale, on the vale, or a place opposite the dale.
ARDGALL : (Celtic.) Bravery or prowess. Ardol, local, Welsh, from or, upon, and dol or dal, a vale, on the vale, or a place opposite the dale.
ARMISTEAD : (Saxon) The place of arms.
ARMSTED : (Saxon) The place of arms.
ARMSTRONG : A name given for strength in battle. Historians relate the following tradition: This family was anciently settled on the Scottish border; their original name was Fairbairn, which was changed to Armstrong on the following occasion: An ancient king of Scotland having had his horse killed under him in battle, was immediately re-mounted by Fairbairn, his armor-bearer, on his own horse. For this timely assistance he amply rewarded him with lands on the borders, and to perpetuate the memory of so important a service, as well as the manner in which it was performed (for Fairbairn took the king by the thigh, and set him on the saddle), his royal master gave him the appellation of Armstrong. The chief seat of Johnnie Armstrong was Gilnockie, in Eskdale, a place of exquisite beauty. Johnnie was executed by order of James V., in 1529, as a Border Freebooter. Andrew Armstrong sold his patrimony to one of his kinsmen, and emigrated to the north of Ireland in the commencement of the seventeenth century. The Armstrongs were always noted for their courage and daring. In the Lay of the Last Minstrel, when the chief was about to assemble his clans, he says to his heralds: Ye need not go to Liddisdale, For whon they see the blazing bale, Elliots and Armstrongs never fail
ASOALL : In the Gaelic, means a sheltered place, a bosom, a covert. Aisgiodal or Aisgall was one of the Danish commanders at the battle of Clontarf near Dublin. The name is expressive of courage and strength. From this may be found the name of Hascall. If the name is of British origin, it would signify the sedgy moor, from Hesg, and hal or hayle low grounds, meadows.
ASGALL : In the Gaelic, means a sheltered place, a bosom, a covert. Aisgiodal or Aisgall was one of the Danish commanders at the battle of Clontarf near Dublin. The name is expressive of courage and strength. From this may be found the name of Hascall. If the name is of British origin, it would signify the sedgy moor, from Hesg, and hal or hayle low grounds, meadows.
ASHBY : (Sax.) Local. The house by the ash, or the village on a place abounding in ash-trees; by signifying a villa or habitation.
ATHOW : Local. The same as Athill; how or hoo, a high place.
AYRES : Local. Derived from a river, town, and district of the same name in Scotland. Air, Gaelic. Derivation uncertain. It may come from Iar, west the course in which the river runs; or Air, slaughter, the place of battle. The Celtic Aer, and the Welsh Awyr, signify, radically, to open, expand or flow clearly; to shoot or radiate. In Thorpe's catalogue of the deeds of Battle Abbey, we find the following legendary account of this name: Ayres, formerly Eyre. The first of this family was named Truelove, one of the followers of William the Conqueror. At the battle of Hastings, Duke William was flung from his horse, and his helmet beaten into his face, which Truelove observing, pulled off, and horsed him again. The duke told him 'Thou shalt hereafter from Truelove be called Eyre (or Air), because thou hast given me the air I breathe.' After the battle, the Duke, on inquiry respecting him, found him severely wounded (his leg and thigh having been struck off); he ordered him the utmost care, and on his recovery, gave him lands in Derby, in reward for his services, and the leg and thigh in armor, cut off, for his crest; an honorary badge yet worn by all the Eyres in England.
BALCOMBE : Local. From Bal, Gaelic, a round body, any thing thrown up; a buttding, house, town; and combe, a valley; the round valley; tin-works thrown up in a valley, or a dwelling in such a place.
BALLANTINE : Local. A place where Bal or Belus was worshiped by the Celts; from Bal and teine, fire.
BALLANTYNE : Local. A place of ancient pagan worship among the Celts, whose principal deity was Belen or Baal, the sun. To the honor of this deity, the Celts lighted fires on the 1st of May and Midsummer day. Baalantine signifies the fire of Baal, from Baalen and teine, Gaelic, fire.
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.
BANNATYNE : Local. The name of a place in Scotland, signifying the hill where fires were kindled.
BARRAS : (Saxon) Local. From Baerwas, Saxon, groves, a place among trees; a town in England.
BARROW : Local. A circular earthen mound, marking the place of interment of some noted person; also a place of defense. The name of a river in Ireland.
BARSTOW : Local. May have various significations. Barr, the top of a hill, and stow, a place or depository. Bar, in the Gaelic, Welsh, and Cornish-British, means the summit or top of any thing. The Gaelic or Irish aran and barr, signify bread, a crop of grain; Welsh, bar, bread, an ear of corn; Saxon, bar and bere, corn, barley. Barstow, a place where grain is stored.
BATH : (Sax.) Local. A town in the county of Somerset, Eng., famous for its hot baths; so named from the Saxon, bad, Teutonic, bad, a place to bathe or wash in. It was called by the Saxons Acmanceaster, or the sick folks' town; and by the Britons, Caerbaddon, from Caer, a fortified place or city, and baddon, a bathing-place, from badd, a bath.
BATHURST : (Sax.) Local. From Bath, as above, and hurst, a place of fruit-trees, a wood or grove. Boothhurst, the house or lodge in the grove.
BEAUVAIS : (Fr.) De Beauvais. From a town in France of that name, signifying the sightly or beautiful place.
BECKWITH : Local. The same as Beckworth, the farm or place by the brook, from beck, a brook, and worth, a farm.
BEDFORD : Local. A town and shire in England; from the Saxon bedan, battle, war, slaughter, and ford, a way or shallow place for crossing a river. Byddin-ffordd, Welsh, the route or way of the army.
BEERS : Local. From Beer, a town in Dorsetshire, England; so called from here, grain, barley; a fruitful place. In the Dutch, beer signifies a bear, a boar.
BELDEN : (Cor. Br.) The beautiful hill; or Beildin, the hffl of Belus, a place of Druid-worship.
BEVERLY : Local. From the borough of Beverly in Yorkshire, England; from Belvoir, a beautiful prospect, and ley, a place or field. Some say the lake of beavers, from Beverlac, and so called from the beavers which abounded in the river Hull, near by.
BEWLEY : A corruption of the French Beaulieu, that is, a beautiful place.
BICKERSTETH : Supposed to come from the Welsh word bicra, to fight, to bicker, and steth, a corruption of staff, used for tilting or skirmishing. Probably taken from the sign of an inn. Beker (Dutch), is a drinking-cup, Bekeren, to drink, to tipple, guzzle, with the termination steth, for sted, a place.
BIGSBY : (Danish.) The place near the town; from bigs, near, and by, the town.
BING : (Danish.) Local. Any thing that incloses; from the Danish binge, a pen, a bin, a corn-bin; a name given to a place where supplies or provisions were kept.
BINGHAM : Local. From the town of Bingham, in Nottinghamshire, so named from the Danish Bing, a place where provisions were deposited; and ham, a town or village. Bingham, a depository for grain; a place tilled, inhabited.
BLAIR : (Celtic.) Local. From Blair or Blar, which originally signified a cleared plain,' but from the Celts generally choosing such plains for their fields of battle, blair came to signify a battle. There is a small village called the Blair near Lochord, about two miles from Lochleven, in Fifeshire, Scotland. It signifies a spot where a battle was fought, locus pugnae. Here, it is supposed, an engagement took place between the Romans and the Caledonians, a.d. 83.
BLASEDALE : Local. A place in Lancashire, England.
BOLSTER : (Cor. Br.) Local. A place in St. Agnes, Wales, and signifies an entrenchment; from Bolla, a casting or throwing up, and ter, the earth. Bolwestur, Welsh, a Hanger-on.
BOUGHTON : Local. From Boughton, a place in Northamptonshire, England; the bowing or bending hill Bouton, the steep or abrupt hill.
BOVIE : (Fr.) Local. A corruption of Beauvais, a town in France, whence the surname originated, and which signifies the sightly or beautiful place. The family settled in Holland from France.
BOYNTON : Local. From Buvington, in the Wolds, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, now called Boynton Dugdale, so named from its being higher in place or altitude.
BRADFORD : Local. A town on the Avon, in Wiltshire, England, whence the surname is derived, and which signifies the broad ford, there being at that place a ford across the Avon.
BRAMHALL : A place where goods are sold; bram, Danish, goods on sale.
BRANDRETH : Bailey defines this name the curb of a well, but I think the name is local, and may be derived aa follows: Bran, both Welsh and Gaelic, signifies a swift river, and dreth, the sandy shore or strand. Brandreth may also mean the sandy shore frequented by wild-fowl, from Bran, a crow, and dreth, as above. Brwyndreth, in Welsh, denotes the shore abounding with rushes, from brwyn, rushes, and treth, the shore. I prefer, however, to use Bran in the sense of dark, black, and then we have the dark shore, or water, or a place on the shore of the river Bran.
BRISBAN : This name is local, and may signify the Mount or Hill of Judgment, a place where courts were held and law administered, among the Celts and Britons, from the Cornish-British brez or brys, a judgment, a trial at law, and ban, a hill, a mount In Gaelic, Breasban signifies the royal mount; Briosgabhain, the rapid river; Brisbeinn, the broken hill or cliff.
BRISBIN : This name is local, and may signify the Mount or Hill of Judgment, a place where courts were held and law administered, among the Celts and Britons, from the Cornish-British brez or brys, a judgment, a trial at law, and ban, a hill, a mount In Gaelic, Breasban signifies the royal mount; Briosgabhain, the rapid river; Brisbeinn, the broken hill or cliff.
BRISTED : (Sax.) Local. From brihs, bright, pleasant, and stead, a place a bright, pleasant place.
BRISTOW : (Sax.) Local. From brihs, pleasant, bright, and stow, the same as stead, a place.
BRONSON : A contraction of Brownson, the son of Brown. Briaunson, local, a place in France. This name came into England with William the Conqueror.
BRUNSON : A contraction of Brownson, the son of Brown. Briaunson, local, a place in France. This name came into England with William the Conqueror.
BROUGHAM : Local. Originally Burgham. The village on a hill; a borough town. The name of a place in England.
BRUCE : (Nor. Fr.) Local. Be Bruys; from Bruy or Bruys, a place in Normandy where the family originated. De Bruys was one of the followers of William the Conqueror, and fought at the battle of Hastings. From this ancestor, King Robert Bruce was descended.
BUCHAN : Local. A district of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The derivation of the name is uncertain. It may be from the Gaelic boc, bocan, deer; a place abounding in deer.
BUDDINGTON : Local. The flourishing town, or Boddington, the dwelling town. Buttington, a place on the Severn, England, which may indicate the town on the limit, boundary, or extremity.
BUEL : (Welsh.) A herd of cattle; an ox. Bueil, local, a place in France,
BURLEIGH : Local. Burh, Saxon, is the same as burg, a city, castle, house, or tower; in composition, it signifies defense; high, a low place, opposed to a place higher, the same as ley, a meadow, a pasture. Burly, swelled, bulky, boisterous.
BUTLER : This family derive their origin from the old Counts of Briony or Biony, in Normandy, a descendant of whom, Herveius Fitz Walter, accompanied the Conqueror into England. His son, Theobold, went with Henry II into Ireland, where, having greatly assisted in the reduction of the kingdom, he was rewarded with large possessions there, and made it the place of his residence. The king afterward conferred on him the office of chief Butler of Ireland, whence his descendants, the Earls of Ormond and others, took the surname of De Boteler or Butler.
BYFIELD : The village in the field, from By, Danish, a town, or the place by or near the field.
CARMICHAEL : Local. Assumed from the lands and barony of Carmichael, in the shire of Lanark. The castle or strongs-hold of Michael, from caer, a castle or fortified place.
CARTERET : (Gaelic and Welsh.) Local. The place or town of the castle.
CARTRET : (Gaelic and Welsh.) Local. The place or town of the castle.
CATHERWOOD : (Gaelic.) Local. A fenny-wood, wet ground, from Cathar, soft, boggy ground; or the fortified place in a wood, from Cathair, Gaelic, a town, a fortified city, a guard, a sentinel.
CAW : Local. Gaelic, Ca, a house, a place fortified, inclosed, surrounded. Caw, Welsh, whatever defends or keeps together; Cawr, an old English word for a king. Caw or Cu, an ancient king of North Britain whose capital was Dumbarton.
CHADWICK : Local. The cottage by the harbor, or sheltered place; from the Saxon Cyte and wick; Cyte signifies a cottage, and wick, a harbor, a sheltered place. It may be so called from the shad fisheries.
CHAPEL : Local. A private oratory; a place of public worship.
CHATSWORTH : Local. Derived from a village of that name in Derbyshire, England, and signifying the cottage-farm; from cyte, a cottage, as above, and worth, a place or estate.
CHESTER : Local. From the city of Chester, the capital of Cheshire, England, founded by the Romans. The name is derived from the Latin Castrum; Saxon, ceaster, a fortified place, a city, a castle or camp, it being a Roman station where the twentieth legion was quartered. The Roman stations in England were generally so called, being sometimes varied in dialect to Chester, Chaster, or Caster, the termination of many English towns, as Colchester, the camp on the river Coin; Doncaster, on the Don; Lancaster, on the Lon or Lune, etc.
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.
CLAY : Local. A town of France in Seine. A lake on the isle of Lewis, Scotland. Clee, hills in Wales. Oh, left-handed, a place lying to the left, in relation to another place. Cledh, cloid, and cladd, in the Gaelic, Welsh, and British, signify a ditch, a trench, a wall; cladh, a church-yard; cledd, Welsh, a sword; Gaelic, claiheamb, from which we have Cloymore, a large sword. The same word in Welsh and Gaelic that signifies a river is often applied to a sword, from their resemblance in glittering brightness.
CLEVELAND : Local. Derived from a place by that name in Yorkshire, England; a corruption of Cliff-lane, and so called from its being steep and almost impassable with cliffe and rocks.
CLUM : Local. A place in Germany, the ancient residence of the Knight of Clum, the friend of John Huss.
COGGESHALL : Local. Derived from the town of Coggeshall, in Essex, England; Cog„ a small boat, and shoal, a place where the water is shallow, and where fish abound, a fishing-place.
COGSWELL : Local. Derived from the town of Coggeshall, in Essex, England; Cog„ a small boat, and shoal, a place where the water is shallow, and where fish abound, a fishing-place.
COLLEY : Local. Coll-lle, in Welsh, denotes the place of hazel; Cill-lle, the place on the back or neck of the hill; from cil or col, the back or neck. Coille, Gaelic, a wood.
COLVILLE : (French.) Local. From Col, a neck, strait or defile; a pass between hills; and ville, a town, the place in the gorge or pass of the dell.
COLWELL : The village on the neck of the hill, or near the hazel-wood; Col, Gaelic, hazel; and ville, a village, changed into well. Coldwell denotes the quality of the water, a cold spring; Colwold, the hazel-wild, or bushy place of hazels.
COMEYN : From Cominges, a town in France, anciently called Lugdunum Convenarum, situated on a hill near the banks of the river Garonne, so named because people of diverse countries assembled together to dwell in that place. Comeyne or De Cominges went into England with William the Conqueror.
DE COMINGES : From Cominges, a town in France, anciently called Lugdunum Convenarum, situated on a hill near the banks of the river Garonne, so named because people of diverse countries assembled together to dwell in that place. Comeyne or De Cominges went into England with William the Conqueror.
COOMBS : (Cor. Br.) A place between hills, a valley; in the Welsh, Cum.
COOPER : A name of occupation or trade. The name is also local, from Cupar, a town in Fifeshire, Scotland, which is derived from Cu-pyre, the inclosed fire, or Co, high, a beacon fire, or signal on the coast for ships. Pyre, a beacon fire, on a high place, is the origin of the word pier, a wharf or landing-place for ships; Danish, pyr and fyr, a lantern; the whole landing-place in time was called the pier.
CORBIN : Local. The name of a place in Glencreran, Scotland, signifying a steep hill, from the Gaelic Cor-beann or Cor-beinn.
CORNELL : In the British it signifies a corner, a place shaped like a horn (from the Latin cornu). Corneille, in the French, signifies a crow.
CORNING : Local. Welsh, eornyn, a small horn, or the place of winding or turning.
CORNISH : Local. Belonging to Cornwall, indicating the place from which the family came.
COTESWORTH : Local. The estate or place in the wood; from coit, a wood, and worth, a place or possession. If from the French cote, the sea-shore, the estate on the shore.
COURT : A place inclosed, protected, cut off; that which excludes access. Saxon, curt; Arm., court; Fr., cour; Gaelic, cuairt, a circle; Welsh, cor and cwr, a circle.
COVERT : Local. A sheltered place.
CRAVEN : One who begs for his life when conquered; from crave, a word used formerly by one vanquished in trial by battle, and yielding to the conqueror. Craven is also the name of a place in Yorkshire, England, very stony, derived from craig, Cor. Br., a rock, and petty a head.
CRAWFORD : Local. First assumed by the proprietor of the lands and barony of Crawford, in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The extreme ancestor of the ancient family of Crawford, in Scotland, was Reginald, youngest son of Alan, the fourth Earl of Richmond. He seems to have accompanied David the First to the north, and to have received extensive grants of land in Strath Cluyd, or Clydesdale, whence his immediate descendants adopted the name of Crawford, then forming one of the largest baronies in Scotland, and signifying in Gaelic The pass of blood from cru, bloody, and ford, a pass or way, as commemorative, probably, of some sanguinary conflict between the Aborigines and the Roman invaders. The name has been derived by others from crodh and port, pronounced cro-fort, signifying a sheltering place for cattle.
CRICHTON : In the Gaelic, criochton signifies a boundary hill, end, limit, landmark; creachton, the hill or castle of plunder, or the ruined, pillaged place.
CROSS : Local. A place where a cross was erected, or where two ways, roads, or streets intersected each other.
CUDWORTH : From Cud or Coit, a wood, and worth, a place, a dwelling the farm or dwelling in the wood.
CULLEN : Local. From the town of Cullen, in Banflfehire, Scotland. The derivation is uncertain. It may be from Cuillean, holly, a place of holly-trees; or Cullin, the place at the neck of the lake, from Cul, a neck, the back of any thing, and lin, a lake, a pond.
CUMMINGS : Local. A corruption of Comeyn, anciently written De Comminges; from Comminges, a place in France, whence they came.
DALRYMPLE : Local. Taken from the lands and barony of Dalrymple, in Ayrshire, Scotland. The name is said to be a corruption of ihe Gaelic Dale-roi-milleadh, which signifies the valley of the slaughter of kings, and the place was so called from a battle fought there before the Christian era, in which two kings, Fergus and Coilus, were slain. According to others, it signifies the valley of the crooked pool. I think the name signifies the valley on the margin of the pool, from the Welsh Dol, a valley; rhim, the edge or border, and pwll, a pool It is very nearly the same in Gaelic; Dail, a vale, troimh, by, along the whole extent, and poll, a small lake.
DENMAN : A denizen; in Welsh, Dinman, the place of a fortress, from din, a fortress, and man, a place. Denman, Saxon, the man of the valley; a dweller in the vale.
DILLINGHAM : (Saxon) Local. A place in the county of Cambridge, England; the town of the market; the buying and selling place; of paying out or telling money. Saxon, Daelan, to divide, separate, throw off pay over; and ham, a village.
D'OILY : Local. From Oily, a place in France; the same as Doyle.
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