Origin
Wilson : English: from the Middle English personal name Will + patronymic -son ‘son of Will’. Will was a very common medieval short form of William. This surname is also very common among African Americans.
Banson : apparently a variant of Benson. Compare Will Banson 1591 Will Benson 1593 in IGI (Great Waltham Essex); Eleanor Benson 1665 William Wilson Banson 1778 in IGI (Jarrow Durham).
Boultwood : of uncertain meaning. It appears to be a compound of Middle English bolt ‘crossbow head arrow; bar bolt (for fastening a door or gate)’ also ‘bolt (of cloth) bundle’ (Old English bolt) + Middle English hod houd ‘hood’ (Old English hōd) but the sense is not obvious. The suggestion in Reaney and Wilson that Bolt- is a spelling of Middle English bult short for bult-cloth ‘a cloth for bulting or sifting flour’ is formally possible but the idea that the name denotes someone who wore a hood made of sieving-cloth is unconvincing.
Brimson : 1: chiefly from Brinsham (Farm) in Netherbury (Dorset). The place was named from an enclosure (Old English hamm) belonging to a man bearing the Old English personal name Brȳni. 2: perhaps sometimes alternatively from Brinson in Broadwoodwidger (Devon) recorded as a surname (Brinestune 13th cent. Breneston 1275) in Place-Names of Devon and originally denoting ‘Brȳni's farm or estate’ (Old English Brȳni + Old English tūn). 3: according to Reaney and Wilson from a place called Briençun in Normandy but this has not been identified. Dauzat and Rostaing refer to a hamlet named Briançon (Oise in Picardy) but as this is not in Normandy it cannot be the place that Reaney had in mind. The medieval surname seems to be restricted to Essex but its later survival is unproven and post-medieval examples of Brinson etc. in the London area (including Kent) could alternatively be explained by migration of the family names in (1) or (2).
Crampin : probably a late spelling of the now rare or extinct Crampon. As Wilson suggests it is a contracted form of Cramphorn which occurs in west Essex from the 16th century. Compare William Cramphorne 1570 Francis Crampon 1686 in IGI (Willingale Doe Essex); Edward Crampan 1563 Daniel Cramphorne 1656 in IGI (Epping Essex). However in other counties Crampon appears to be a reduced form of Crampton or Crompton as implied by correlations like Elizabeth Crampon 1559 Richard Crampton 1561 John Crompton 1611 in IGI (Norwich Norfolk); Rychard Crampton 1579 Elyzabethe Crampon 1579 in IGI (Cranbrook Kent). There is evidence of it in west Essex too: John Crompton 1633 Thomas Crampan 1732 Thomas Crampton 1740 in IGI (Chigwell Essex). This may have led to confusion between Crampton Crompton and Cramphorn. Compare Joanna Crampon 1718 Daniel Cramphorn 1722 Henry Crampthon 1752 Henry Crampton 1755 in IGI (Leyton Essex); Tho Cramphorn 1740 William Crampton 1853 Sarah Crompton 1856 in IGI (Waltham Abbey Essex). Crampon flourished in Essex villages near Sawbridgeworth (Herts) where Cramphorn originated but Crampin belongs to E Essex where Cramphorn first appears in the late 17th century in the Colchester area.
Curley : 1: Irish (Galway): shortened form of McCurley.2: English (of Norman origin): habitational name from any of several places in northern France named Corlay for example in Côtes-d'Armor and Indre or possibly from Corlieu the former name of La Rue Saint Pierre in Oise. Reaney and Wilson suggest also it may have been a variant of the nickname Curlew after the bird Anglo-Norman French curleu.3: Native American (Navajo): ranslation into English of a Navajo personal name based on chishch’ilí ‘curly haired’ (see Chischilly).
Dignam : 1: Irish: from Gaelic Ó Duibhgeannáin see Dignan.2: English: of uncertain origin. Reaney and Wilson suggests this is a habitational name for someone from Dagenham formerly in Essex now in Greater London which gets its name from an Old English personal name Dæcca + genitive -n + hām ‘homestead’ but this is implausible.
Gandy : English:: 1: possibly a nickname from Old French gandie ‘pretence trick trickery’.2: alternatively perhaps from a shortened form of the Old French personal name Gandin a pet form of ancient Germanic names beginning with Wand- ‘turn wind’ or more likely Gand- (of uncertain etymology). In Cheshire Middle English variation between Gond- and Gand- is probably due to dialect rounding of original -a- before -n(d)-. In south England however the variation is difficult to explain (see 3 below).3: in south England possibly a variant of Gander with substitution of -y for weakly stressed -er. — No evidence has been found to support the claim of Reaney and Wilson citing John Gameday 1327 in Subsidy Rolls (Suffolk) that the name derives from Middle English Gameday ‘servant of Game’.
Izant : apparently a variant of Hyson with loss of initial H- and the addition of an excrescent -t. In Cheshire Hyson probably derives from Heysham (Lancs) but in Somerset Hyson like Hayson is likely to be a variant of Haysom: compare Mary Haysom 1580 Martha Hayson 1635 Lucy Izant 1788 in IGI (Mells Somerset) and Betty Izant 1775 Mary Hyson 1780 in IGI (Trowbridge Wilts). There is no evidence to suggest that it is a variant of Izzard as suggested in Reaney and Wilson.
Job : 1: German French Polish Czech Slovak Croatian and Slovenian; Hungarian (Jób): from the personal name (Hebrew Iyyob) borne by a Biblical character the central figure in the Book of Job who was tormented by God and yet refused to forswear Him. The name has been variously interpreted as ‘Where is the (divine) father?’ and ‘Persecuted one’. The surname may also be a nickname for a wretched person or one tormented with boils (which was one of Job's afflictions). Compare Yob; see also 5 below.2: English: from the Middle English personal name Jop(e) Joppe or Job(be) (perhaps also Jubbe). The name may have more than one source but it was certainly a pet form of Geoffrey (see Jeffrey). Joppe was originally a pet form of Joffrey an Old French side-form of Geoffrey. The change of final /f/ to /p/ is the same as that in Jeff(e) to Jepp(e) (see Jepson).3: English: perhaps from a Middle English pet form of Old French Jobert; compare Jobin.4: English: nickname from Middle English joppe (medieval Latin joppus) ‘fool’ perhaps related to 16th-century French jobe ‘simpleton’. Compare Middle English jobard and jobet ‘blockhead fool’.5: English: perhaps also from the Biblical personal name Job (see 1 above) which does not seem to have been used as a personal name in Britain in the Middle Ages and the commonly held beliefs (for example in Bardsley Weekley and Reaney and Wilson) that Job was a (frequent) character in the medieval mystery plays and that this gave rise to a popular Middle English personal name have no foundation.
Jouce : of uncertain origin; perhaps from Middle English juce jouce (Old French jus) ‘a liquid extract obtained by boiling herbs’ although this seems an unlikely origin for a nickname even for an apothecary as suggested in Reaney and Wilson. Whatever its etymology it is not certain that the medieval name has survived. Rare post-medieval examples of Jouce may be scribal errors for Joyce while Juce is likely to be a mistaken transcription of Ince.
Painter : 1: English: from Middle English peintour painter peintir penter pointour (Old French peintour paintour) ‘painter of images (on walls screens shields etc.) colorist (of statues figurines chests etc.) artist’. In the Middle Ages the walls of both great and minor churches were covered with painted decorations and Reaney and Wilson note that in 1308 Hugh le Peyntour and Peter the Pavier were employed ‘making and painting the pavement’ at Saint Stephen's Chapel Westminster. The name is widespread in England.2: Americanized form of German Bender. Compare Bainter.3: Germanized or Americanized form of Slovenian Pajntar or Panjtar topographic names from the field name Pajnta or Na Pajnti which is derived from Middle High German biunt(e) ‘fenced agricultural land’ (compare German Paintner) or perhaps from Bavarian Middle High German pant ‘band’ (compare Panter 4).4: In some cases also an American shortened form (or a very rare German variant) of South German Paintner a cognate of 3 above.
Welson : variant of Wilson. See Thomas Welson or Wilson 1505 in PROB 11 (Cottered Herts).
Windross : unexplained. The suggestion by Reaney and Wilson that the surname is locative from Windros Laithe in Flasby (WR Yorks) is unlikely as this late place-name appears to take its name from the surname. This Yorkshire surname may be connected in some way with the surname Windridge probably from Windrush (Gloucs) though Redmonds states in Redmonds Dictionary of Yorks Surnames that he can find no link between the surname Windross and Windrush (Gloucs).
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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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