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A |
Adams | From the first name popular in medieval England |
Addington | ancestry.co.uk supplies the information shown on an extra page |
Alderton | Surname Database provides the information shown on an extra page |
Alice | No derivation found: but see the entry for Allott below. |
Allen | Ancient Celtic first name, especially popular in Lincolnshire. Possible from Germanic tribal "all men" |
Allott | From the Middle English first name Alis |
Allport | Derbyshire place-name; O.E. "old market town" |
Allum | See note on an extra page |
Andersen | Son of Andrew; especially in Scotland and North of England |
Anderson | Son of Andrew; especially in Scotland and North of England |
Andrews (Hulbert family) (Whiskin family) |
From the patron saint for Scotland. |
Ansell | From Germanic St.Anselm |
Arbuckle | Information provided by Surname Database - see an extra page |
Armitage | Information provided by www.britishsurnames.co.uk; the same as Hermitage - see an extra page |
Arnold | From Norman personal-name; or place-name in Yorkshire |
Aston-Jones | Aston Either from a dweller near a large stone or from a place-name in Shropshire and some other English counties. Jones From the Welsh form of the first-name John. |
Atkins (Kate or Marie) | Derived from "Ad", meaning "red earth", with reference to the substance from which the first man was formed, plus the Olde English pre 7th Century diminutive suffix "-kin". |
Aust | See notes on an extra page |
Austen | From M.E. first-name Austin, vernacular form of Latin Augustinus |
Aylward | From Old English Aethelweard. |
B |
Baker (Harbott family) (Leaford family) |
Occupational name, |
Ball | A fat or a bald person; or one dwelling by a bulbous-looking hill. Principally in Lancashire |
Ballard | As for Ball above, but mostly found in S.E. England or South Midlands |
Balls | Possibly from a fat or a bald person, or one who lived near a bulbous hill; or from Old Norman first-name Balle. |
Barker | Occupational name for one who stripped bark from trees and tanned leather with it; or from Anglo-Norman French for shepherd. |
Barnes | Possibly a worker at a (Middle English) barley house; or servant of a medieval person of high status; or from Barnes in Surrey. |
Barrett Sophia Dorling ; Worin in Leaford family; and Blanche Osborn |
From a Germanic first-name; or (Middle English) an untrustworthy person; or from Old French for cap. |
Barrow | OE dweller by a grove or hill; or from related place-names |
Barton | Surname Database provides the information shown on an extra page |
Bassett | Surname Database provides the information shown on an extra page |
Bather | (Bathe = dweller at a bathing place) |
Bawden | Probably from place-name in various counties |
Beal | Possibly a handsome/beautiful person; or (Old English)from a hill with bees, or a nook by loops of the River Aire. |
Beckett | Diminutive of Beck - person with a small nose; or place-name (Old English) meaning shelter. |
Beer | From a place-name in S.W. England connected with a grove. |
Beever | Information provided by www.britishsurnames.co.uk; English (Yorkshire): variant spelling of Beaver. |
Benefield | No entry discovered. |
Bennet | From St. Benedict, founder of the order of monks. |
Bennett | From St. Benedict, founder of the order of monks. |
Benney | Not defined; but Benn and Bennet derived from St. Benedict, see above. |
Bentley | From Old English meaning a clearing covered with bent-grass. |
Benton | Same derivation as Bentley, particularly common in Staffordshire. |
Berryman | Surname Database provides the information shown on an extra page |
Bevan | Welsh - son of Evan |
Biggs | Surname Database provides the information shown on an extra page |
Bird | Occupational term for a bird-catcher; or resembling a bird. |
Black | From Old English blœc or blac: the first (a short vowel) meant dark-haired, the second (a long vowel) meant fair-haired! |
Blacker | No Penguin dictionary entry: but Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames (1997) gives derivation to OE/ME to bleach. |
Bohea | See the note on an extra page |
Bolam | OE place-names in County Durham & Northumberland - "at the tree-trunks/planks" |
Boxall | See the note on an extra page |
Bowers | Dweller in a small cottage or bur; or a house-servant |
Bragg | A brisk, brave or proud person. |
Braybrooke | OE "broad brook"; place-name in Northants |
Brazendale | No dictionary entry. |
Brazier | English: occupational name for a worker in brass, from Old English bræsian "to cast in brass". |
Brett | A native of Brittany (with a reputation for being stupid). |
Bridges | Dweller by, or keeper of, a bridge. |
Briggs | a variant of the more common name Bridges - see above. |
Bright | Surname Database provides the information shown on an extra page |
Brightis | No information found |
Britten | Same derivation as Brett above. |
Bromwell | Habitational name from Broomwell in Herefordshire named in Old English with brom 'broom' + wella 'spring', 'stream'. |
Brook | Dweller by a stream. |
Brooks George (Hill family) or Caroline Leaford |
Dweller by a stream. |
Brown Amelia or Katherine Harbott or James in the Harbott family; or Jennifer Leaford or Joseph and Michael (Leaford family) and Jessie West |
Person with brown hair. |
Browne | Person with brown hair. |
Bruce | Scottish name from an uncertain place in Normandy |
Buckerfield | See note on an extra page |
Bunker | English nickname, of Norman origin, for a reliable or good-hearted person, from Old French bon "good" + cuer "heart" |
Burgoyne | A person from Burgundy. |
Burton | Connected with a fort or manor-house enclosure. |
Butler | Occupational term. |
C |
Cacket | See note for Cackett on an extra page |
Cain (a husband in the Leaford family) | ancestry.co.uk supplies the information shown on an extra page |
Callicott | (likely to derive from Caldicott = a locality: e.g. the neck of the wood in Welsh; the inclosure of the Scot; a village in Hertfordshire.) |
Calpus | No entry in dictionary. |
Campbell | Scottish nickname from Gaelic cam "crooked", "bent" + beul "mouth". The surname was often represented in Latin documents as de bello campo "of the fair field", which led to the name sometimes being "translated" into Anglo-Norman French as Beauchamp. |
Cannon | (possibly derivation from Canon = church dignitary) |
Carpenter | one who worked with wood |
Carter (an unmarried father) ; and Mary |
a trade name |
Cattell | Derived from Catlin, from Anglo-Norman Catherine |
Cave | A bald man; or a place-name "swift river" in Yorkshire; popular in Lancashire |
Cazaly | Note on Cazalet on an extra page |
Chambers | A servant within private rooms. Less grand than a Chamberlain. |
Chamberlain | A private attendant of a king or lord. |
Charter | No Penguin dictionary entry: but Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames (1997) gives derivation possibly relating to OE dweller on rough ground; or to Old French charioteer; or to do with carts. |
Chenoweth | No information found |
Cherrill | No information found |
Chessen | No information found |
Chisman | No dictionary entry; but Cheeseman was a maker or seller of cheese |
Clark Sarah Dorling or Sarah Tourell or John (Whiskin family) |
Occupational term for a clerk, especially a cleric in minor orders. |
Clarke Esther West or Emma Ewins or Sarah or Susanna Dorling or Florence Harbott |
Same as for Clark above |
Claydon | Place-name in three counties. |
Clements Rachel Dorling or Winifred Harbott or a male in the Leaford family |
From an Old French first name meaning merciful |
Clifford | Place-name: OE "ford at a cliff". |
Clifton | See entry on an extra page |
Coe | Resembling a jackdaw; or an odd old fellow. |
Colbourne | Place-name from Old English cool stream; most common in Staffordshire. |
Cole Owen and Donald in Leaford family; and George in the Osborn family |
A pet-form of the Middle English Nicolas. |
Collins Fanny Ewins or Jane Hiscock |
((Origin Gaelic) From Cuilein, darling, a term of endearment applied to young animals, as Catulus, in Latin. In the Welsh, Collen signifies hazel--a hazel-grove.) |
Connor Michael in Harwood family; and Thomas in Whiskin family. |
Anglicised version of Gaelic Conchobhair literally `dog or `desiring`. |
Cook Charlotte Harbott or Ernest and Richard (Harbott family); Thomas and Graham (Leaford family); or Ann Osborn; or Phyllis Whiskin or Joseph in the Whiskin family |
Occupational term. |
Cooper George and Grace in the Harbott family; and Alice Harwood |
Occupational term for a maker or repairer of wooden tubs. |
Cornwell | Place-name with various derivations. |
Coshell | No dictionary entry. |
Cottis | No Penguin dictionary entry: but Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames (1997) gives derivation from OE cottage; or from ME shepherd. |
Couves | See extra notes |
Cowley | Place-name, often meaning pasture. |
Cox | See extra notes |
Cranton | Note on an extra page |
Crask | No Penguin dictionary entry: but Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames (1997) gives derivation for Craske as fat or lusty. |
Crawley | A locational from any of the various place so called in England, derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "crawe", crow, and "leah", wood, clearing. |
Crockford | Place-name in Surrey. |
Cross | Locality. A place where a cross was erected, or where two ways, roads, or streets intersected each other. |
Croxen | No Penguin dictionary entry: but Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames (1997) gives derivation of Croxon from place-names Croxton. |
Cudby | No entry in dictionary; but Cuddy & Cudbird from ME first-name Cuthbert - OE "famous-bright". |
Cullington | Note on an extra page |
Custance | A form of the female name Constance. |
D |
Davies | From first-name David (patron saint of Wales; and two Scottish kings); predominantly Welsh. |
Dean | A dweller in a valley; or a man who worked for a cathedral dean. |
Degen | No entry in dictionary. |
Denovan | No entry in dictionary. |
Desailey | No entry in dictionary. |
Desbrough | Surname Database provides the information about Desborough which may be relevant. See the note |
Devonshire | ancestry.co.uk gives this information: Regional name for someone from the county of Devon. |
Die | No entry in dictionary. |
Diver | A tight-rope walker: alternatively see a note in an extra page |
Docking Mary and Sophia Dorling |
No entry in dictionary. |
Doncaster | A place-name |
Donovan | Equal to O'Donovan, Irish "dark brown". |
Dorling,(also in the Leaford trees). | No Penguin dictionary entry: but Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames (1997) gives derivation as the same as Darling, one dearly loved. A variation on this is to be found in Mrs.Hemmingham`s website. |
Dorton | A place-name in Berkshire |
Driscoll | a thicket of briars, the place of wild roses. |
Duggan | possibly derived from Dugan (of dark complexion) |
Dunn: Harriet and Mildred Whiskin. |
A person with dark hair. |
Dunnage | No Penguin dictionary entry: but Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames (1997) gives derivation from place-name Dunwich in Suffolk. |
Dunstall | OE "homestead"; place-name in Lincs & Staffs; surname chiefly Kent & Sussex. |
Durand | See a note in an extra page |
Dutton Thomas (Harbott family) or Martha Osborn |
ancestry.co.uk supplies the information shown in an extra page. |
Dyer | Means "one who dyes", as in a cloth dyer. (behindthename.com) |