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Farrell
Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Fearghail descendant of Fearghal, a personal name composed of the elements fear 'man' + gal 'valor'.
Fereday
Two possible origins. It may be an anglicized form of the Gaelic meaning "male descendant of", and a personal name, composed of the old Celtic elements meaning "man" and "wood".
The surname may also be occupational, denoting "a travelling merchant".
Surname Database
Freeman
The Anglo-Saxon society was divided into various classes, of which "The Freeman" could be described as "Middle Class" in 20th Century terms, although direct comparisons are not possible. Certainly to be a "Free born person" denoted considerable and jealously guarded status, since most people were effectively slaves. The surname derivation is from the pre 7th Century "freo" meaning "free born" and "man" a servant or worker.
The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Freeman, which was dated 1196, in the "County Pipe Rolls of Norfolk", during the reign of King Richard 1.
Copyright: Name Origin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2011
Gale
It has at least three possible sources of origin. The first is from an early medieval English nickname for a cheerful, pleasant or roisterous person from the Olde English "gal". The second source is from a personal name having the same meaning as the English "gal". The third possible source is from the Old Norman-French "gaiole", meaning a jail, and thus a jailer, or possibly someone who lived near the local jail.
(http://www.searchforancestors.com/surnames/origin)
Alternatively:
A Gael or Scot; a stranger. Fingal, the white stranger, Dugal, the black stranger, alluding to the complexion or color of the hair. The root of Gall, or Gaul, is Hal, the sun, from which we have Gal, Gel, Gl, brilliant, bright, glorious. Greek, Welsh, haul, Cornish British, houl, the sun. Ge, brilliant, and haul; Gehaul, Gaul, the ancient name of France--still called sunny France.
(Ancestor Search)
Gathercole
This unusual early medieval English surname originated as a nickname for an old man who "gathered cold", and consequently weakness. Cold, not cole was originally the second element in the name, as the first recorded spelling suggest. Medieval physicians thought that an old man's blood became dry and cold - a state which lowered his defences and increased the risk of infection. The surname development since 1327 (see below) includes the following: Thomas Gadercold (1524, Suffolk); James Gathercoal (1597, Suffolk); and James Gathercole (1611, Suffolk). The name was corrupted to Gathercoal and Gathercole in the late 16th and early 17th Centuries, leading one to suspect that namebearers "gathered (char)coal" for a living.
The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Gaderecold, which was dated 1327, in the "Pipe Rolls of Suffolk", during the reign of King Edward 111.
Copyright: Name Origin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2011
Gidley : English: habitational name for someone from Gidleigh in Devon, so named from an Old English personal name Gydda + leah 'woodland clearing'.
Gregory: From a personal name that was popular throughout Christendom in the Middle Ages. The Greek original, Gregorios, is a derivative of gregorein 'to be awake', 'to be watchful'. However, the Latin form, Gregorius, came to be associated by folk etymology with grex, gregis, 'flock', 'herd', under the influence of the Christian image of the good shepherd.
The Greek name was borne in the early Christian centuries by two fathers of the Orthodox Church, St. Gregory Nazianzene (c. 325-390) and St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 331-395), and later by sixteen popes, starting with Gregory the Great (c. 540-604). It was also the name of 3rd- and 4th-century apostles of Armenia.
Grimwood
This surname recorded in the spellings of Grimwood, Grimwade, and bearing an association with the surname Grimshaw, which has exactly the same meaning and origin, is English. It has two possible origins. The first is locational from a locality in Suffolk called 'Grimwoods. The meaning is 'the wood belonging to Grimm', the latter a popular personal name of the pre 8th century. The second possible origin is Norman-French from a personal name 'Grimward' introduced after the 1066 Invasion. This is composed of the elements "grim" meaning a helmet, and "ward", a guard, hence "helmet guard". The earliest examples of the surname recording are those of Robert Grimward of Lincolnshire in the Fines Lists of the year 1247, and Adam de Grymschawe of Lancashire in the Hundred Rolls of 1273.
Copyright: Name Origin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2011
Hansen
A European surname. It can be either a patronymic or a metronymic, meaning it may be derived from the father or mother.
As a patronymic, it is from "Hann", a German-Flemish short form of Johann, itself from the Hebrew "Yochanan" and meaning "Jehovah has favoured (me with a son)".
Johann and the Anglo-French John and Jon, were names rarely found in Europe before the year 1000, and were popularised as a result of the Christian Revival period, and in particular the famous crusades to the Holy Land in the 11th and 12th centuries. It became the custom for soldiers and pilgrims returning from the Holy Land to call their childen by biblical names.
As a metonymic the name derives from the female name "Hannah", with the short form of "Hann". Hannah was the mother of the prophet Samuel.
Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Hansen#ixzz2ONxY9KpY
Hay
Scottish and English: topographic name for someone who lived by an enclosure, Middle English hay(e), heye (Old English , which after the Norman Conquest became confused with the related Old French term haye 'hedge', of Germanic origin). Alternatively, it may be a habitational name from any of various places named with this word, including Les Hays and La Haye in Normandy. The Old French and Middle English word was used in particular to denote an enclosed forest. Compare Haywood. This name was taken to Ireland (County Wexford) by the Normans.
2. Scottish and English: nickname for a tall man, from Middle English hay, hey 'tall', 'high' (Old English heah).
3. Scottish and English: from the medieval personal name Hay, which represented in part the Old English byname Heah 'tall', in part a short form of the various compound names with the first element heah 'high'.
Henderson
This is an ancient Scottish name, the patronymic (meaning "son of") form of Hendry, a mainly Scottish variant of the personal name "Henry". Some bearers of the name Henderson are descended from Henrysons, the "d" being a common intrusive element in many languages between "n" and "r". Henry is from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements "haim" or "heim", home, and "ric", power. It was introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066 as "Henri". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Henrisone, which was dated 1374, in Scottish Papers, in the Public Records Office, during the reign of King Robert 11 of Scotland, 1371 - 1390.
Copyright: Name Origin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2011
Hood:
Metonymic occupational name for a maker of hoods or a nickname for someone who wore a distinctive hood, from Middle English hod(de), hood, hud 'hood'. Some early examples with prepositions seem to be topographic names, referring to a place where there was a hood-shaped hill or a natural shelter or overhang, providing protection from the elements. In some cases the name may be habitational, from places called Hood, in Devon (possibly 'hood-shaped hill') and North Yorkshire (possibly 'shelter' or 'fortification').
Howlett
From Ancestor Search:
A night-bird, an owl. (Howlet = A small owl; or Heulaidd, (Welsh) sunlike; heuledd, sunshine.)
or from Surname Database:
a patronymic (son of) of Hugh, from the Old German personal name "Hugo", meaning heart or soul.
Humphrys
Recorded in many spellings this is an English surname but one of French origins. As Humfrey it was introduced into Britain by the Norman-French after the famous Conquest of England in 1066. The name is derived from the elements "hun", meaning a bear-cub", and "frid" - peace. Interestingly, until the early 14th Century, the name appears to have been confined to the nobility and the learned sections of the populace, such as scribes and scholars in great houses and monasteries.
(From Surname Database)
Ancestor Search does not include Humphrys, but for
Humphrey this origin is given:-
(Origin Anglo-Saxon) From Humfred, that is, house-peace - a lovely and happy name.
Hyman:
Variant of Hayman. See below
Hayman Topographic name for a man who lived by an enclosure, from Middle English hay (see Hay 1) + man. The term was in many cases effectively a synonym for Hayward.
Alternatively nickname for a tall man (see Hay 2); or an occupational name for the servant of someone called Hai (see Hay 3), with man in the sense 'servant'; or occupational name for someone who sold hay. (!)
Ingram
English surname of pre medieval origins. Recorded in most parts of England but particularly associated with the county of Yorkshire, it has its origins in the Anglo-Saxon personal name Engel. This was a tribal name meaning The Angles, the people of Englanda, in Northern Germany, who invaded Eastern and Northern Britain in the 5th Century a.d. and subsequently gave their name to England. To this was added the suffix 'hrafn', meaning raven, a bird renowned for its ferocity and wisdom to give a literal meaning of English-raven.
There is also the possibility that the suffix may be a development of 'ramm', which does literally mean 'the ram', an animal renowned for its fecundity.
Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Ingram#ixzz2ORrNQscv
Killey :
Perhaps an altered spelling of Irish Kiley (see Kiely).
Kiely variant of Keeley - in turn a variant of Keighley - see below.
Keighley
Habitational name from a place so named in West Yorkshire, recorded in Domesday Book as Chichelai, apparently named with an Old English personal name Cyhha + Old English leah 'woodland clearing'.
Krumm :
German: nickname from Middle High German krum 'crooked', 'deformed'; it may have been applied in the literal sense to a hunchback or cripple, but equally it may have denoted someone who was 'bent' in the abstract sense, i.e. 'dishonest' or 'false'.
Jacob
This surname derives from the ancient Hebrew given name "Yaakov" meaning "following-after". In the bible Jacob was the name of the twin brother of Esau, who took advantage of the latter's hunger and impetuousness to persuade him to part with his birthright "for a mess of potage". The surnames James and Jack share the same origins and development. Perhaps surprisingly Jacob in all its over two hundred spellings from Jacob, Iacobo, Kubera, and Kabos, to Giacopino, Jankel, Yakobovitz, and Jessen, was not originally a Jewish surname. Like most Hebrew and biblical names, it enjoyed a great burst of popularity in the 12th century. This was during the time of the great Crusades to free the Holy Land from the Saracens. All were unsuccessful, but the returning soldiers and pilgrims made it a fashion to call their children by names associated with the early days of the Christian church.
The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Agnes Jacobes, in the register of the abbey of Ramsey, Huntingdon, in the year 1244.
Copyright: Name Origin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2011
Jude
This name, with English variant forms Judd and Judas has three possible origins. Firstly, it may derive from the Medieval English vernacular form of the Hebrew male given name Yehuda (Judah), the name of Jacob's eldest son. Secondly, the name may come from the Old French "Jude", (Hebrew "Yehudi"), a name for a member of the tribe of Judah, and thirdly, Jude was frequently used as a pet form of the personal name Jordan (from the Hebrew Yarad, to go down or descend i.e. to the Dead Sea). The last mentioned name was given especially to crusaders children in commemoration of their fathers journey to the River Jordan.
The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Jude, which was dated 1211.
Copyright: Name Origin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2011