SURNAME
MEANINGS
Abbott
English and Scottish:
from Middle English abbott ‘abbot’ (Old English abbod) or Old French abet
‘priest’. Both the Old English and the Old French term are derived from Late
Latin abbas ‘priest’ (genitive abbatis), from Greek abbas, from Aramaic aba
‘father’. This was an occupational name for someone employed in the household
of, or on the lands of, an abbot, and perhaps also a nickname for a
sanctimonious person thought to resemble an abbot. In the U.S. this name is also
sometimes a translation of a cognate or equivalent European name, e.g. Italian
Abate, Spanish Abad, or German Abt.
Abrams
Jewish (Ashkenazic),
Dutch, English, and German: patronymic from a reduced form of the personal name
Abraham.
Abraham
1. From
the Hebrew personal name Avraham, borne by a Biblical patriarch revered by Jews
as the founding father of the Jewish people (Genesis 11–25), and by Muslims as
founder of all the Semitic peoples, both Hebrew and Arab (compare Ibrahim). The
name is explained in Genesis 17:5 as being derived from Hebrew av hamon goyim
‘father of a multitude of nations’. It was widely used as a personal name among
Christians as well as Jews in the Middle Ages in diverse cultures from northern
Europe to southern India. It is also found as a given name among Christians in
India, and in the U.S. has come to be used as a family name among families from
Kerala.
2. Irish: English name adopted as an
equivalent of Gaelic Mac an Bhreitheamhan ‘son of the judge’. See McBroom.
McBroom
Scottish: probably a variant
of MacBrayne, an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Bhreitheamhan ‘son of the
judge’, from breitheamh ‘judge’ (see Brain). In Ireland the same name was
Anglicized as (Mc)Abraham.
Adams
English (very common in England, especially in
the south Midlands, and in Wales) and German (especially northwestern Germany):
patronymic from the personal name Adam. In the U.S. this form has absorbed many
patronymics and other derivatives of Adam in languages other than English.
Albert
English, French, North German, Danish, Catalan,
Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, etc.: from the personal name Albert,
composed of the Germanic elements adal ‘noble’ + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’. The
standard German form is Albrecht. This, in its various forms, was one of the
most popular of all European male personal names in the Middle Ages. It was
borne by various churchmen, notably St. Albert of Prague, a Bohemian prince who
died a martyr in 997 attempting to convert the Prussians to Christianity; also
St. Albert the Great (?1193–1280), an Aristotelian theologian and tutor of
Thomas Aquinas. It was also the name of princes and military leaders, such as
Albert the Bear (1100–70), Margrave of Brandenburg. In more recent times it has
been adopted as a Jewish family name.
Alderman
Southern
English: status name from Middle English alderman, Old English
ealdorman, literally elder. In medieval England an alderman was a
member of the governing body of a city or borough; also the head of a
guild.
Aldrich
English: from a Middle English personal name, Ailric, Alrich, Aldrich,
etc. (Many different forms are recorded.) It represents the coalescence
of at least two Old English personal names, lfric elf ruler and
{dh}elric noble ruler.
Alexander
Scottish, English, German, Dutch; also found in many other cultures:
from the personal name Alexander, classical Greek Alexandros, which
probably originally meant repulser of men (i.e. of the enemy), from
alexein to repel + andros, genitive of aner man. Its popularity in the
Middle Ages was due mainly to the Macedonian conqueror, Alexander the
Great (356323 bc)or rather to the hero of the mythical versions of his
exploits that gained currency in the so-called Alexander Romances. The
name was also borne by various early Christian saints, including a
patriarch of Alexandria (adc.250326), whose main achievement was
condemning the Arian heresy. The Gaelic form of the personal name is
Alasdair, which has given rise to a number of Scottish and Irish
patronymic surnames, for example McAllister. Alexander is a common
forename in Scotland, often representing an Anglicized form of the
Gaelic name. In North America the form Alexander has absorbed many
cases of cognate names from other languages, for example Spanish
Alejandro, Italian Alessandro, Greek Alexandropoulos, Russian
Aleksandr, etc. (For forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988.) It has also
been adopted as a Jewish name.
Allen
English and Scottish: from a Celtic personal name of great antiquity
and obscurity. In England the personal name is now usually spelled
Alan, the surname Allen; in Scotland the surname is more often Allan.
Various suggestions have been put forward regarding its origin; the
most plausible is that it originally meant little rock. Compare Gaelic
ailn, diminutive of ail rock. The present-day frequency of the surname
Allen in England and Ireland is partly accounted for by the popularity
of the personal name among Breton followers of William the Conqueror,
by whom it was imported first to Britain and then to Ireland. St.
Alan(us) was a 5th-century bishop of Quimper, who was a cult figure in
medieval Brittany. Another St. Al(l)an was a Cornish or Breton saint of
the 6th century, to whom a church in Cornwall is dedicated.
Allan
Scottish and northern English: variant spelling of Allen. This is the
more common spelling of the name in Scotland and northern England; in
Scotland it is often found as an English form of the Gaelic name
McAllen (see McAllan).
Altman
Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Altmann.
Respelling of German Altmann.
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German altman, German
Altmann, literally old man, applied either as a personal name or as a
nickname for an older man as distinguished from a younger one.
Ambler
English (Yorkshire): from Middle English ambler walker, steady-paced
horse or mule (ultimately from Latin ambulare to walk), probably
applied to someone with a steady, easy-going temperament. Reaney
suggests that it may have been a facetious nickname for a fuller.
Anderson
Scottish and northern English: very common patronymic from the personal
name Ander(s), a northern Middle English form of Andrew. See also
Andreas. The frequency of the surname in Scotland is attributable, at
least in part, to the fact that St. Andrew is the patron saint of
Scotland, so the personal name has long enjoyed great popularity there.
Legend has it that the saints relics were taken to Scotland in the 4th
century by a certain St. Regulus. The surname was brought independently
to North America by many different bearers and was particularly common
among 18th-century Scotch-Irish settlers in PA and VA. In the United
States, it has absorbed many cognate or like-sounding names in other
European languages, notably Swedish Andersson, Norwegian and Danish
Andersen, but also Ukrainian Andreychyn, Hungarian Andrsfi, etc.
Andrews
English: patronymic from the personal name Andrew. This is the usual
southern English patronymic form, also found in Wales; the Scottish and
northern English form is Anderson. In North America this name has
absorbed numerous cases of the various European cognates and their
derivatives. (For forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988.)
Andros
English: variant of Andrews.
Swiss German and Hungarian: derivative of the personal name Andreas.
Perhaps a reduced form of Greek Andronikos, Andronidis, or some other similar surname, all patronymics from Andreas.
Appleby
Northern English: habitational name from any of various places, for
example in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and Cumbria, named from Old
English ppel apple or Old Norse epli + Old Norse br farm.
Armstrong
English (common in Northumberland and the Scottish Borders): Middle English nickname for someone who was strong in the arm.
Irish: adopted as an English equivalent of Gaelic Labhradha Tran strong
OLavery or Mac Thrinfhir, literally son of the strong man, both from
Ulster.
Arnold
English and German: from a very widely used personal name of Germanic
origin, composed of the elements arn eagle + wald rule. In addition, it
has probably absorbed various European cognates and their derivatives
(for the forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988).
English: habitational name from either of the two places called Arnold (see Arnall).
Jewish (Ashkenazic): adoption of the German personal name, at least in
part on account of its resemblance to the Jewish name Aaron.
Aaron
Mainly Jewish: from the Biblical Hebrew personal name Aharon, which was
borne by the first high priest of the Israelites, the brother of Moses
(Exodus 4:14). Like Moses, it is probably of Egyptian origin, with a
meaning no longer recoverable. In some countries Aaron was also a
gentile personal name; not all occurrences of the surname are Jewish.
Arnall
habitational name from either of two places called Arnold, in
Nottinghamshire and East Yorkshire, from Old English earn eagle + halh
nook.
variant of Arnold.
Asher
English (mainly Sussex and Hampshire): topographic name denoting
someone dwelling by an ash tree, from Middle English asche ash tree +
the habitational suffix -er.
Jewish: from the Hebrew personal name Asher blessed.
Americanized spelling of German Ascher.
Ascher
German (often scher): occupational name for an ashmaker (see Aschenbrenner), from Middle High German escher ashes.
German: topographic name for someone who lived by an ash tree or ash
grove, from Middle High German asch ash + -er, suffix denoting an
inhabitant.
German: habitational name from any of the numerous minor places named with the element asch, including Ascha, Aschach, Aschau.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): see Asher.
Aschenbrenner
German: occupational name for someone who prepared ash from wood fires
for use in glassworks and soapworks, from Middle High German asche,
esche ashes + brenner burner
Atherton
English: habitational name from a place near Manchester named Atherton,
from the Old English personal name {dh}elhere + Old English tun
settlement.
Atkinson
Northern English: patronymic from the personal name Atkin.
Atkin
English: from the Middle English personal name Atkin, one of the many pet forms of Adam. Compare Scottish Aitken.
Atwater
English: topographic name for someone whose dwelling was by a river or lake, Middle English atte water at the water.
Atwood
English: topographic name from Middle English atte wode by the wood.
Austin
English, French, and German: from the personal name Austin, a
vernacular form of Latin Augustinus, a derivative of Augustus. This was
an extremely common personal name in every part of Western Europe
during the Middle Ages, owing its popularity chiefly to St. Augustine
of Hippo (354430), whose influence on Christianity is generally
considered to be second only to that of St. Paul. Various religious
orders came to be formed following rules named in his honor, including
the Austin canons, established in the 11th century, and the Austin
friars, a mendicant order dating from the 13th century. The popularity
of the personal name in England was further increased by the fact that
it was borne by St. Augustine of Canterbury (died c. 605), an Italian
Benedictine monk known as the Apostle of the English, who brought
Christianity to England in 597 and founded the see of Canterbury.
German: from a reduced form of the personal name Augustin.
Augustus
Humanistic re-creation of the Latin personal name Augustus on the basis
of its medieval vernacular derivatives, principally August. The Latin
name is from an adjective meaning venerable, from augere to increase.
Examples include German, Dutch, and Scandinavian August (though the
family name does not exist in Scandinavia), French Auguste, Italian
Agosto, and Portuguese Augusto. The month of August was named in honor
of the Emperor Augustus (63 bcad 14), after whom it became conventional
for Roman emperors to adopt Augustus as a title on their accession. The
personal name became popular among early Christians, who read into it
the implication that the bearer had become greater by being baptized.
Avery
English: from the Anglo-Norman French personal name Auvery, a Norman
form of Alfred. It could also be from a variant of the Anglo-Norman
French personal name Aubri (see Aubrey). At least in the case of the
original Puritan settlers in New England, there has been some confusion
with Averill.
Alfred
English: from the Middle English personal name Alvred, Old English
lfr?d elf counsel. This owed its popularity as a personal name in
England chiefly to the fame of the West Saxon king Alfred the Great
(849899), who defeated the Danes, keeping them out of Wessex, and whose
court was a great center of learning and culture.
Aubrey
English: from the Norman and Old French personal name Aubri, from the
Germanic personal name Alberic, composed of elements meaning elf power.
Respelling of French Aubry.
Aylesworth
English: habitational name from a place in Cambridgeshire named
Ailsworth, from an Old English personal name gel + Old English wor
enclosure.
SOURCE: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press,
ISBN 0-19-508137-4