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Cornish
- Beaglehole, possibly derived from bugel hal, “shepherd of the moor,” but perhaps
“hobgoblin’s lair” or “shepherd’s hole.”
- Bunny, meaning “big-boned.”
- Cardy, meaning “black fort.”
- Caws, meaning “fen, reed.”
- Godolphin, meaning “rising ground.”
- Goff, meaning “red-haired” or “smith.” In the latter case, well-attested in East Anglia.
- Hender, meaning “old homestead.”
- Kneebone, meaning “knee bone.”
- Liddicoat, meaning “gray wood,” generally referring to communities of the name Lidcott, Lidcutt, etc.
- Lower, meaning “horse leader.”
- Maker, meaning “wall.”
- Menear, meaning “menhir, standing stone.”
- Nancarrow, meaning “valley of the deer.” See “Carrow” in Canonical
Families
- Penhollow or Penhallow, meaning “head (or end, top) of the heath (or moor).”
- Roach, meaning “rock, cliff, promontory.”
- Rosewall, meaning “rampart, ford by the wall.”
- Skyburrow, from skyberyow, “barns.”
- Tomes, patronym of Thomas (Tom), meaning “twin.”
- Vial, derived from the French vitale, “life.”
- Wills, referring to someone who lived “by the spring or stream.”
English
- Baskerville, meaning “copse (or thicket) settlement.” Norman origin. Most common in Herefordshire.
- Beausire, meaning “good sir.” Another variant is “Bowser.” Norman origin. Most common in Lancashire.
- Coffin, meaning “basket, container; chest, coffer.” Originated in Devonshire. See “Pinecoffin” in Canonical
Families.
- Crossley, from cros, “cross,” and leah, “woodland clearing.” Originated in
Yorkshire.
- Drake, meaning either “drake, male duck” or “snake, dragon,” in both cases well attested in Old
English. Most common in southern England.
- Drinkwater refers either to poverty (and the inability to purchase anything to drink but water) or to
a refusal to drink alcohol. Originated in Gloucestershire.
- Fairchild, meaning “handsome child, noble child.” Earliest attestations appear to be in
Cambridgeshire.
- French, an anglicization of Defreine, meaning “ash tree.” Doesn’t actually mean “French person.”
Norman origin. Seems to have been most common in Essex.
- Heaviside, meaning “Hefa’s side or slope (of a hill),” and referring to one of a couple of
settlements named Heavyside. Most common in Durham, North East England.
- Hooten, referring to the community of Hooton, Cheshire, and meaning “hill-spur settlement.” Cheshire
is located in North West England.
- Jenner, meaning “engineer.” Most common in East Sussex.
- Loveless, meaning “free from love; bachelor,” and also a variant of Lawless, meaning “outlaw.” Most
common in Dorset.
- Nix, meaning “Nick’s son.” Seems to be most common in Nottinghamshire.
- Omohundro, of a completely unknown meaning, but attested by 1670 by Richard Omohundro, an English
immigrant to the Colony of Virginia. Perhaps he had magical heritage. Unattested in the U.K. because it’s a
wizard name.
- Passmore, meaning “sailor, seafarer.” Most common in Devonshire.
- Quick, meaning “alive, lively, fresh, nimble, vigorous.” Appears to have been most common in
Devonshire.
- Redditt, meaning “reed-bed.” Most common in Suffolk.
- Shade, meaning “boundary” or “shadow,” in the latter case perhaps referring to a very thin person.
Most common in East Anglia.
- Stringfellow, meaning “worker at a string-hearth,” where iron is heated to be reworked. Originated in
Yorkshire.
- Warboys, from warder, “guard,” and bois, “wood.” Originated in Cambridgeshire.
Irish
- Brazil, anglicization of Ó Breasail, meaning “strife.” Associated with Munster.
- Breathnach, meaning “Briton,” referring to a Welsh-speaking immigrant.
- Deady, anglicization of Ó Déadaigh, meaning “toothy.” Associated with Leinster.
- Fee, anglicization of Ó Fiaich, meaning “raven.” Associated with Ulster.
- Flood, anglicization of Ó Tuathail, from tuath, “people,” and val, “might, rule,”
by way of erroneous association with tuile, “flood.” Associated with Leinster.
- Geddes, meaning “fish.” Associated with Ulster.
- Healy, anglicization of Ó hÉilidhe, perhaps meaning “claimant” or “learned, ingenious.” Associated
with Munster.
- Heaven, anglicization of Ó hEimhín, meaning “swift; prompt, ready.” Associated with Munster.
- Lawler, anglicization of Ó Leathlobhair, meaning “somewhat leprous, fairly sick.” Associated with
Leinster.
- McKey, anglicization of Mac Aoidh, meaning “fire.” Associated with Ulster.
- McMorrow, anglicization of Mac Muireadhaigh, meaning “seafarer,” or Mac Muireadhaigh, “sea warrior.”
Usually anglicized as McMurrough in Leinster, and Murphy in Ulster.
- Moriarty, anglicization of Ó Muircheartaigh, meaning “navigator, sea worthy.” Associated with
Munster.
- Nevin, anglicization of Ó Cnáimhín, meaning “little bone,” referring to thinness, or Mac Naoimhín,
“little saint.” Associated with Leinster.
- Noonan, anglicization of Ó Nuanáin, meaning “beloved, dear.” Associated with Munster.
- O’Gormley, anglicization of Ó Gormghaile, from gorm, “noble, dark blue,” and gal,
“valor.” Associated with Ulster.
- Power, derived from Pohier, Poer, meaning “from Pays de Poix.” Associated with
Munster, though it’s extremely widespread in Ireland.
- Rabbitte, meaning “hound, wolf,” an anglicization of Ó Coinín by way of erroneous association with
coinín, “rabbit,” rather than cano, a diminutive of “wolf.” Associated with Connacht.
- Seery, anglicization of Ó Saoraidhe, meaning “generous, noble.” Associated with Leinster.
- Sharkey, anglicization of Ó Searcaigh, meaning “beloved.” Associated with Connacht.
- Talley, anglicization of Ó Taithligh, meaning “peaceable.” Rare, with no apparent source or
associated province.
Scottish
- Banes, meaning “baths.”
- Blackwood, meaning “black wood.” See “Wood” in Canonical
Families
- Clinkscales, from clinc, “slope,” and scale, “rock.”
- Cockburn, meaning “rooster stream.”
- Forsyte, an anglicization of Fearsithe, “man of peace.”
- Gall, meaning “foreigner, stranger.”
- Greenlaw, meaning “green hill.”
- Hood, meaning “maker of hoods” or “hood-shaped hill.”
- Kinghorn, from ceann, “head, height,” and gronna, “bog.”
- Laughland, meaning “lake land.”
- Maitland, meaning “inhospitable; bad disposition,” referring to unproductive soil (as a place) or an
ill-tempered person.
- McBroom, an anglicization of Mac a' Bhreitheamhan, meaning “judge.”
- McFee, an anglicization of Mac Dhuibhshíthe, “black peace.”
- Pennycook, meaning “cuckoo summit.”
- Porteous, meaning “portable breviary, prayer book; something carried out of doors.”
- Reach, meaning “brindled, grayish.”
- Ripper, meaning “reaper, harvester.”
- Shankland, meaning “land marked by hillspurs.” FamilySearch says that it probably refers to a “lost
or unidentified place,” perhaps a magical settlement removed from Muggle records after the Statute of
Secrecy.
- Smiley, meaning “narrow (or thin) woodland clearing.” Smellie is a related variant.
- Whitelaw, meaning “white hill.”
Welsh
- Breeze, anglicization of ab Rhys via Preece, meaning “ardor, enthusiasm.”
- Cadwallader, meaning “battle-leader.”
- Conway, anglicization of Conwy, meaning “chief (or foremost) water.”
- Days, from a pet form of Dafydd, a Welsh variant of David, meaning “beloved” or “uncle.”
- Dee, anglicization of Du, meaning “black.”
- Glasscock, meaning “green wood.”
- Guild, an anglicization of Gwyllt, meaning “wild.”
- Idle, from the personal name Ithael, meaning “bountiful lord.”
- Kidwell, perhaps meaning “fish weir.”
- March, meaning “boundary,” generally referring to the Welsh Marches on the border with England.
- Merrix, from a patronym of Maurice (Meurig), ultimately meaning “North African, Moorish.”
- Onions, anglicization of a patronym of Einion, meaning “anvils.”
- Penderghast, possibly meaning “oak tree frequented by dogs.”
- Price, anglicization of ap Rhys, meaning “rash, impetuous.”
- Prothero, an anglicization of ap Rhydderch, meaning “great seer, most high.”
- Saise, meaning “Englishman.”
- Tudor, from a patronym of Theodore (Tewdr), meaning “God’s gift.”
- Upjohn, meaning “son of John.”
- Wogan, meaning “glory, honor.”
- Wynne, meaning “friend.”