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[Surname] Kent
My last name is Kent. I live in Australia. A relative of mine has done our family tree back to about the 1820's. My ancestor's name was Kingdom Kent, he came to Australia from Ireland.I know the surname Kent is probably English, but my relative said it could just be the anglicized form of the Gaelic name. I'm wandering if any of you might know the Gaelic translation of the surname Kent?
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Slightly OTKingdom Kent - what a cool name! =D
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You're right about the name being English, and I don't think there is an Irish name that has become Kent. However, there is an Irish language version of the name, which is Ceannt, really just an Irish language spelling of the name. One of the signatories of the proclamation of the Irish Republic(1916)was Eamonn Ceannt, or Kent, later shot by the British.
Edward MacLysaght ("Surnames of Ireland") informs us that "Families of this name, derived from the English county, settled in Meath in the thirteenth century".
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Cool, thanks. When you say "Families of this name, derived from the English county, settled in Meath in the thirteenth century" does that mean they were like, the rulers of Kent or something, I mean, if they had that name. Also, my mum's maiden name is Bulmer. I'm wandering, is this German? It sounds a little German.
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It just means that they came from Kent.
Bulmer is an English place name. There are two, one in Yorkshire and one in Essex. The Yorkshire Bulmer provided a family with a surname. It means a mere, or pool, where bulls drink.
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Ok, thanks. What about these other ones from my family ('m not too sur on the spelling):Nye, Hage and Watson.
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Nye, Hage, Watson.Nye: English place name, e.g., Nye in Somerset. According to Reaney it's from the Middle English, atten eye, meaning "at the piece of low lying land".
Hage: could it be Haigh or Hague? Both from a minor Yorkshire place name, or names. Cognate with the modern word hedge, though it might mean a fence.
Or could it be Haig? A Scottish surname said to be from Cap la Hague, Normandy, France. The Hague in that name means the same as the last.
Watson means son of Wat, short for Walter. A Northern English and Scottish surname.
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Cool, thanks!
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