indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Type Surname (from location)
Usage English
Meaning & History
Habitational name from any of the locations with the name 'Sunderland', most notably the port city County Durham. This, along with other examples in Lancashire, Cumbria and Northumberland derives from either Old English sundor 'seperate' and land 'land' or Old Norse suðr 'southern' and land 'land' (see Sutherland).
Some like-sounding Scandinavian locations may have also yielded this surname.
Some like-sounding Scandinavian locations may have also yielded this surname.