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ArchivesRe: surnames?
in reply to a message by Adale
Haven't you heard of Tony Blair, the British prime minister? (I feel so envious of you!) Blair is a Scottish surname and Ashton an English one.
This message was edited 9/28/2006, 8:19 AM
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Blair
Scottish and northern Irish: habitational name from any of the numerous places in Scotland called Blair, named with Scottish Gaelic blàr (genitive blàir) ‘plain’, ‘field’, especially a battlefield (Irish blár).
Ashton
English: habitational name from any of the numerous places so called, especially Ashton-under-Lyne near Manchester. Most are named from Old English æsc ‘ash tree’ + tun ‘settlement’; the one in Northamptonshire is (æt þ?m) æscum ‘(at the) ash trees’. Others have been assimilated to this from different sources. The one in Devon is ‘the settlement (tun) of Æschere’, while the one in Hertfordshire is ‘the settlement of Ælli’.
Scottish and northern Irish: habitational name from any of the numerous places in Scotland called Blair, named with Scottish Gaelic blàr (genitive blàir) ‘plain’, ‘field’, especially a battlefield (Irish blár).
Ashton
English: habitational name from any of the numerous places so called, especially Ashton-under-Lyne near Manchester. Most are named from Old English æsc ‘ash tree’ + tun ‘settlement’; the one in Northamptonshire is (æt þ?m) æscum ‘(at the) ash trees’. Others have been assimilated to this from different sources. The one in Devon is ‘the settlement (tun) of Æschere’, while the one in Hertfordshire is ‘the settlement of Ælli’.
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