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ArchivesRe: surname meaning
in reply to a message by m. griscom
I also found that ‘coombe’ means a steep valley, so I suspect you're right. Everything seems to point towards English roots.
On the site below, you can search country of origin based on immigration records. Although not many are cited, it seems England is the source. As to the age of the name, I guess you'd have to research when and how surnames arose in England.
My guess from looking at the UK distribution of this name (again from the below site) is that it arose in the countryside. Just thinking logically, I would suppose that more urban folks would use last names that referred to occupations i.e. butcher, baker, wheeler, etc. and those from the country would use surnames based on location. Especially as people migrated from countryside to city.
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/fact.aspx?&fid=10&ln=griscom&fn=
On the site below, you can search country of origin based on immigration records. Although not many are cited, it seems England is the source. As to the age of the name, I guess you'd have to research when and how surnames arose in England.
My guess from looking at the UK distribution of this name (again from the below site) is that it arose in the countryside. Just thinking logically, I would suppose that more urban folks would use last names that referred to occupations i.e. butcher, baker, wheeler, etc. and those from the country would use surnames based on location. Especially as people migrated from countryside to city.
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/fact.aspx?&fid=10&ln=griscom&fn=
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Replies
This is a mystery name. The ancestry site cited by Seán shows that there were only three families of this name in England and Wales in 1891. Things can't be much better today as there were are not the requisite minimum 100 individuals of the name in Britain to make it into the University College of London's surname distribution survey. The name seems to be well established in the US.
I agree with most of what's already been suggested: English place name (lost?), Com(b) ending meaning "valley". I'm not so sure about the first syllable meaning grey. I've an idea that place names ending in comb and combe tend to belong to the South-West of England, though I'm not certain about that. It's an old Celtic word, the same as the Modern Welsh Cwm.
I agree with most of what's already been suggested: English place name (lost?), Com(b) ending meaning "valley". I'm not so sure about the first syllable meaning grey. I've an idea that place names ending in comb and combe tend to belong to the South-West of England, though I'm not certain about that. It's an old Celtic word, the same as the Modern Welsh Cwm.
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