indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Type Surname (from nickname)
Usage English
Meaning & History
From a medieval nickname for someone with beautiful hair, from Old English fæger "fair" and feax "hair". It was borne by the English general Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Baron Fairfax of Cameron (1612-1671), commander of the Parliamentary army during the Civil War. A fictional bearer is Edward Fairfax Rochester, the Byronic hero of Charlotte Brontë's 'Jane Eyre' (1847).