indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Type Surname (from location)
Usage English
Other Forms FormsFacit, Fagheside Faucett, Fausset, Faussett, Fausyde, Fasset, Fawcett, Fawcitt, Fawsett, Fawside, Fawssett, Faxide, Forcett, Fossitt
Meaning & History
Locational surname from various British places: Fawcett in Cumberland, Facit in Lancashire, Forcett in North Yorkshire, or Fa’side Castle in East Lothian, Scotland. The linguistic origins of the name arise variously from, in Cumberland and Lancashire, "multi-coloured hillside" in 7th century Old English fag or fah, "brightly coloured, variegated, flowery" with side, "slope"; in North Yorkshire from Old English ford, "ford", and sete, "house, settlement"; or, reputedly, in East Lothian, "fox on a hillside". It is first recorded in England as Faxide in 1247, and Fausyde in 1282, and first appears in Lancashire as Fagheside in 1250 within the records of Whalley Abbey.