Browse Surnames

This is a list of surnames in which the usage is English; and the categories include plants.
usage
Barclay English, Scottish
From the English place name Berkeley, derived from Old English beorc "birch" and leah "woodland, clearing". The surname was imported to Scotland in the 12th century.
Beasley English
From the name of a place in Lancashire, from Old English beos "bent grass" and leah "woodland, clearing".
Beech 2 English
Originally a name for a person who lived near a beech tree, from Old English bece.
Bentley English
From a place name derived from Old English beonet "bent grass" and leah "woodland, clearing". Various towns in England bear this name.
Bradshaw English
From any of the places by this name in England, derived from Old English brad "broad" and sceaga "thicket".
Brandon English
From the name of various places in England meaning "hill covered with broom" in Old English.
Breckenridge Scottish, English
Originally indicated someone from Brackenrig in Lanarkshire, derived from northern Middle English braken meaning "bracken" (via Old Norse brækni) and rigg meaning "ridge" (via Old Norse hryggr).
Brierley English
From an English place name, derived from brer "briar" and leah "woodland, clearing".
Broadbent English
From a place name derived from Old English brad "broad" and beonet "bent grass".
Bush English
Originally a name for a person who lived near a prominent bush or thicket.
Darnell 1 English
Derived from Old French darnel, a type of grass.
Delaney 1 English
Derived from Norman French de l'aunaie meaning "from the alder grove".
Fairburn English
From a place name meaning "fern stream", from Old English fearn "fern" and burna "stream".
Farnham English
Indicated a person from any of the various towns named Farnham in England, notably in Surrey. Their names are from Old English fearn "fern" and ham "home, settlement" or ham "water meadow, enclosure".
Flower English
From Middle English flour meaning "flower, blossom", derived from Old French flur, Latin flos. This was a nickname given to a sweet person. In other cases it could be a metonymic occupational name for a maker of flour (a word derived from the same source).
Gardener English
Occupational surname for one who was a gardener, from Old French jardin meaning "garden" (of Frankish origin).
Greenwood English
Topographic name for someone who lived in or near a lush forest, from Old English grene "green" and wudu "wood".
Hawthorne English
Denoted a person who lived near a hawthorn bush, a word derived from Old English hagaþorn, from haga meaning "enclosure, yard" and þorn meaning "thorn bush". A famous bearer was the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), author of The Scarlet Letter.
Haywood English
From various place names meaning "fenced wood" in Old English.
Holme English, Scottish
Referred either to someone living by a small island (northern Middle English holm, from Old Norse holmr) or near a holly tree (Middle English holm, from Old English holegn).
Keaton English
From any of three English place names: Ketton in Rutland, Ketton in Durham or Keaton in Devon. The first is probably derived from an old river name or tribal name combined with Old English ea "river", with the spelling later influenced by tun "enclosure, yard, town". The second is from the Old English given name Catta or the Old Norse given name Káti combined with Old English tun. The third is possibly from Cornish kee "hedge, bank" combined with Old English tun.
Kerr Scottish, English
From Scots and northern Middle English kerr meaning "thicket, marsh", ultimately from Old Norse kjarr.
Kersey English
From an English place name meaning derived from Old English cærse "watercress" and ieg "island".
Layton English
Derived from the name of English towns, meaning "town with a leek garden" in Old English.
Linton English
Originally from place names meaning either "flax town" or "linden tree town" in Old English.
Lyndon English
Originally from a place name meaning "linden tree hill" in Old English.
Mathers English
Occupational name meaning "mower, cutter of hay" in Old English.
Moss 1 English
From Middle English mos meaning "bog, moss".
Odell English
Originally denoted a person who was from Odell in Bedfordshire, derived from Old English wad "woad" (a plant that produces a blue dye) and hyll "hill".
Read 2 English
From Old English ryd, an unattested form of rod meaning "cleared land". It is also derived from various English place names with various meanings, including "roe headland", "reeds" and "brushwood".
Reed English
Variant of Read 1.
Rose 1 English, French, German, Jewish
Means "rose" from Middle English, Old French and Middle High German rose, all from Latin rosa. All denote a person of a rosy complexion or a person who lived in an area abundant with roses. As a Jewish surname it is ornamental, from Yiddish רויז (roiz).
Rowntree English
Originally given to a person who lived near a rowan tree or mountain ash.
Rush English
Indicated a person who lived near rushes, the grasslike plant that grows in a marsh, from Old English rysc.
Shaw 1 English
Originally given to a person who lived near a prominent thicket, from Old English sceaga meaning "thicket, copse".
Stack English
From a nickname for a big person, derived from Middle English stack "haystack", of Old Norse origin.
Tenley English
Possibly from the name of an English town derived from Old English tind "point" and leah "woodland, clearing".
Thorley English
From any of the various places in England called Thornley or Thorley, meaning "thorn clearing" in Old English.
Thorn English, Danish
Originally applied to a person who lived in or near a thorn bush.
Thorne English
Variant of Thorn.
Thornton English
From any of the various places in England by this name, meaning "thorn town" in Old English.
Timberlake English
From an English place name, derived from Old English timber "timber, wood" and lacu "lake, pool, stream".
Tuft English
Denoted one who lived near a clump of trees or bushes, from Middle English tufte "tuft, clump", from Old French.
Vernon English
Locational name in the Eure region of Normandy, from the Gaulish element vern "alder (tree)" with the genitive case maker onis.
Whinery English
From Middle English whin "gorse bush" and wray "nook of land".
Wilton English
From any of the English towns named Wilton.
Woodward English
Occupational name for a forester, meaning "ward of the wood" in Old English.