Submitted Surname Revision History

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4/24/2024, 11:42 AM Onthewinedarksea
4/12/2024, 6:24 PM Onthewinedarksea

Name Ensor
Type Surname (from location)
Usage English
Edit Status Statusnot set

Meaning & History

Derived from Endesor, a village in Derbyshire, indicating a person who lived there. Endesor itself is Old English, coming from the genitive case of the first name Ēadin and ‘ofer’, meaning ‘sloping ridge’ (From ‘Dictionary of American Family Names’, 2nd edition, 2022).

Nameberry.com defines Eadin as a variant of Eden (which it states means ‘pleasure, delight’).
A personal, uninformed speculation is that Ēadin may come from the Old English adjective ‘eád’ meaning ‘rich, wealthy, blessed, happy’ (see ‘Bosworth Toller’s Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online’). The second element may derive from the noun ‘wine’ meaning ‘friend’, (ibid.). The two elements are the same elements that make up Eadwine (Edwin). However, behindthename.com’s recorded variants of Edwin almost always include the w/v letter of ‘wine’, making the latter element appear less likely.

‘Bosworth Toller’s Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online’ defines ‘ofer’ as an preposition meaning ‘above, over’
Added 4/12/2024 by Onthewinedarksea