EasthopeEnglish From the name of the village and civil parish of Easthope in Shropshire, England, derived from Old English est meaning "east, eastern" and hop meaning "enclosed valley".
EastleyEnglish A Saxon village called East Leah has been recorded to have existed since 932 AD. (Leah is an ancient Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'a clearing in a forest'). There is additional evidence of this settlement in a survey from the time which details land in North Stoneham being granted by King Æthelstan to his military aid, Alfred in 932 AD... [more]
EccbeerEnglish (Rare) From Middle English aker "field" and Old English bǣre "swine pasture," denoting someone who lived near one.... [more]
EcclesEnglish From the name of a town in Greater Manchester, England or another town or village named Eccles, derived from Latin ecclesia via Romano-British ecles meaning "church".
EddyAmerican A common surname used among people whose ancestry originates from the United Kingdom (England, Ireland and Scottland etc.) Shelia Eddy is an American who was convicted in 2014 for the murder of Skylar Neese in the state of West Virginia.
EdenEnglish From Middle English given name Edun, derived from Old English Ēadhūn, with the elements ēad "prosperity, wealth" and hūn "bear cub".... [more]
EdgeEnglish Topographic name, especially in Lancashire and the West Midlands, for someone who lived on or by a hillside or ridge, from Old English ecg "edge".
EdgecombeEnglish From a location meaning ridge valley, from Old English ecg "edge, ridge" and cumb "valley".
EdgelyEnglish A surname of Anglo-Saxon origin, and a place name taken from either a village in Cheshire or one in Shropshire. The name means “park by the wood” in Old English.
EggingtonEnglish Surname derived from a parish named "Eggington" in England.
EgglestonEnglish Habitational name from a place in County Durham so called, or from Egglestone in North Yorkshire, both named in Old English as Egleston, probably from the Old English personal name Ecgel (unattested) + tūn ‘settlement’, ‘farmstead’.
EisenhowerEnglish (American) American form of German Eisenhauer. A notable bearer was Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), president of the United States between 1953 and 1961. His ancestors immigrated to Pennsylvania from Germany in the 1740s and at some point the spelling changed from Eisenhauer to Eisenhower.
ElamEnglish English habitational name for someone from a place called Elham, in Kent, or a lost place of this name in Crayford, Kent. The first is derived from Old English el ‘eel’ + ham ‘homestead’ or hamm ‘enclosure hemmed in by water’... [more]
ElkinEnglish Patronymic of a diminutive of the given name Elis.
ElkingtonEnglish According to Wikipedia Elkington is a deserted medieval village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire in England. The villages name means "Elta's hill" or perhaps, less likely, "swan hill".... [more]
EllerbyEnglish Denoted a person from a town called Ellerby, meaning "Ælfweard’s farm", or perhaps "alder tree town" from Middle English aller "alder tree" and Old Norse býr "farm, settlement".
EllinghamEnglish Habitational name from places so named in Hampshire, Northumbria, and Norfolk. The first of these is named from Old English Edlingaham ‘homestead (Old English ham) of the people of Edla’, a personal name derived from a short form of the various compound names with a first element ead ‘prosperity’, ‘fortune’; the others may have the same origin or incorporate the personal name Ella 1 (see Ellington).
ElricEnglish, Popular Culture From the medieval English givin name Elric. Notable bearers were the Fullmetal Alchemist characters Edward and Alphonse Elric, as well as their mother, Trisha Elric.
ElsemereEnglish The surname Ellesmere was first found in Shropshire at Ellesmere, a market-town and parish, and the head of a union.
ElseyEnglish Derived from the Middle English given names Elfsi and Elsi, which in turn were derived from the Old English given name Ælfsige.
ElwellEnglish Means "person from Elwell", Dorset (probably "spring from which omens can be read").
ElwoodEnglish It's either from a place name in Gloucestershire, England called Ellwood that is derived from Old English ellern "elder tree" and wudu "wood", or a form of the Old English personal name Ælfweald, composed of the elements ælf "elf" and weald "rule".
ElzeaHebrew (Gallicized, Rare), American (South, Gallicized, Rare) The name means G-d’s help It is a French transition of the Hebrew name Eleazar applied to Jews that came to France by way of Egypt. Later it was carried over to the French Caribbean mainly St. Martinique which was the first major Jewish settlement in the Caribbean, but the name also spread to other Latin American Islands including Mexico... [more]
EmeryEnglish, French, Norman English and French from a Germanic personal name, Emaurri, composed of the elements amja ‘busy’, ‘industrious’ + ric ‘power’... [more]
EmsleyEnglish A name that came from a family that lived in Yorkshire, where they derived the family name from Helmsley. Probably of Old English origin Helm and ley or leah, which means "a clearing in the woods."
EngelbertGerman, English, French From a Germanic personal name composed of engel (see Engel) + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’. The widespread popularity of the name in France during the Middle Ages was largely a result of the fact that it had been borne by a son-in-law of Charlemagne; in the Rhineland it was more often given in memory of a bishop of Cologne (1216–25) of this name, who was martyred.
EnnalsEnglish This unusual and interesting surname is of medieval English origin, and derives from either of two Anglo-Scandinavian male given names: Ingald or Ingulf. The former derives ultimately from the Old Norse "Ingialdr", having as its initial element the divine name "Ing", borne by a minor Norse god associated with fertility, and meaning "swelling, protuberance", with "gialdr", tribute; hence, "Ing's tribute"... [more]
EnsorEnglish 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).... [more]
ErpinghamEnglish It indicates familial origin within the eponymous village in Norfolk.
ErreyEnglish This uncommon and intriguing name is of Old Norse origin, and is found chiefly in the north western counties of England, reflecting the dense settlement of Scandinavian peoples in those areas. The surname is locational, from places such as Aira Beck or Aira Force near Ullswater in Cumberland, or some other minor or unrecorded place also named with the Old Norse term "eyrara", meaning "gravel-bank stream river”.
ErwinEnglish, German, Irish, Scottish From the given name Erwin. From the Middle English personal name EverwinErwin perhaps from Old English Eoforwine (eofor "boar" and wine "friend") but mostly from an Old French form of the cognate ancient Germanic name Everwin or from a different ancient Germanic name Herewin with loss of initial H- (first element hariheri "army")... [more]
EsmondEnglish It was a name for a person who was of "grace" or "favourable protection". The surname Esmond originally derived from the Old English word Eastmund which referred to "grace".
EstesWelsh, Spanish, English a popular surname derived from the House of Este. It is also said to derive from Old English and have the meaning "of the East." As a surname, it has been traced to southern England in the region of Kent, as early as the mid-16th century.
EveringhamEnglish Means "homestead of the followers of Eofor". From Old English eofor "boar" inga, meaning "the people of, followers of" and ham meaning "home, estate, settlement".
EvertonEnglish Habitational name from any of various places, in Bedfordshire, Merseyside, and Nottinghamshire, so named from Old English eofor ‘wild boar’ + tun ‘settlement’.
EveshamEnglish Derived from the Old English homme or ham and Eof, the name of a swineherd in the service of Egwin, third bishop of Worcester.
EwellEnglish Habitation name from the town of Ewell in Surrey or from Temple Ewell or Ewell Manor, both in Kent or Ewell Minnis near Dover. Originally from Old English Aewill meaning "river source" or "spring".
EyreEnglish Derived from Middle English eyer, eir "heir", originally denoting a man who was designated to inherit or had already inherited the main property in a particular locality. The surname was borne by the heroine of Charlotte Brontë's 'Jane Eyre' (1847).
EyreEnglish Truelove the "Eyr" or "Heyr" was granted land in Derby as a reward for his services at the 1066 Battle of Hastings, together with a coat of arms featuring "a human leg in armour couped at the thigh quarterly argent and sable spurred", in reference to the sacrifice of his limb... [more]
EzellAmerican Of uncertain origin. The name is found primarily in the southeastern United States, possibly as a variation of Israel or a form of Ezekiel.
FairEnglish, Irish English: nickname meaning ‘handsome’, ‘beautiful’, ‘fair’, from Middle English fair, fayr, Old English fæger. The word was also occasionally used as a personal name in Middle English, applied to both men and women.... [more]
FairbrotherEnglish From a medieval nickname probably meaning either "better-looking of two brothers" or "brother of a good-looking person", or perhaps in some cases "father's brother".
FaireyEnglish Either (i) meant "person from Fairy Farm or Fairyhall", both in Essex (Fairy perhaps "pigsty"); or (ii) from a medieval nickname meaning "beautiful eye". This was borne by Fairey Aviation, a British aircraft company, producer of the biplane fighter-bomber Fairey Swordfish... [more]
FairfaxEnglish 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... [more]
FairweatherEnglish, Scottish From Middle English fayr "fair, beautiful, pleasant" and weder "weather", a nickname for a person with a sunny temperament, or who only worked in good weather. ... [more]
FallowEnglish, Jewish English: topographic name for someone who lived by a patch of fallow land, Middle English falwe (Old English f(e)alg). This word was used to denote both land left uncultivated for a time to recover its fertility and land recently brought into cultivation.... [more]
FancourtEnglish Derived from the English surname Fancourt, which originated in the county of Bedfordshire in England.
FaneEnglish From a medieval nickname for a well-disposed person (from Old English fægen "glad, willing"), or from a medieval Welsh nickname for a slim person (Welsh fain). This is the family name of the earls of Westmorland.
FanshaweEnglish Meant "person from Featherstonehaugh", Northumberland (now known simply as "Featherstone") ("nook of land by the four-stones", four-stones referring to a prehistoric stone structure known technically as a "tetralith")... [more]
FanthorpeEnglish Fan means "From France" and Thorpe is a Middle English word meaning "Small Village, Hamlet"
FarleyEnglish habitational name from any of various places called Farley of which there are examples in Berkshire Derbyshire Hampshire Kent Somerset Gloucestershire Staffordshire Surrey Wiltshire Shropshire and Sussex... [more]
FarlowEnglish Habitational name from a place in Shropshire so named from Old English fearn "fern" and hlaw "hill tumulus".
FarmanEnglish (i) from an Old Norse personal name denoting literally a seafarer or travelling trader, brought into English via French; (ii) "itinerant trader, pedlar", from Middle English fareman "traveller"
FarnumEnglish English and Irish. The origins of the Farnum name lie with England's ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. It comes from when the family lived at Farnham, in several different counties including Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Essex, Suffolk, and the West Riding of Yorkshire... [more]