FrémontFrench (Americanized), English (American) Fremont is a French surname meaning Free Mountain. People include John Frémont a US Explorer and Politician who fought in the Mexican-American War to free California and many places named after him, Including Fremont, California, and Fremont Nebraska.
FrisbyEnglish Means "person from Frisby", Leicestershire ("farmstead of the Frisians"). A frisbee is a plastic disc thrown from person to person as a game; the trademarked name, registered in 1959 by Fred Morrison, was inspired by the Frisbie bakery of Bridgeport, Connecticut, whose pie tins were the original models for the plastic discs.
FrithEnglish, Scottish From Old English friþ "peace, refuge, sanctuary", probably denoting a person who lives in a sanctuary or at peace. It also be a variant of English surname Firth.
FullertonEnglish Habitational name from a place in Scotland. Derived from Old English fugol "bird" and tun "settlement, enclosure".
FurlongEnglish, Irish Apparently a topographic name from Middle English furlong ‘length of a field’ (from Old English furh meaning "furro" + lang meaning "long".
FurneauxFrench (Anglicized), English Locational surname from any of several places in France called Fourneaux, or from fourneau "furnace".
GableEnglish Northern English: of uncertain origin, perhaps a habitational name from a minor place named with Old Norse gafl ‘gable’, which was applied to a triangular-shaped hill. The mountain called Great Gable in Cumbria is named in this way.... [more]
GadburyEnglish Habitational name from Cadborough, alias Gateborough, in Rye, Sussex, probably so named from Old English gāt meaning "goat" + beorg meaning "hill".
GainsboroughEnglish From the city of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, England. A famous bearer of this surname includes English painter Thomas Gainsborough.
GaisfordEnglish Habitational name from a lost or unidentified place.
GarthEnglish Means "garden" from northern Middle English garth (Old Norse garþr, garðr) "piece of enclosed ground; garden, paddock" originally denoting one who lived near or worked in a garden.
GartonEnglish From a place name: either Garton or Garton on the Wolds, both in East Yorkshire, or from various places similarly named, from Old English gara "triangular plot of land" and tun "enclosure, town".
GarwoodEnglish Comes from a lost locational name from the Olde English gara, referring to a "triangular piece of land" or to a "spearhead", and wudu meaning a "wood".
GascoigneEnglish Originally denoted a person from the province of Gascony in France. A famous bearer is the English former soccer player Paul Gascoigne (1967-). Another was the television host and author Bamber Gascoigne (1935-2022).
GascoyneEnglish Variant of Gascoigne, which was originally a regional name for someone from the province of Gascony, via Old French Gascogne.
GaskillEnglish Meaning "Goat Shelter". English (Lancashire) habitual name from Gatesgill in Cumbria, so named from Old Norse geit ‘goat’ + skáli ‘shelter’. The surname is first recorded in the early half of the 14th Century.
GatenbyEnglish Derives from the place of Gatenby in North Yorkshire, which comes from an Old Norse personal name "Gaithen", likely from Old Norse geitin "goats" (later influenced by Old English gāt "goat") and the suffix býr "farm, settlement", referring to a settlement with goats... [more]
GauntEnglish This name is believed to have derived "from the town of Gaunt, now Ghent, in Flanders."... [more]
GawthropEnglish habitational name from any of several places in Yorkshire and Lancashire called Gawthorpe or Gowthorpe all of which are named from Old Norse gaukr "cuckoo" and þorp "enclosure" meaning "village where cuckoo's frequented".
GayEnglish Habitational name from a settlement in Normandy called Gaye, possibly derived from a Germanic person name cognate with Wade 2, or perhaps related to Old French gayere "wet ground" or goille "puddle, quagmire".
GeeIrish, Scottish, English, French Irish and Scottish: reduced form of McGee, Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Aodha ‘son of Aodh’ (see McCoy). ... [more]
GermanyEnglish English (eastern): habitational name from Middle English Germanie, denoting the parts of Continental Europe inhabited by ancient Germanic peoples.
GiffordEnglish Gifford is an English name for someone who comes from Giffords Hall in Suffolk. In Old English, it was Gyddingford, or "ford associated with Gydda." Alternatively, it could come from the Middle English nickname, "Giffard," from Old French meaning "chubby-cheeked."
GilbyEnglish Means either (i) "person from Gilby", Lincolnshire ("Gilli's farm"); or (ii) "little Gilbert".
GladneyEnglish Probably means "bright island", from the Old English element glæd "bright" (cf. Glædwine) and the English element ney "island" (cf.... [more]
GlosterEnglish habitational name from the city of Gloucester. The place originally bore the British name Glevum (apparently from a cognate of Welsh gloyw "bright") to which was added the Old English element ceaster "Roman fort or walled city" (from Latin castrum "legionary camp")... [more]
GloucesterEnglish habitational name from the city of Gloucester. The place originally bore the British name Glevum (apparently from a cognate of Welsh gloyw "bright") to which was added the Old English element ceaster "Roman fort or walled city" (from Latin castrum "legionary camp")... [more]
GoldthwaiteEnglish Possibly derived from Guilthwaite in South Yorkshire, which is named from Old Norse gil meaning "ravine" and þveit meaning "clearing". However, the modern surname is associated with Essex, suggesting some other source, now lost.
GorhamEnglish A name originating from Kent, England believed to come from the elements gara and ham meaning "from a triangular shaped homestead." Compare Gore.
GorringeEnglish Derived from the name of the village of Goring-by-the-Sea in Sussex
GorsuchEnglish Habitational name from the hamlet of Gorsuch, Lancashire, earlier Gosefordsich, derived from Old English gosford meaning "goose ford" and sic meaning "small stream".
GosdenEnglish From the name of a lost place in the village and civil parish of Slaugham in West Sussex, England, derived from Old English gos meaning "goose" and denn meaning "woodland pasture".
GothamEnglish English: habitational name from Gotham in Nottinghamshire, so named from Old English gat ‘goat’ + ham ‘homestead’ or hamm ‘water meadow’.
GrammerGerman, English Variant of Krämer or a habitational name for someone possibly from German places called Gram or Grammen. It can also be an English occupational name for a scholar or an astrologer, derived from Old French gramaire meaning "grammarian, scholar, astrologer"... [more]
GrandisonEnglish A habitational name from Grandson on Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland.... [more]
GrangeEnglish, French Topographic name for someone who lived by a granary, from Middle English, Old French grange (Latin granica "granary, barn", from granum "grain"). In some cases, the surname has arisen from places named with this word, for example in Dorset and West Yorkshire in England, and in Ardèche and Jura in France... [more]
GranthamEnglish Habitational name from Grantham in Lincolnshire, of uncertain origin. The final element is Old English hām "homestead"; the first may be Old English grand "gravel" or perhaps a personal name Granta, which probably originated as a byname meaning "snarler"... [more]
GrassEnglish, German Topographic name for someone who owned or lived by a meadow, or a metonymic occupational name for someone who made or sold hay, from Middle English gras, Middle High German gras "grass, pasture, grazing".
GreengrassEnglish Notable bearers include film director Paul Greengrass and baseball player Jim Greengrass.
GreenhillEnglish The name is derived from a geographic locality, "at the green hill", or rather, more specifically of "Greenhill". The surname could also derive from the liberty on the wapentake of Corringham in Lincolnshire, or a hamlet in the parish of Harrow in Middlesex... [more]
GreenidgeEnglish From Greenhedge Farm in Aslockton, Nottinghamshire, itself derived from Old English grene “green” + hecg “hedge”.
GreenlandEnglish (Germanized) Greenland Name Meaning. English: topographic name for someone who lived near a patch of land left open as communal pasturage, from Middle English grene 'green' + land 'land'. Translated form of German Grönland, a topographic name with the same meaning as 1, from Low German grön 'green' + Land 'land'.
GreenlawEnglish From one of two placenames, located near the Anglo-Scottish border. Named with Old English grēne, 'green' and halw, 'hill, mound'.
GreenleeEnglish habitational name from any of various minor places, for example in Staffordshire, so named from Old English grene ‘green’ + leah ‘woodland clearing’.
GreenwayEnglish Originally given to a person who lived near a grassy path, from Middle English grene "green" and weye "road, path" (cf. Way).... [more]
GreshamEnglish From a place name meaning "grazing homestead" in Old English.
GresleyEnglish From the name of either of two villages in Derbyshire, derived from Old English greosn "gravel" and leah "woodland clearing, glade".
GrimshawEnglish A habitational surname originating from the hamlet of Grimshaw in Lancashire, derived from Old English elements grīma "mask" and sċeaga "copse". Famous bearers of this surname include , English Victorian-era artist John Atkinson Grimshaw and Irish writer Beatrice Grimshaw, as well as the Grimshaw family in Coronation Street.
GuppyEnglish English habitational name from a place in Wootton Fitzpaine, Dorset, Gupehegh in Middle English. This is named with the Old English personal name Guppa (a short form of Guðbeorht "battle bright") + (ge)hæg "enclosure"... [more]
GurneyEnglish, French, Norman Originated from the region Normandy in France, is also a biospheric name from Gournay-en-Bray, a commune in France. It is also a fictional character's maiden name, Jacqueline "Jackie" Bouvier from the animated sitcom show, The Simpsons.
HackneyEnglish, Scottish Habitational name from Hackney in Greater London, named from an Old English personal name Haca (genitive Hacan) combined with ēg "island, dry ground in marshland".
HaddonEnglish Derived from the Old English word had meaning "heathland" and the Old English suffix -don meaning "hill"; hence, the "heathland hill" or the "heather-covered hill".... [more]
HadfieldEnglish Habitational name from a place so named in Derbyshire named from Old English hæþ "heathland heather" and feld "field" meaning "heath open land".
HadleyEnglish A habitational name from either a place named Hadley, or a place named Hadleigh. The first is named from the Old English personal name Hadda + lēah (means ‘wood’, ‘(woodland) clearing’), and the other three are from Old English hǣð (meaning ‘heathland’, ‘heather') + lēah.
HailesScottish, English Scottish habitational name from Hailes in Lothian, originally in East Lothian, named from the Middle English genitive or plural form of hall ‘hall’. ... [more]
HairfieldEnglish Probably a variant of Harefield, a habitational name from a place so named, for example the one Greater London or Harefield in Selling, Kent, which are both apparently named from Old English here ‘army’ + feld ‘open country’.
HalifaxEnglish Habitational name for someone from Halifax in Yorkshire, from Old English halh "corner, nook" and gefeaxe "having hair, haired", literally meaning "grassy corner"... [more]
HallamEnglish Habitational name from Halam (Nottinghamshire) or from Kirk or West Hallam (Derbyshire) all named with the Old English dative plural halum "(at the) nooks or corners of land" (from Old English halh "nook recess"; see Hale)... [more]
HalliwellEnglish Derived from various place names in England named with Old English halig "holy" and well "spring, well".
HallowEnglish English: topographic name from Middle English hal(l)owes ‘nooks’, ‘hollows’, from Old English halh (see Hale). In some cases the name may be genitive, rather than plural, in form, with the sense ‘relative or servant of the dweller in the nook’.
HaltonEnglish habitational name from any of several places called Halton in Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Northumberland, Lincolnshire, Shropshire and Buckinghamshire... [more]
HamerEnglish, German From the town of Hamer in Lancashire from the old english word Hamor combining "Rock" and "Crag". It is also used in Germany and other places in Europe, possibly meaning a maker of Hammers.
HamlinEnglish From an Old English word meaning "home" or "homestead" and a diminutive suffix -lin.
HampshireEnglish Originally indicated a person from the county of Hampshire in England (recorded in the Domesday Book as Hantescire), derived from Old English ham meaning "water meadow, enclosure" and scir meaning "shire, district"... [more]
HanfordEnglish Habitational name from any of several places called Hanford, Handforth, or Hannaford, derived from either Old Welsh hen "old" and ford "road, way", or from Old English ford "ford, river crossing" combined with the given name Hanna.
HannamEnglish Habitational name from a place called Hanham in Gloucestershire, which was originally Old English Hānum, dative plural of hān ‘rock’, hence ‘(place) at the rocks’. The ending -ham is by analogy with other place names with this very common unstressed ending.
HardacreEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of poor, stony land, from Middle English hard "hard, difficult" and aker "cultivated land" (Old English æcer), or a habitational name from Hardacre, a place in Clapham, West Yorkshire, which has this etymology.
HardleyEnglish The name comes from when a family lived in the village of Hartley which was in several English counties including Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Kent, Lancashire, York and Northumberland. This place-name was originally derived from the Old English words hart which means a stag and lea which means a wood or clearing.
HarndenEnglish From an English village Harrowden in Bedfordshire. This place name literally means "hill of the heathen shrines or temples," from the Old English words hearg and dun.
HarrowEnglish Means "person from Harrow", the district of northwest Greater London, or various places of the same name in Scotland ("heathen shrine").
HartfordEnglish Habitational name from Hertford, or from either of two places called Hartford, in Cheshire and Cumbria; all are named with Old English heorot ‘hart’ + ford ‘ford’.
HartshornEnglish habitational name from Hartshorne (Derbyshire) from Old English heorot "hart stag" (genitive heorotes) and horn "horn" perhaps in reference to the nearby hill (known as Hart Hill) and its supposed resemblance to a hart's horn... [more]
HartsillEnglish A habitational name from a place in Warwickshire named Hartshill from the Old English personal name Heardrēd + Old English hyll ‘hill’.
HartwellEnglish Habitational name from places in Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, and Staffordshire called Hartwell, from Old English heorot ‘stag’, ‘hart’ + wella ‘spring’, ‘stream’... [more]
HartyEnglish Habitational name from the Isle of Harty in Kent. From Old English heorot meaning "hart stag" and ēg meaning "island".
HarwoodEnglish, Scots Habitation name found especially along the border areas of England and Scotland, from the Old English elements har meaning "gray" or hara referring to the animals called "hares" plus wudu for "wood"... [more]
HasleyEnglish Habitational name of uncertain origin. The surname is common in London, and may be derived from Alsa (formerly Assey) in Stanstead Mountfitchet, Essex (recorded as Alsiesheye in 1268). nother possible source is Halsway in Somerset, named from Old English hals ‘neck’ + weg ‘way’, ‘road’.
HassallEnglish Means "person from Hassall", Cheshire ("witch's corner of land").
HaswellEnglish habitational name from Haswell (Durham) or less probably from Haswell (Somerset) or Haswell in North Huish (Devon). The placenames probably derive from Old English hæsel "hazel" and wille "well spring stream".
HatchEnglish English (mainly Hampshire and Berkshire): topographic name from Middle English hacche ‘gate’, Old English hæcc (see Hatcher). In some cases the surname is habitational, from one of the many places named with this word... [more]
HatcherEnglish Southern English: topographic name for someone who lived by a gate, from Middle English hacche (Old English hæcc) + the agent suffix -er. This normally denoted a gate marking the entrance to a forest or other enclosed piece of land, sometimes a floodgate or sluice-gate.
HawleyEnglish From the place name Hawley, specifically from the former settlement in Yorkshire from Old Norse haugr meaning "hill" and Old English leah meaning "woodland".
HayfordEnglish English habitational name from several places called Heyford in Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, or Hayford in Buckfastleigh, Devon, all named with Old English heg ‘hay’ + ford ‘ford’.
HayhurstEnglish Topographic name for a dweller ‘(by the) high wood or grove’, from Middle English heigh, high(e) + hirst(e).
HaylingEnglish Either (i) "person from Hayling", Hampshire ("settlement of Hægel's people"); or (ii) from the Old Welsh personal name Heilyn, literally "cup-bearer" (see also Palin).
HaytonEnglish habitational name from any of various places called Hayton such as those in Cumberland East Yorkshire Nottinghamshire and Shropshire named with Old English heg "hay" and tun "farmstead estate".
HayworthEnglish English: habitational name from Haywards Heath in Sussex, which was named in Old English as ‘enclosure with a hedge’, from hege ‘hedge’ + worð ‘enclosure’. The modern form, with its affix, arose much later on (Mills gives an example from 1544).
HazeldenEnglish Means "person from Hazelden", the name of various places in England ("valley growing with hazel trees").
HazelfieldEnglish Derived from Old English hæsel "hazel" and feld "field".
HazeltineEnglish This unusual surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname from any of the various places that get their name from the Olde English pre 7th century “hoesel”, hazel and “-denut”, a valley, for example Heselden in Durham and, Hasselden in Sussex.
HazeltonEnglish Hazel is referring to hazel trees, while ton is from old english tun meaning enclosure, so an enclosure of hazel trees, or an orchard of hazel trees.
HazelwoodEnglish Habitational name from any of various places, for example in Devon, Derbyshire, Suffolk, Surrey, and West Yorkshire, so called from Old English hæsel (or Old Norse hesli) ‘hazel (tree)’ + wudu ‘wood’; or a topographic name from this term.
HazlehurstEnglish Habitational name for a person from the places in Lancashire, Surrey, or Sussex, or somebody who lives in a hazel grove, all derived from Old English hæsl "hazel" (Archaic form hazle) and hyrst "wood, grove".
HeadleeEnglish (Rare) The Anglo-Saxon name Headlee comes from when the family resided in one of a variety of similarly-named places. Headley in Hampshire is the oldest. The surname Headlee belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxon habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.
HealeyEnglish Habitational surname for a person from Healey near Manchester, derived from Old English heah "high" + leah "wood", "clearing". There are various other places in northern England, such as Northumberland and Yorkshire, with the same name and etymology, and they may also have contributed to the surname.
HeathcoteEnglish English habitational name from any of various places called Heathcote, for example in Derbyshire and Warwickshire, from Old English h?ð ‘heathland’, ‘heather’ + cot ‘cottage’, ‘dwelling’.
HeatherEnglish Topographic name, a variant of Heath with the addition of the habitational suffix -er. This surname is widespread in southern England, and also well established in Ireland.
HeddleEnglish From the name of a location in Orkney, derived from Old Norse meaning either "high valley" or "hay valley".
HedgeEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a hedge, Middle English hegg(e). In the early Middle Ages, hedges were not merely dividers between fields, but had an important defensive function when planted around a settlement or enclosure.
HelderDutch, German, Upper German, English 1. Dutch and German: from a Germanic personal name Halidher, composed of the elements haliò “hero” + hari, heri “army”, or from another personal name, Hildher, composed of the elements hild “strife”, “battle” + the same second element... [more]
HelliwellEnglish From various place names in United Kingdom. Derived from Olde English elements of "halig" meaning holy, and "waella", a spring.
HelmEnglish, Dutch, German from Old English helm "protection covering" (in later northern English dialects "cattle shelter barn"). The name may be topographic for someone who lived by or worked at a barn or habitational from a place so named such as Helme in Meltham (Yorkshire)... [more]
HelmsleyEnglish This English habitational name originates with the North Yorkshire village of Helmsley, named with the Old English personal name Helm and leah, meaning 'clearing'.
HeltonEnglish (American) Habitational name from Helton in Cumbria, named in Old English probably with helde "slope" and tun "farmstead, settlement", or possibly a variant of Hilton... [more]
HemberEnglish From the West Country area near Bristol.
HemingwayEnglish Probably from the name of an unidentified minor place near the village of Southowram in West Yorkshire, England, derived from the Old English given name Hemma combined with weg meaning "way, road, path"... [more]
HemsleyEnglish English: habitational name from either of two places in North Yorkshire called Helmsley. The names are of different etymologies: the one near Rievaulx Abbey is from the Old English personal name Helm + Old English leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’, whereas Upper Helmsley, near York, is from the Old English personal name Hemele + Old English eg ‘island’, and had the form Hemelsey till at least the 14th century
HemsworthEnglish Habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire, England, meaning "Hymel's enclosure".
HenceGerman, English, Welsh An American spelling variant of Hentz derived from a German nickname for Hans or Heinrich or from an English habitation name found in Staffordshire or Shropshire and meaning "road or path" in Welsh.
HenleyEnglish, Irish, German (Anglicized) English: habitational name from any of the various places so called. Most, for example those in Oxfordshire, Suffolk, and Warwickshire, are named with Old English héan (the weak dative case of heah ‘high’, originally used after a preposition and article) + Old English leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’... [more]
HensleyEnglish Probably a habitational name from either of two places in Devon: Hensley in East Worlington, which is named with the Old English personal name Heahmund and Old English leah "(woodland) clearing", or Hensleigh in Tiverton, which is named from Old English hengest "stallion" (or the Old English personal name Hengest) and leah... [more]
HenwoodEnglish Habitational name from any of various places so named, as for example Henwood in Cornwall, in Linkinhorne parish, which is named from Old English henn 'hen', 'wild bird' + wudu 'wood', or Hen Wood in Wootton, Oxfordshire
HerefordEnglish Habitational name from Hereford in Herefordshire, or Harford in Devon and Goucestershire, all named from Old English here "army" + ford "ford".
HerndonEnglish Habitational name from a lost or unidentified place, possibly derived from Old English hyrne "corner, angle, nook" and dun "hill, mountain". Alternatively, it could derive from an older form of the toponym Harrowden, composed of hearg "temple, altar, pile of stones" and dun "hill".
HerridgeEnglish habitational name from Herridges in Pauntley (Gloucestershire) or Highridge in King's Nympton (Devon). The Gloucestershire placename may derive from Old English hæg "fence enclosure" and hrycg "ridge" or while the Devon placename comes from an uncertain initial element and Old English hrycg.
HeskethEnglish Combination of Old Norse hestr "horse" and skeið "racecourse". This is the name of several paces in England.
HessayEnglish From the name of a village in North Yorkshire, derived from Old English hæsel "hazel" and sæ "sea" or eg "water".
HestonEnglish, Irish Derived from Heston, a suburban area in West London (historically in Middlesex), or Histon, a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. It is either named with Old English hǣs meaning "brushwood" and tūn meaning "farmstead, settlement, estate", or from hyse "shoot, tendril, son, youth" and tūn... [more]
HetheringtonEnglish Derived from Hetherington, a like-named place in Northumberland
HeygateEnglish From a location which is either "hay gate" (hay + Old English geat) or "high gate" (heáh + geat).
HeywoodEnglish From a place name derived from Old English heah meaning "high" and wudu meaning "tree, wood".
HiddlestonEnglish, Scottish Habitational name from a place called Huddleston in Yorkshire, England. The place name was derived from the Old English personal name HUDEL.
HigginbothamEnglish Habitational name from a place in Lancashire now known as Oakenbottom. The history of the place name is somewhat confused, but it is probably composed of the Old English elements ǣcen or ācen "oaken" and botme "broad valley"... [more]
HighEnglish A name for someone who lives in a high place, like a mountain or hill.