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.
GrissomEnglish From a diminutive of Grice, which was originally a nickname for a grey-haired man, derived from Middle English grice, gris meaning "grey" (itself from Old French gris, apparently of Germanic origin).
GrosvenorEnglish English surname of Norman origin meaning ‘the master huntsman’. Derived from Le Grand Veneur, this title was held by Hugh d'Avranches who accompanied William the Conqueror in the Norman invasion of England in 1066.
GryllsEnglish (Rare) There was an old and distinguished family of Grylls of Tavistock (Devon) and Lanreath (Cornwall) in the 17th century; two high sheriffs of the county then bore the name. The manor of Gryils (commonly mispronounced Garles), near the rocks called the Gryils or Garles, from which they probably derive their name, is in the parish of Lesneweth in that county.
GudgeonEnglish from Middle English gojon, gogen, Old French gougon ‘gudgeon’ (the fish) (Latin gobio, genitive gobionis), applied as a nickname or perhaps as a metonymic occupational name for a seller of these fish... [more]
GuernseyEnglish Denoted someone who lived in Guernsey, an island in the Channel Islands, derived from Old Norse Grani and ey "island"... [more]
GuestEnglish Nickname for a stranger or newcomer to a community, from Middle English g(h)est meaning "guest", "visitor" (from Old Norse gestr, absorbing the cognate Old English giest).
GuilderEnglish Occupational name for someone who worked in gold. The derivation is from the Old English pre 7th Century "gyldan" and the Old High German "gold", a refiner, jeweller, or gilder.
GullickEnglish From the Middle English personal name Gullake, a descendant of Old English Gūthlāc, literally "battle-sport".
GulliverEnglish From a medieval nickname for a greedy person (from Old French goulafre "glutton"). Jonathan Swift used it in his satire 'Gulliver's Travels' (1726), about the shipwrecked ship's surgeon Lemuel Gulliver, whose adventures "offer opportunities for a wide-ranging and often savage lampooning of human stupidity and vice."
GundryEnglish From Gondri, Gundric, an Old French personal name introduced to Britain by the Normans, composed of the Germanic elements gund "battle" and rīc "power(ful)".
GunnerEnglish From Old English gunne meaning "cannon, gun" and the agent suffix "-er"
GunneryEnglish The surname Gunnery was first found in Lincolnshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons.
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.
GuyEnglish, French From a French form of the Germanic personal name Wido, which is of uncertain origin. This name was popular among the Normans in the forms Wi, Why as well as in the rest of France in the form Guy.
GuyEnglish Occupational name for a guide, Old French gui (a derivative of gui(d)er "to guide", of Germanic origin).
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".
HackneyEnglish, Scottish From Middle English hakenei (Old French haquenée), an ambling horse, especially one considered suitable for women to ride; perhaps therefore a metonymic occupational name for a stablehand... [more]
HaddockEnglish Haddock is a surname of English. It may refer to many people. It may come from the medieval word Ædduc, a diminutive of Æddi, a short form of various compound names including the root ēad, meaning prosperity or fortune... [more]
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 for a person from Hadfield in Derbyshire, from Old English hæþ "heath, wilderness" and feld "field".
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]
HailstoneEnglish Possibly from Hailstone Hill in Wiltshire, which may be derived from Old English hālig-stān meaning "holy stone" or hagolstān meaning "hailstone". Could also derive from English personal name Æthelstān.
HainEnglish From the Middle English personal name Hein 1. This is derived from the Germanic personal name Hagano, originally a byname meaning "hawthorn"... [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’.
HalfpennyEnglish Nickname probably for a tenant whose feudal obligations included a regular payment in cash or kind (for example bread or salt) of a halfpenny. From Old English healf "half" (from proto Germanic halbaz) and penning "penny" meaning "half penny".
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]
HalleyEnglish Location name combining the elements hall as in "large house" and lee meaning "field or clearing."
HallgrenSwedish, English Combination of the dialectal Swedish word hall (Standard Swedish häll, Old Norse hallr), a type of flat rock, and gren meaning "branch". The first element may be taken from the name of a place named with this element (e.g. Halland, Hallsberg, or Hallstavik)... [more]
HalliwellEnglish Derived from various place names in England named with Old English halig "holy" and wille "spring, well".
HallmarkEnglish From Middle English halfmark ‘half a mark’, probably a nickname or status name for someone who paid this sum in rent.
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.
HammerGerman, English, Jewish From Middle High German hamer, Yiddish hamer, a metonymic occupational name for a maker or user of hammers, for example in a forge, or nickname for a forceful person.
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]
HanceEnglish Allegedly a patronymic from the personal name Hann.
HancockEnglish One plausible meaning for Hancock, due to the armorial achievement of the rooster charge. In medieval times, (500-1500AD) the rooster symbolized Christianity. This was due to with the fact the cock was crowing before Peter denied Christ, however, quickly after, it became a symbol for repentance & vigilance for looking out for sin... [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.
HansardEnglish Possibly from Middle English hansard "merchant or citizen of a Hanseatic town". Alternatively, from the given name Ansard, derived from ansu "god" and ward "guard" or hard "strong".
HappyEnglish, Scottish From a nickname for a fortunate person, derived from Middle English happy "fortunate, prosperous, blessed". In some cases, an Anglicized calque of any of the surnames meaning "happy, fortunate" (i.e., French L'Heureux or German Glück).
HarbinEnglish This surname is of Anglo-Saxon origins, and is derived from the personal names Rabin, Robin, and Robert. It has the English prefix 'har', which means gray.... [more]
HarbourEnglish Variant of French Arbour or a metonymic occupational name for a keeper of a lodging house, from Old English herebeorg "shelter, lodging".
HardacreEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of poor, stony land, from Middle English hard "hard, difficult" (derived from Old English heard) and aker "field" (derived from Old English æcer), or a habitational name from a place called Hardacre in West Yorkshire, of the same origin.
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.
HareIrish (Anglicized), English (American) Irish (Ulster): Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hÍr, meaning ‘long-lasting’. In Ireland this name is found in County Armagh; it has also long been established in Scotland.... [more]
HarkawayEnglish From a sporting phrase used to guide and incite hunting dogs.
HarkerEnglish (British) English (mainly northeastern England and West Yorkshire): habitational name from either of two places in Cumbria, or from one in the parish of Halsall, near Ormskirk, Lancashire. The Cumbrian places are probably named from Middle English hart ‘male deer’ + kerr ‘marshland’... [more]
HarknessScottish, English (British), Northern Irish Apparently a habitational name from an unidentified place (perhaps in the area of Annandale, with which the surname is connected in early records), probably so called from the Old English personal name Hereca (a derivative of the various compound names with the first element here ‘army’) + Old English næss ‘headland’, ‘cape’... [more]
HarlessEnglish, German English: probably a variant spelling of Arliss, a nickname from Middle English earles ‘earless’, probably denoting someone who was deaf rather than one literally without ears.
HarlinEnglish English surname transferred to forename use, from the Norman French personal name Herluin, meaning "noble friend" or "noble warrior."
HarmerEnglish (British) Meaning, of the Army or man of Armor, from the battle at Normandy, France. It was formerly a French last name Haremere after the battle at Normandy it moved on to England where it was shortened to Harmer.
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.
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]
HarvardEnglish From the Old English given name Hereweard, composed of the elements here "army" and weard "guard", which was borne by an 11th-century thane of Lincolnshire, leader of resistance to the advancing Normans... [more]