Arnson, Arnull (Eng) Descendant of Arnold, a Germanic personal name meaning ‘eagle rule.’ The name can also refer to an ancestor who came from one of the English places named because of a nearby ‘eagle hollow.’ The Scottish place name Arnot derives instead from Gaelic ornacht ‘barley.’
Arrowsmith, Arousmyth, Arowsmith, Arrasmith, Arsmith, Arusmyth (Eng) Occupational name of a maker of arrow heads.
Arrowsmith is a novel by the American writer Sinclair Lewis, about the life of an idealistic doctor, Martin Arrowsmith. Lewis was offered the Pulitzer Prize for the novel but turned it down.
Arthur see MACCARTNEY.
Artrick see ARKWRIGHT.
Arusmith see ARROWSMITH.
Ash, Aish, Asch, Asche, Ashall, Asham, Ashby, Ashcroft, Ashdown, Ashe, Ashenden, Asher, Ashfield, Ashford, Ashley, Ashman, Ashton, Ashurst, Ashwell, Ashwood, Ashworth, Aysh, Daish, Dash, Dashwood, Daysh, Esh, Naish, Nash, Nayshe, Rasch, Tasch, Tesche, Tesh (Eng) Dweller near an ash tree or trees, or someone who originally came from one of the many English places named for its ash trees.
Ashplant see ABSALOM.
Ashton, Ashurst, Ashwell, Ashwood, Ashworth see ASH.
Aspenlon see ABSOLOM.
Aspig, Aspol see GILLESPIE.
Aspland, Asplen, Asplin, Aspling see ABSOLOM.
Aston (Eng) Someone who came from one of the several places so-named because it was an ‘eastern settlement.’
Atack see OAK.
Atberry, Atbury see BURY.
Atfield see FIELD.
Atha, Athawes see ABADAM.
Atherden see DEAN.
Atherlee see LEE.
Atkin, Atkins, Atkinson see ADAM.
A private in the British Army became generically known as a Tommy or Tommy Atkins in the early years of the 19th century, when Thomas Atkins was used as a specimen name on Army forms in the same way that Richard Roe and John Doe were used on legal documents. No one has ever managed to trace a particular Thomas Atkins whose name was borrowed. Kipling has a poem called ‘Tommy’ in which occur the well-known lines:
Oh, it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ ‘Tommy, go away’;
But it’s ‘Thank you, Mr Atkins,’ when the band begins to play.
Atlee, Atley see LEE.
Atmore see MOORE.
Atoc, Attack see OAK.
Atterbury see BURY.
Attick see OAK.
Attle, Attlee see LEE.
Attoc, Attock see OAK.
Attwood see WOOD.
Aubert see ALBERT.
Aubon see ALBAN.
Auld, Auldson see OLD.
Aunderson see ANDREW.
Austin, Augustine, Austen (Eng) Descendant of a man named Austin, the day to day form of Latin Augustinus or Augustus ‘increasing.’ The name was much used in the Middle Ages because of the fame of St Augustine of Hippo, and in England especially, because of St Augustine of Canterbury.
Avann see FENN.
Axsmith see SMITH.
Aykroyd see ACKROYD.
Aysh see ASH.
Bacchus, Bacher, Backhouse, Backouse, Backus see BAKER.
Badam, Badda, Baddam, Baddams, Badham see ABADAM.
Baiker see BAKER.
Bailey, Bailie, Baillie, Baily (Eng, Scot, Irish) Occupational name of an official, a bailiff, or an indication that the original name-bearer lived near a bail, the outer wall of a fortification. Bailey ‘berry wood’ in Lancashire was also the source of the surname for many families.
Bailhache, Ballachey, Ballechett, Ballhatchet, Baylehache (Eng) An English name, but formed from the Old French words baille hache ‘give axe.’ The occupational name of an executioner.
Baitson see BARTHOLOMEW.
Baker, Bacher, Baiker, Baxter (Eng) Occupational name of a communal baker. He might also be described as a ‘worker at the bake-house,’ giving rise to surnames such as Bacchus, Backhouse, Backouse, Backus, Bakehouse. The Old French boulengier ‘baker’ led to Bullinger, Pillinger, Pullinger. See DUCK.
Baldrey, Baldrick, Baldridge, Baudrey, Baudrick, Boldright, Boldwright, Boldry, Bowdery (Eng) Descendant of Bealdric, a Germanic personal name composed of elements meaning ‘bold’ and ‘power.’
Baldwin (Eng) Descendant of a man named Baldwin ‘brave friend.’ The assumption that the first element of this name meant ‘bald’ led to its occasional use In Ireland for a personal name which means ‘bald, tonsured.’ See MILLIGAN.
William Hone relates in his Every-Day Book that ‘on the twentieth of May, 1736, the body of Samuel Baldwin, Esq., was, in compliance with an injunction in his will, immersed, sans ceremonie, in the sea at Lymington, Hants. His motive for this extraordinary mode of interment was to prevent his wife from “dancing over his grave,” which this modern Xanthippe had frequently threatened to do, in case she survived him.’
Balismith, Balysmyth see SMITH.
Ball, Bald, Balls (Eng) Nickname for a bald man, or indicating an ancestor who lived near a boundary mound.
John Field, in English Field Names, cites many instances of The Ball as a field name. Such names often give clues to surname origins, preserving as they do earlier senses of words. Field names such as Eighteenpennyworth, Fivepenny, Halfpence, Twenty shilling field, Twopenneworth, indicating the value of the land, may also explain some puzzling ‘money’ surnames – see PENNY.
Ballachey, Ballechett, Ballhatchet see BAILHACHE.
Ballaster, Ballester, Ballister, Balster, Bolister (Eng) Occupational name for a crossbow-maker or a soldier armed with one. There is a connection with the word ballistics.
Ballock see BULLOCK.
Balsillie (Scot) Descendant of someone who originally came from the Scottish village of this name, near Leslie In Fife. It is probably from Gaelic baile-seilich ‘willow-tree farm.’
Balster see BALLASTER.
Bandra, Bandrew, Bandrey, Bandro see ANDREW.
Banks, Banker, Bankes (Eng) Descendant of someone