Home | Summary | Summary chart | Notes | Family charts | Surname index | Contact us
L |
| Lacey | Well-established Lacey families often depict a pike - the fish - on their armorial bearings (from Old French luce). |
| Lait | No entry in dictionary. |
| Laker | Dweller at a stream; or occupational term for a player. actor or sportsman: (Old Norse to lake = to play. |
| Lamb | Occupational term for a tender of lambs. |
| Land | A country as opposed to a town-dweller; or dweller at a glade. |
| Lane; Martha Osborn and Joseph in the Ewins family |
Dweller at a lane. |
| Elizabeth and William Langham | Surname Database provides the information shown on a further page of Notes. |
| Lavender | Occupational term for a launderer. No connection with the fragrant herb. |
| Leaford | No entry in dictionary. |
| Lecomber | No entry in dictionary. |
| Lefret | No entry in dictionary. |
| Leonard | From a Norman first-name meaning lion-hardy, borne by the patron saint of prisoners. |
| Lewis | From a Germanic first-name meaning `famous-battle`; or a common Welsh surname, as a sort of translation of Llewelyn. |
| Lilley | Place-name from Old English `flax clearing`; or a person with fair skin or hair. |
| Lobb | Place-name in Devon from Old English ?steep hill |
| Lock | Occupational term for a locksmith; or dweller near an enclosure. |
| Lofts | Loft = dweller in an upper room. |
| Lovell | Resembling a wolf-cub. |
| Low | See a further page of Notes. |
| Loyde | Lloyd = nickname for person with grey hair; chiefly Welsh. |
| Lucas | From Luke in the Bible. |
M |
| MacArthur | Son of Arthur. |
| Mackender | No Penguin dictionary entry: but Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames (1997) gives derivation for Mackendrick as son of Henry; and for Mackinder as son of the stranger. |
| Maisey | Place-name in Calvadod, France. |
| Manfield | From Old English - common/commonly-held field. |
| Manners | Place-name in France - from Latin `to remain`. |
| Mansell | From a place-name in France; or a status term for a feudal tenant. (A manse was enough land to keep a single family.) |
| Mapple | No entry for Mapple has been found, but SurnameDatabase does provide suggestions for Mapples: see a further page of Notes. |
| Marchant | Occupational term for a merchant. Until the late 18th century the spelling er was commonly pronounced ar. |
| Marsden | Place-name. OE boundary valley. |
| Martin | From a first-name made popular by St.Martin of Tours; or place-name from Old English boundary settlement. |
| Mason | Occupational term for a stone-mason. |
| Matthews | Son of Matthew; ME (Middle English) first-name. Especially in Scotland. |
| Mayhew | Matthew |
| Maynard | Surname Database suggests that the surname derives from Old French "Mainard" or "Meinard", and ultimately from Old Germanic. The meaning is strong. |
| Mayo | From the Middle English first-name Matthew. |
| McElligett | No entry found. |
| McGee | Irish son of Hugh. |
| McKenzie | Scots Gaelic son of "comely". |
| Mead | Dweller at a meadow; or occcupational term for a maker or seller of mead, the alcoholic honey beverage. |
| Meeling | No definition found |
| Merrett | As Merritt OE boundary gate; place-name in Somerset. |
| Merry | A merry person. |
| Middleton | Place-name; OE middle place or farm. |
| Miller | Occupational term. |
| Mison | No origin traced |
| Mitchell | A popular form of the first-name Michael; or a big person. |
| Mote | No Penguin dictionary entry: but Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames (1997) gives derivation as = Moat - dweller at the castle. |
| Moverley | Place-name. |
| Mower | Surname Database provides the information shown on a further page of Notes. |
| Muddel | No entry in dictionary. |
| Murton | Surname Database provides the information shown on a further page of Notes. |
N |
| Neal | From a first-name meaning champion. |
| Nevill | From a place-name in France |
| Nicholas | First-name borne by the patron saint of children, mariners, pawnbrokers and wolves. |
| Noakes | A dweller at the oaks - a south-east England version. |
| Norgate | Dweller at the north gate of a walled town or castle. |
| Norman(Maggie) (Ivy) |
Nickname for a person from Scandinavia or Normandy. Particularly strong in Devon - far from the Viking invasions. |
O |
| Ockendon | No Penguin dictionary entry: but Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames (1997) gives derivation as Essex place-name. |
| Oliver Jane Harwood and Emma Whiskin |
From the Old French first-name Olivier. |
| Orchard | Occupaional term for a fruit-grower; or a dweller at an orchard. |
| Osborn: main family; and Beryl and Elizabeth Harbott |
From an Old Norse first-name Asbjorn - god-bear. |
| Osborne | Commonest form of Osborn. |
| Oxenbridge | No entry in dictionary. |
P |
| Page | Occupational term for young servant./td> |
| Painter | Occupational term for a painter (of stained glass etc.) |
| Park | Dweller at the enclosure, or thinly wooded land kept for beasts of the chase. |
| Parnell | The same as Pernell, from Petronilla, Italian, pretty stone. A wanton, immodest girl. (Source: An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import (1857) by way of www.britishsurnames.co.uk/surnames) |
| Parsons | Occupational term for the servant of a parson. |
| Passfield | Meaning and derivation not discovered |
| Patrick | From first-name made popular by St. Patrick. |
| Patten | Occupational term for a clog-maker; or a man with a bald head; or a diminutive of the first-name Patrick. |
| Pattenden | No Penguin dictionary entry: but Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames (1997) gives derivation as place-name in "Goudhurst or Marden". |
| Paul | From the first-name Paul: but that was not common in medieval England. |
| Pawsey | Most likely of locational origin from "Pewsey", a place in Wiltshire, with the meaning of "island" or "land surrounded by two streams". |
| Pearce in Dorling family; or in Leaford family |
ancestry.co.uk provides the following information: Variant spelling of Pierce. More on a further page of Notes. |
| Pearson | From the first-name Peter - most common in the north of England. |
| Pepperel | A diminutive of pepper, applied to a man who was tiny, or black-haired, or bad-tempered; or associated with the village of Peppershill in Devon. |
| Perkins | Derived from first-name Peter, mainly in the North. |
| Perrin | Derived from first-name Peter, mainly in the S.E. and N.W. of England. |
| Pickvonts | No entry in dictionary; but Pickavance is a scarde Lancashire surname probably meaning an energetic person. |
| Pittman | Dweller in a hollow, or from a place-name with the same meaning. Most common in Somerset and the south of England. |
| Plumb | Occupational term for a worker in lead; or a dweller by a plum tree. |
| Pope | As a surname it probably originated as a nickname for a person with an austere ecclesiastical appearance, or for an actor who had played the part of the pope in a medieval pageant or play. |
| Poulter | Occupational term for a poulterer. |
| Preston | Place-name in 2 dozen counties, from Old English `priest`s place`. |
R |
| Race | See a further page of Notes. |
| Raker | No entry in dictionary, but Rake was a dweller at a narrow path or valley. |
| Rand | From Middle English first-name; dweller at a border/ untilled margin of a field or river bank. Particularly in Essex. |
| Randall Jane in the Harwood family or Harry in the Dorling family. |
As for Rand above, with widespread use. |
| Rankin | Diminutive from Randolph, a Normanized Germanic first-name meaning shield wolf or raven wolf. |
| Rawson | From Ralph, a variation of a Germanic first-name meaning advice-wolf. |
| Read | A person with red hair; or from place-names for reed-bed, brushwood etc. |
| Reddish | ancestry.co.uk provides the following information on a further page of Notes. |
| Reed | Same as Read above. |
| Reivers | No entry in dictionary. |
| Rhodes | Dweller in a woodland clearing, from Old English rod. |
| Rich | A wealthy person - or a poor one; or a diminutive of Richard. |
| Richards | From Germanic first-name "brave/strong", made popular by Normans. |
| Richardson | From a Germanic first-name Richard. Commonest in the south-east and northern counties of England, especially Lancashire. |
| Rickman | Occupational term for the servant of a man called Richard. |
| Riley Frank in the Leaford family and Vera Whiskin |
Place-name in Lancashire - Ryley meaning a clearing with rye. |
| Roberts Howard (Harbott family) and John William (Leaford family) |
From a Germanic first-name Robert meaning famous. |
| Robinson (Mary Ann) Leaford and Richard (Whiskin family) |
From a Germanic first-name Robert meaning famous. |
| Rogers | From a Germanic first-name meaning `fame-spear`. |
| Rolfe | From the Middle English Rolf, meaning `fame-wolf`. |
| Rose | See a further page of Notes. |
| Rowlett | Derivation not discovered. |
| Rumbelow | Surname Database provides the information shown on a further page of Notes. |
| Russell | Nickname for red hair or red face. |
| Rutter | Occupational term for a player on the rote, an early medieval stringed instrument; or a highwayman or ruffian. |
| Rylands William (Leaford family) and Ellen Whiskin |
Dweller on land where rye grows. |