Name Database
Baker
Occupational surname referring to someone who bakes. Derives from the Old English word 'baecere'.
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Batten
Patronymic surname referring to an ancestor named Baten or Batun. These were Middle English personal names and were the diminutive forms of the name Bat (meaning 'little Bat').
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Herbert Frederick Batten 1909-1980
Herbert Victor Batten 1887-1960
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Beasley
Habitational surname, referring to someone from Beesley in Lancashire, or any of the places called Bisley in Gloucestershire and Surrey. Perhaps also a variant of Basley, from the Middle English personal name Basile or Basily, used for men and women alike.
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Charles Thomas Beasley 1865-1952
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Bentley
Habitational surname from any of the various places named Bentley, the chief of which are in Derbyshire, Essex, Hampshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Warwick, Worcestershire, and East and South Yorkshire.
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Annie Louisa Bentley 1857-1947
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Chapman
Occupational surname referring to someone who was a merchant or trader. It originates from the Old English word 'céap' (meaning 'to barter/trade', also refers to a market) + the word 'man'.
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Edward Thomas Chapman 1757-1807
Edward Chapman c1732-1804
Mary Spencer Chapman 1777-1861
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Clapperton
A descriptive surname potentially referring to the word 'clop' (meaning 'lump') and used to refer to a large, ungainly individual. Could alternatively be a habitational name, derived from a place of the same name (e.g. Clapperton Hall in Broxburn, Scotland) but the place name might have been derived from the surname.
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Helena Clapperton (see also Helena Ivory) c1860-1919
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Collyer
An occupational surname (along with its variant, Collier), referring to an ancestor who was a coal miner/worker or one who dealt with charcoal.
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Emma Francesca Collyer 1836-1904
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Davies
Pronounced 'davis'. Patronymic surname meaning 'son of David'.
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Dungate
Habitational surname peculiar to primarily Kent and Sussex. It likely refers to an ancestor from Danegate in Rotherfield, Sussex. The earliest recorded Dungates hailed from Wadhurst, Sussex and the neighbouring hundred of Brenchley, Kent. ​
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Mary Ethel Dungate 1887-1984
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Edmonds
Patronymic surname referring to an ancestor with the Middle English or Older Scots personal name of Edmond (and ultimately from Old English Ä’admund).
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William Spencer Edmonds 1879-1955
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Fendick
Topographical surname from the Middle English 'fen' (fen marsh) + dik(e) dich(e) (ditch dyke). The surname may be topographic for someone who lived by a drainage dyke in fenlands. It could also be a habitational surname referring to an ancestor from a place so named, such as Thorpe Fendykes, Lincolnshire.
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Fletcher
An occupational surname, coming from the French flechier (arrow-maker). It referred to those who added feathers to the shaft of arrows, or made and sold the arrows themselves, and their descendants. Note: Fletcher was an adopted surname by Charles Joseph Fletcher, so we are not ancestrally related to Fletchers.
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Charles Joseph Fletcher 1894-1941
George Albert Fletcher 1870-1951​
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Flower
A descriptive surname, deriving from an ancestor called 'flower' as a nickname - perhaps beautiful as a flower, or other trait associated with a flower. The word 'flower' comes from the Middle English word 'flo(u)r ' (meaning: 'flower blossom'). Note: Flower was an adopted surname by Walter George Flower, so we are not ancestrally related to Flowers.
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Alice Mary Flower 1911-1977
Walter George Flower 1876-1944
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Giles
A patronymic surname, from the Middle English personal name 'Giles' or 'Gile', which in turn was a borrowing from Old French 'Gil(l)e(s)'. This is from Latin 'Aegidius' and, prior to that, the Greek 'aigidion', meaning ‘kid young goat’ . Note: DNA evidence has proven we are not ancestrally related to the Giles.
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Greenhalgh
Habitational surname peculiar to Lancashire. The name likely refers to an ancestor from one of two locations in Lancashire called Greenhalgh. The name itself combines combines the Old English words "grēne" (meaning "green") and "holh" (meaning "hollow").
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Gunning
A patronymic surname, which evolved from the shortened Anglicised form of the Gaelic 'Ó Conaing', meaning 'descendant of Conaing', a personal name. In County Clare, it was adopted from 'Ó Gamhnáin', meaning 'son of Gamhnán’, a personal name based on a diminutive of gamhna ‘calf'.
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Herbert William Joseph Gunning 1886-1961
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Ivory
There are several potential origins and meanings, but primarily would refer to an ancestor with this nickname, likely in reference to someone fair of skin. Note: Ivory was an adopted name sometimes used to refer to Helena, so we are not ancestrally related to an Ivory family.
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Helena Ivory (see also Helena Clapperton) c1860-1919
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Jones
A patronymic surname, meaning 'the son of John'.
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Lane
A topographic surname, referring to someone who lived on a lane, from the Middle English/Old English 'lane'. It originally referred to a narrow way between fences or hedges but the meaning of 'lane' later widened to denote any narrow pathway including one between houses in a town.
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Ellen Ruby Price Lane 1893-1976
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Lee
A topographic surname, referring to someone who lived in a meadow or clearing. The name derives from the Old English word 'lēah', which translates to 'wood or glade'.
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Legg
A descriptive surname, referring to an ancestor with the nickname 'legg', likely a reference to some peculiarity of the leg. From the Middle English 'legg', meaning ‘leg’ (Old Norse leggr).
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Morris
A patronymic surname, referring to the personal name 'Maurice' in England and Scotland, an Old French personal name introduced to Britain by the Normans. In some cases it could be descriptive surname, deriving from the nickname for someone with a swarthy complexion.
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Oliver
A patronymic surname referring to an ancestor named Oliver or Olivier. The personal name Oliver is an old French personal name.
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Alfred Thomas Oliver 1893-1949
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Pittman
Occupational surname referring to an ancestor who worked in a pit or hollow.
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Rose Pittman 1884-1909
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Price
A patronymic surname, coming from the Welsh ap-Rhys, meaning 'son of Rhys'.
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Worcester
A habitational surname, referring to an ancestor from the city of Worcester.
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Ada Worcester 1882-1969
William Gorringe Worcester 1852-1918