The Meaning and Origin of the
Surnames
Maternal
Family Names
Farnsworth - (Old English/Anglo-Saxon) - dwelling name: from fearn (fern) and worth (estate), thus, the
name of an estate situated in or near an area overgrown with ferns.
Fuller - (Old
English) - profession: someone who fulls, that
is, scours and thickens raw woollen cloth by beating and trampling it with his
bare feet in water; found mostly in Southeast England.
Lane - 1 (Old
English) - local name: for someone who lived in a lane, originally a narrow
way between fences or hedges, later used of any narrow pathway, even between
houses. 2 (Irish Gaelic) - anglicised form of several Irish surnames: O'Laighin, O'Luain,
O'Liathain (all pronounced more or less "O'Lane").
Longbottom - (Old English) - topographic name: from long
(long) and bodme (valley, bottom), thus
someone who lived in a long valley. There is a place called Longbottom
in West Yorkshire.
Massey - (English
<French <Latin) - old Gallo-Roman place name: Masse, in the
province of Normandy in north western France. Originally settled by the Celtic Gauls, later taken over by the Romans, then ruled by the
Franks, in the tenth century A.D. this province was constantly being plundered
by Norwegian Vikings - also called Normans, meaning men from the North.
Exasperated, the King of France decided to give them the province so that they
would leave the rest of his kingdom alone, and the province came to be called
Normandy after its new owners. A hundred years later these Normans, led by
their Duke - William the Conqueror - who was a cousin to King Harold of
England, invaded and won over England. Many Norman nobles and knights who had
helped William take England's throne were granted land in England and settled
there for good, bringing their names with them. Our Massey forefather was one
such Norman: he was granted land in Cheshire. Variations of this surname
include Massy, Massie, Macey, Masse.
Parrott - (English
<probably Celtic) - place name: from North and South Perrott
in Somersetshire, England, which take their name from the river Parret on which they stand. Variations include Parrot, Parret(t), Parrat(t),
Perot, Perret, Perrat.
Peckham - (Old
English) - dwelling name: from peac (hill,
peak) and ham (homestead); from one of the places so called in Kent and
South London.
Stones - (Old
English or Norse) - topographic name: from stan
(stone), for someone who lived either on stoney
ground or by a notable outcrop of rock or by a stone boundary-marker or monument;
also a profession: someone who worked in stone, a mason or stone-cutter. This
surname is found mostly in Yorkshire. The Old Norse tongue spoken by the
forefathers of todays Norwegians, Swedes and Danes - was closely akin to the
Old English with which it mingled in Yorkshire during the several centuries of
Danish rule there. Thus one cannot tell for sure whether this surname be of
Norse or of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) origin. Variations include Stone, Stoner,
Stenner, Stoneman.
Paternal
Family Names
Jung , Jung - (German) descriptive name: meaning young; this surname is found mostly in
southern Germany.
Rodenbach , Rodenbach
- (Old High German) - locational name : derived from roden (to clear) + bach (brook, stream); this surname originated in the
northern province of Schleswig-Holstein, around Hamburg, and is also known in
Flanders.
Rosenbrock , Rosenbrock (North
German or Dutch) : habitational name : from a place called Rosenbrock or
(Dutch) Roosbroek,
named with Middle Low German rose
rose + brock
marsh. (also Rosenbrook)
Steinmetz
- (German) profession: stone mason;
this surname is found mostly in southwestern Germany.
Weber (German) profession: weaver, someone
who weaves cloth.
Whittaker
(Anglo-Saxon) : locational name : from any of
the various places so called in Warwickshire and Lancashire, derived from the
Old English hwit
meaning white, and aecer meaning cultivated land - hence, white field, white acre. (also Whitaker, Wittaker, Witaker). Equivalent in meaning
and origin to German Weiίδcker
and Dutch Wittacker.