by Sharon Hall | Mar 8, 2014 | Surname Saturday
The surname Kerfoot (or alternately spelled Kearfott), like many other surnames, was a locational name and would have meant “dweller at the hill-slope at the foot of the hills (or valley)” or simply a family who lived at the foot of a hill or in a valley. Surnames...
by Sharon Hall | Mar 1, 2014 | Surname Saturday
The Quackenbush surname has a unique distinction in American history. It is one of only a few surnames in North America which can be traced back to one single progenitor – Pieter van Quackenbosch. Records indicate that the name was primarily concentrated in a region...
by Sharon Hall | Feb 22, 2014 | Surname Saturday
The surname “Utter” is of Scandinavian (Swedish) origin, a baptismal name meaning “son of Ottur”, and derived from an animal (otter). Amandus Johnson, a Swedish historian, believed it to be a distinctly Swedish name. One source indicates that the name was carried to...
by Sharon Hall | Feb 15, 2014 | Surname Saturday
Titcomb is an English surname which referred to someone who came from Tidcombe in Wiltshire. In Old English the name was “Titicome”, or someone who dwelt at a place where birds habitated. In Wiltshire, this family held a seat as “Lords of the Manor of Tidcombe”....
by Sharon Hall | Feb 8, 2014 | Surname Saturday
Doolittle The surname Doolittle is of Norman origin and gradually Anglicized over time. One of the members of William of Normandy’s expedition was named “Du Litell” or “de Dolieta” (which meant “of Dolieta” a location along the Normandy coast). Rudolph of Dolieta,...
by Sharon Hall | Feb 1, 2014 | Surname Saturday
The Lawson surname has “truly ancient origins”, according to The Internet Surname Database (ISD). Originating in the Holy Land, it was brought back to England and Scotland by the crusaders of the twelfth century in the form of “Lawrence”, and the baptismal name...
