Best (surname)

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Best is a surname. In England the surname is of Anglo-Norman origin meaning the beast (beste). People with this surname:

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Alec or Aleck is a Scottish form of the given name Alex. It may be a shortened form of the name Alexander or a given name in its own right. Notable people with the name include:

Holmes is an English-language surname with several origins.

Beckett is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include:

O'Connor is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Lewis is a surname in the English language. It has several independent origins.

Melville is a surname and a given name.

Bailey is an English or Scottish surname. It is first recorded in Northumberland, where it was said to have been changed from Balliol due to the unpopularity of Scottish king John Balliol. There appears to be no historical evidence for this, and Bain concludes that the earliest form was Baillie or Bailli . The origin of the name is most likely from Anglo-Norman bailli, the equivalent of bailiff; bailie remains a regional Scottish variant of the term bailiff. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the Norman name may have been locational, derived from Bailleul-En-Vimeu in Normandy.

The surname Collins has a variety of likely origins in Britain and Ireland:

  1. English and Scottish: A patronymic surname based on the English and Scottish name Colin, an English diminutive form of Nicholas.
  2. Norse: From the Old Norse personal name "Kollungr", a form of "koli" which in Old English became 'Cola', meaning swarthy or dark.
  3. Irish: The medieval surname was Ua Cuiléin, which has usually become Ó Coileáin today.
  4. Welsh: Collen; "hazel, hazel grove".

Mason is an occupational surname of Scottish and English origin, with variations also found in Italian and French, historically referring to someone who performed stonemasonry work. The surname Mason was originally brought to England in the great wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The name Mason is for a stone-mason. The name was originally derived from the Old English or Old French word masson. []

Hanson is an Anglicized English surname of Scandinavian and German origin, created from the two words Hans and son. Spoken in English by a German or Swedish immigrant to America, for example, the sound of Hans' son comes out sounding like Hansson, shortened to Hanson. In this same example, an immigrant from Norway would have a different accent, resulting in the sound of Hans' sen, or Hanssen, shortened to Hansen.

Hughes is an English language surname.

The surname Burns has several origins. In some cases, it derived from the Middle English or Scots burn, and originated as a topographic name for an individual who lived by a stream. In other cases the surname is a variant form of the surname Burnhouse, which originated as a habitational name, derived from a place name made up of the word elements burn and house. In other cases the surname Burns originated as a nickname meaning "burn house". In other cases, the surname Burns is an Anglicised form of the Irish Ó Broin, which means "descendant of Bran". In some cases the surname Burns is an Americanized form of the Jewish surname Bernstein, which is derived from the German bernstein ("amber").

Jackson is a common surname of Scottish, Irish and English origin eventually becoming a common American surname also. In 1980, Jackson was the 24th most common surname in England and Wales. In the 1990 United States Census, Jackson was the thirteenth most frequently reported surname, accounting for 0.3% of the population.

Ferguson is an Anglicization of the Scots Gaelic "Macfhearghus", a patronymic form of the personal name Fergus which translates as son of the angry (one).

Simpson is an English/Scottish patronymic surname from the medieval masculine given name 'Simme', a medieval variant of 'Simon'. The earliest public record of the name was in 1353 in Staffordshire, West Midlands region of England.

Norman is both a surname and a given name. The surname has multiple origins including English, Irish, Scottish, German, French, Norwegian, Ashkenazi Jewish, and Jewish American. The given name Norman is mostly of English origin, though in some cases it can be an Anglicised form of a Scottish Gaelic personal name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert (given name)</span> Name list

Albert is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Germanic Adalbert and Adelbert, containing the words adal ("noble") and beraht. It is also less commonly in use as a surname. Feminine forms of the names "Alberta" are declining in use.

Sheridan is an Irish surname. It is derived from the Irish Gaelic Ó Sirideáin 'descendant of Sirideáin', a given name meaning 'to seek'. Originating in County Longford, the Sheridans were erenaghs of Granard, but in the County Cavan served the O'Reillys.