Pronunciation | /ˈklɪfɜːrd/ KLIF-erd |
---|---|
Gender | Male |
Origin | |
Language(s) | Old English |
Meaning | Ford by a cliff |
Other names | |
Derivative(s) | Cliff |
Related names | Clifton |
Clifford is both a toponymic surname of English origin and a given name deriving from it. It originated in several English placenames meaning "ford by a cliff". [1]
Blake is a surname which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory, presumably in the belief it is a Welsh patronymic in origin, for which there is no evidence, was that it is a corruption of "Ap Lake", meaning "Son of Lake".
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:
May is a surname of Germanic (Saxon) and, independently, of Gaelic origin. There are many variants used in English-speaking countries, as well as several variants used in Germany. The Scottish May is a sept of Clan Donald. The surname "May" remains a common surname in the United States, England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, as well as among Russians of German origin; possibly also persisting in areas of the Netherlands and France.
Watson is a patronymic surname of English and Scottish origin. It means "son of Walter": the popular Old English given names "Wat" or "Watt" were diminutive forms of the name "Walter". In 2015, Watson was the 46th most common surname in England and the 19th most common in Scotland. See also Clan Watson.
James is a surname in the French language, and in the English language originating from the given name, itself derived from Old French James, variant form of Jacme, Jame, from Late Latin Jacomus, variant form of Latin Jacobus, itself from Hebrew Yaʿaqōḇ. Notable people with the surname include:
Lyons is a surname with several origins. It is the name of an eminent Anglo-Norman family that is descended from Ingelram de Lyons, Lord of Lyons, who arrived in England with the Norman Conquest, and from his relation, Nicholas de Lyons, who emigrated from Normandy to England in 1080 and was granted lands at Warkworth, Northamptonshire by William of Normandy. The family originated in the district of the Forest of Lyons, north of the town of Lyons-la-Forêt, in Norman Vexin, where their seat was the Castle of Lyons. The original surname was 'de Lyons' : subsequently, the 'de' was removed from the name, and some branches removed the 's' from the end of the word, producing 'Lyon'.
Paul is a common Latin masculine given name in countries and ethnicities with a Christian heritage and, beyond Europe, in Christian religious communities throughout the world. Paul – or its variations – can be a given name or surname.
Hart is an English, German, Dutch, Jewish (Ashkenazic), French and Irish surname. Notable people and characters with the surname Hart include:
Munro is a Scottish surname. It means "man from the River Roe" in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The surname is common in Ross-shire and other areas of northern Scotland; it also spread to Canada via emigration. Variant spellings of the same name include Monro, Monroe, Munroe, Munrow and Manrow.
Robinson is an English language patronymic surname, originating in England. It means "son of Robin ". There are similar surname spellings such as Robison and Robeson. Robinson is the 15th-most common surname in the United Kingdom. According to the 1990 United States Census, Robinson was the twentieth most frequently encountered surname among those reported, accounting for 0.23% of the population.
Christie is a surname of Scottish origin.
Russell, also Rosel, Rousel, Roussel, Russel or Rossell. The origin of the name has historically been subject to disagreement, with two distinct origins proposed. Early genealogists traced the Russel/Russell family of Kingston Russel from Anglo-Norman landholders bearing the toponymic surname 'de Rosel' or 'du Rozel', deriving from Rosel, Calvados, Normandy. However, J. Horace Round observed that these flawed pedigrees erroneously linked toponymic-bearing men with unrelated men who instead bore the Anglo-Norman nickname rus[s]el, given to men with red hair. This nickname was a diminutive of the Norman-French rus, meaning 'red', and was also an archaic name for the red fox, which in turn borrowed from Old Norse rossel, "red-haired", from Old Norse ros "red hair color" and the suffix -el. Round concluded "there is no reason to suppose that the surname Russell was territorial at all," and surname dictionaries have preferred to derive the surname from the nickname. Dictionaries also state that the English name Rufus originally meant "red haired".
Radford is an English toponymic surname deriving from one of several places in England named "Radford", chief among these being Radford, Coventry and Radford, Nottingham. The most closely related surname to Radford is "Radforth", while a common variant is "Redford".