Downs is a surname of Old English origin. [1] Notable people with the surname include:
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".
Boyd is an ancient Scottish surname.
Plummer is a surname, derived from the occupation of plumber. Notable people with the name include:
Fisher is an English occupational name for one who obtained a living by fishing.
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.
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.
Allen is a Celtic surname, originating in Ireland, and common in Scotland, Wales and England. It is a variation of the surname MacAllen and may be derived from two separate sources: Ailin, in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, means both "little rock" and "harmony", or it may also be derived from the Celtic Aluinn, which means "handsome". Variant spellings include Alan, Allan, etc. The noble family of this surname, from which a branch went to Portugal, is descended of one Alanus de Buckenhall.
Welch is a surname that comes from the Old English word welisċ, meaning ‘foreign’.
Hill is a surname of English and Scottish origin, meaning "a person who lived on a hill". It is the 36th most common surname in England, the 18th common surname in Scotland, and the 37th most common surname in the United States.
Lowe is a surname. Notable persons with that name include:
The etymology of the surname Morrison is either Anglo-Norman, commonly found throughout England, Scotland and Ireland, or from the Clan Morrison, a Scottish clan originally from Sutherland and the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.
Wallace is a Scottish surname stemmed from the Anglo-Norman French Waleis "Welshman". It is a northern variant form of Gualeis "Welshman" ; adjectiv gualeis "Welsh" ; same as walois "the oil language".
Sweeney is a surname that is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic Mac Suibhne meaning "son of Suibhne". The Gaelic personal name Suibhne was originally a byname meaning "pleasant" or "well-disposed" and is associated with Clan Sweeney.
Lang is a surname of Germanic origin, closely related to Lange, Laing and Long, all of which mean "tall".
Bowen is a Celtic surname representing two separate Celtic ethnicities, the Welsh ab Owain meaning "son of Owen" and the Irish Ó Buadhacháin meaning "descendant of Bohan". The Bowen lineage can be traced back to Llwyngwair in the 11th century, near Nevern in Pembrokeshire. The Bowen surname was adopted in 1424. There are seven Bowen crests and the Bowen/Owen family group share a tartan. The Bowen/Bowens surnames are more commonly found in southern Wales, while the Owen/Owens surnames are more commonly found in northern Wales.
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".
Lynn is a surname of Irish origin, English, Welsh or Scottish. It has a number of separate derivations:
George is a surname of Irish, English, Welsh, South Indian Christian, Middle Eastern Christian, French, or Native American origin. The German form is Georg. Notable people with the surname include:
Burnett is a Scottish surname. It is derived from a nickname from the Old French burnete, brunette, which is a diminutive of brun meaning "brown", "dark brown". Another proposed origin of the name is from burnete, a high quality wool cloth originally dyed to a dark brown colour.
Peters is a patronymic surname of Low German, Dutch, and English origin. It can also be an English translation of Gaelic Mac Pheadair or an Americanized form of cognate surnames like Peeters or Pieters.