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".
Davies is a patronymic Welsh surname meaning "son of David". It is the second most common surname in Wales, a rank it shares with "Williams", and the eighth most common surname in England, where many people have Welsh ancestry. It is particularly widespread in southwest England, especially Cornwall, and in the areas of northwest England that are near the border with Wales.
Byrne is an Irish surname and less commonly a given name. It is derived from the Gaelic Ó Broin or Ó Beirn, which are also linked to the surname O'Byrne.
Rhys or Rhŷs is a popular Welsh given name that is famous in Welsh history and is also used as a surname. It originates from Deheubarth, an old region of South West Wales, with famous kings such as Rhys ap Tewdwr.
The surname Collins has a variety of likely origins in Britain and Ireland:
- English and Scottish: A patronymic surname based on the English and Scottish name Colin, an English diminutive form of Nicholas.
- Norse: From the Old Norse personal name "Kollungr", a form of "koli" which in Old English became 'Cola', meaning swarthy or dark.
- Irish: The medieval surname was Ua Cuiléin, which has usually become Ó Coileáin today.
- Welsh: Collen; "hazel, hazel grove".
Gavin is a Celtic male given name. It is the Scottish variation of the medieval Welsh name Gawain, meaning "God send" or "white hawk". Sir Gawain was a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an epic poem connected with King Arthur's Round Table. Gawain beheads the Green Knight who promptly replaces his head and threatens Gawain an identical fate the same time next year. Decapitation figures elsewhere: the Italian name Gavino is the name of an early Christian martyr who was beheaded in 300 AD, his head being thrown in the Mediterranean Sea only later reunited and interred with his body.
Kay is an English surname. It derives from the Old Breton and Welsh cai and the Cornish key meaning "wharf", or from the Old English coeg meaning "key". The surname is also a diminutive of MacKay and McKay. In England, the Kay(e)s of Lancashire and Yorkshire are believed to be related to the ancient Kaye family of Woodesham, Yorkshire, and there is also a Kay Family Association.
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:
Griffiths is a surname with Welsh origins, as in Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr. People named Griffiths include:
Edwards is a patronymic surname of English origin, meaning "son of Edward". Edwards is the 14th most common surname in Wales and 21st most common in England. Within the United States, it was ranked as the 49th-most common surname as surveyed in 1990, falling to 51st in 2014.
Morris is a surname of various origins though mostly of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh origin. In 2014, the surname ranked 39 out of 104,537 in England, and 55 out of 400,980 in the USA.
Thomas is a common surname of English, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, French, German, Dutch, and Danish origin.
Pearce is a surname, from knights of the Norman lord Mansfield prior to the invasion of England. It derives etymologically from the Germanic word to pierce, and was a name commonly given to warrior caste in Saxon/Jute, p-celtic and oil languages. Another etymology is from Piers, the medieval vernacular form of Peter, and may refer to:
Howell is a surname and given name originating from Wales. It is an anglicised form of the Welsh name Hywel. It originates in a dynasty of kings in Wales and Brittany in the 9th and 10th-centuries, most notably king Hywel Dda and three Welsh royal houses of that time onwards. The royal House of Tudor was also descended from them. Today, nearly 200,000 people bear this surname.
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".
Fox is a surname originating in England and Ireland. Variants include Foxe and Foxx.
Phillips is a common patronymic surname of English and Welsh origin that derives from the given name Philip.
Day is an English and Irish surname. Notable people and characters with the surname Day include:
