G-0LM5LRNCVT

Here’s How to Discover if Your Surname Comes From Yorkshire

Here is an article by Megan Banner published in the YorkshireLive web site that will interest many people:

Have you ever wondered where your surname originates from? And, if in fact you are a true Yorkshireman or woman.

Well, this list of historic Yorkshire surname can confirm if your name truly originates from God’s Own Country. Names often carry deep personal, cultural, familial, and historical connections

Many of us have ancestors from Yorkshire – if you have one of these surnames in your family tree, listed by Who Do You Think You Are, it could show that you have a connection to ‘God’s own country’

Here is a full list of Yorkshire surnames, according to magazine, Who Do You Think You Are.

ACKROYD

This name is derived from the Old English words ac meaning ‘oak’ and rod meaning ‘clearing’.

AINLEY

This surname might be associated with Ainley Top, a village near Huddersfield.

ALDERSON

Alderson is a relationship name from the Middle English personal name Aldus and the word ‘son’.

ATKINSON

Atkinson is also a relationship name from the personal name Atkin which was a pet form of Adam.

BARRACLOUGH

This is a habitational name from Barrowclough near Halifax, which combines the Old English words for grove and ravine.

BARWICK

This name has the same root as the surname Berwick (from the Old English for an outlying grange or farm), but this form of spelling was more common in North Yorkshire.

BLAND

Although found throughout Yorkshire, Blands are particularly prevalent in the districts of Clayton, Keighley and Scarborough.

BULMER

This locative name comes from Bulmer in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire.

COCKROFT

This is a locative name from a place in Rishworth.

COVERDALE

This is a habitational name from North Yorkshire and Lancashire.

CROSLAND/CROSSLAND

This name is taken from Crosland in Almondbury.

DINSDALE

This name originates in Over Dinsdale and Low Dinsdale, which are on opposite sides of the Tees.

EXLEY

Heckmondwike, which today is part of the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, was historically a hotspot for the surname Exley.

FEATHER

In the 1881 census records this name was most common in Haworth, Keighley and Thornton, all in Bradford. It originates from the Middle English for father.

FEATHERSTONE

Although most common in North Yorkshire, the name comes from the place Featherstone in West Yorkshire.

HAINSWORTH

This habitational name comes from the hamlet Hainworth, near Bradford.

HARDAKER

Hardakers pop up all over Yorkshire in the 1881 census, although Horton in Bradford, Idle, Leeds, Eccleshill and Yeadon are the main local hotspots.

HODGSON

Widespread throughout the north of England, Hodgson comes from the Middle English personal name Hodge – itself a pet form of Roger.

KNAGGS

Knaggs is a topographic surname for someone whose home was by or near a rugged hill or an outcrop.

LONGBOTTOM

This topographic name for someone who lived in a long valley is relatively common throughout the county.

LUMB

This habitational name is most commonly found in West Yorkshire and Lancashire.

METCALFE

Yorkshire had over 5,500 Metcalfes in 1881.

NEWSUM

In the 1881 census this name crops up in the Rotherham registration district.

OGLEY

The surname Ogley can be found frequently in Barnsley, as well as wider Yorkshire.

OLDROYD

Oldroyd is a habitational name that derives from a number of places throughout the north of England.

PULLAN

This is the Yorkshire variant of Pullen, which was an occupational name for a horse-breeder or a nickname for someone frisky. It comes from the Old French word poulain meaning ‘colt’.

SPIVEY

This Yorkshire surname was originally a medieval nickname for someone who was blessed with business smarts.

STANIFORTH

The late Sheffield historian David Hey once suggested that a farm named Stonyford in Ecclesfield could be the origin of this South Yorkshire surname.

STEPHENSON

Although found all over the UK, there are concentrations of Stephensons in County Durham and East Yorkshire.

WALKINGTON

This habitational name derives from a village in the East Riding that was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under the name ‘Wachetone’.

WILBURN

Many Doncaster locals recorded in the 1881 census went by this toponymic surname, which is thought to be derived from Welbourn in Lincolnshire.