Welcome to the British Surnames website. Here, you can find information on similar surnames, most common surnames, surname meanings and etymologies as well as discussing your name in the forum.

As the name suggests, this site primarily lists surnames commonly found in Britain, but many of these are found in other parts of the world as well - so even if you're not British, your name could well be in here!

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Latest User Contributions

Michael Bath on BATH
The Bath / Bathe surnames have a common origin and may be the amongst the oldest continuously used English surnames. A popular misconception is that it derives from a bath [...]
BATH Summary Data

Graham Galer on GALER
Galer comes from the Norman-Picard 'gaiolere', meaning gaoler. See 'The Origin of English surnames' by P.H. Reaney (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969). Since there were necessarily not so [...]
GALER Summary Data

anon on KROL
Krol means "king" in Polish.
KROL Summary Data

David Yendell on YENDELL
the Yendell name is mainly found around the south west of England in the early 1800s Devon-Somerset area,the name itself changes according to who is spelling it.Quite alot of the [...]
YENDELL Summary Data

J. Lear on GAMES
The Welsh surname Games originated in Brecon and there are some remaining Games memorial tombs inside Brecon Cathedral, although many were destroyed by the armies of Oliver Cromwell. It is strongly [...]
GAMES Summary Data

anon on DUKES
This interesting name has two possible origins, the first of which is derived from the Middle English 'duk', developed from the Old French 'duc', in the sense of a military [...]
DUKES Summary Data

Perran Penrose on PENROSE
Penrose is NOT 'anglo-saxon'. It is of Cornish origin (Celtic?). 'Pen' is the cornish for 'head', or 'end', and 'rose' is derived from the cornish 'ros', meaning moor, or heath. [...]
PENROSE Summary Data

anon on BURFORD
The name is from the anglo-saxon period, bur is a derivation of saxon meaning fort or strong and ford is a derivation meaning river, basically it means fort by the river.
BURFORD Summary Data

John Court on COURT
There are no recorded names similar to court before the Norman invasion of 1066. There are coats of arms for Court and variations of Court (de la court, le Court, [...]
COURT Summary Data

Derek Stock on STOCK
It seems that very few Stocks have taken a DNA test. However, I have and am matched with another Stock (also from Essex originally) some 22 generations ago. That's probably [...]
STOCK Summary Data

Latest from the Forum

rayharris185 on Priory family - Dorset
At a loss to find out where this surname originated. Ancestor of mine, Peter Priory, appeared at Owermoigne, Dorset in approx 1768 (no baptism or birth records found) - In the [...]
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anne59 on The Mawdsleys
i was intrested to read on this site that there is no record of my surname, my husbands grandfather came to live in Cumbria from Mawdesley in Lancashire,(penguin book of [...]
[forum] | [topic]

marksshapcott on Shapcott
Hi there! Not sure where the name Shapcott fits in and can't find it on here! Anyone got any ideas? Or if you are a Shapcott (or a Marks which is [...]
[forum] | [topic]

marksshapcott on Shapcott
Hi there! Not sure where the name Shapcott fits in and can't find it on here! Anyone got any ideas? Or if you are a Shapcott (or a Marks which is [...]
[forum] | [topic]

chris on Re: extinct family names
Hi Elliet Many thanks for reply and suggestions. You may be right. Not quite as interesting as being a member of the Persegloves.... Many thanks
[forum] | [topic]

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