Is this your surname? Why not share this page on Facebook

Surname Etymology and Meaning of ARTHUR

New! Discuss the origin and etymology of ARTHUR at the British Surnames Forum - contribute your own knowledge and information about where ARTHUR comes from.

Name meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

(origin: British.) A strong man; from Ar (Lat. vir), a man, and thor, strong. In the Gaelic, Air is the same as Fear, a man; and the ancient Scythians called a man Aior. Thor was the Jupiter of the Teutonic races, their god of thunder. In Welsh, Arth is a bear, an emblem of strength and courage, and ur a noun termination, a man. Arthur, a bear-man, a hero, a man of strength; the name of a British prince.

Source: An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import (1857).

Scottish, Irish, Welsh, English, and French: from the ancient Celtic personal name Arthur. In many cases it is a shortened form of Scottish or Irish McArthur, the patronymic Mac- often being dropped in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries under English influence. The personal name is most probably from an old Celtic word meaning ‘bear’. Compare Gaelic art, Welsh arth, both of which mean ‘bear’. It has been in regular use as a personal name in Britain since the early Middle Ages, owing its popularity in large part to the legendary exploits of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, which gave rise to a prolific literature in Welsh, French, English, German, and other European languages.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)