Locality Based Surnames

Surnames deriving from and originally designating the place of residence of the progenitor are the largest group of surname type. Habitation or locality surnames denotes names whose origin lies in the place of residence of the initial bearer of the name. The can tell us where the progenitor of the family came from (sometimes down to the exact location of the residence of the initial bearer) and some will even indicate a distinguishing sign which was associated with that residence, sometimes this can be the town that they came from or a prominent geographical feature near where they lived such as rivers, and man made features such as buildings, crossroads and many other objects.

Such names were employed in France at an early date (such as La Porte "at the entrance to") and were introduced into England by the Normans, many of whom were known by the titles of their estates. The surnames adopted by the nobility were chiefly of this type, being used with the particles "de", "de la" or "del" (meaning "of" or "of the"), which were often dropped later. The Saxon equivalent was the word "atte" ("at the"), found in such names as John atte Brook, Edmund atte Lane, Godwin atte Brigg, and William Atwood, John Atwell and Atwater;

Other common names of this type include Marsh, Middleton, Sidney, Wood, Briggs, Lane or Ireland, for example. Others are linguistic interpretations such Cullen ("back of the river"), Dunlop ("muddy hill"), Winthrop ("of the friendly village"), Endicott ("an end cottage") and Bradford ("a broad ford").

The suffixes "ford", "ham", "ley", and "ton", denoting locality, are of frequent occurrence in such English names as Ashford, Bingham, Burley, and Norton.