A History of Surnames

Queen is an English surname with a variety of meanings depending on the origin: a short form of McQueen , the anglicized form of Gaelic  Mac Shuibhne meaning "son of Suibhne", a personal name meaning "well-going" or "pleasant"; it could also be derived from Old English cwen meaning "woman", likely originating as a nickname for a man who played the part of a queen in a play since back than women weren't allowed to be on the stage; another possible meaning I've seen attributed to the surname is that it may come from Old French word chene meaning "oak, oak tree" derived from  Gaulish word  cassanos  meaning "oak" from * cass- (twist); or it may have come about as an occupational name for a keeper of hounds, from Old French  chien from Latin canis meaning "dog"; it derives from the Proto-Indo-European word   *ḱwṓ- (dog).   Origin: Gaelic, Old English, Gaulish, Proto-Indo-European Pinterest V...

Pinterest Holmes is an English surname with several possible origins: it be be derived from Old English holegn meaning "holly", referring to someone who lived near  some holly trees, though it may also likely refer to the holly oak; it may also come from Middle English holm meaning "island", derived from Old Norse holmr (island); I've also seen it listed as possibly being derived form haugum, derived from Old Norse haugr meaning "high hill, mound"; it may also be an anglicized form of Gaelic surname  Mac Thomáis, meaning "son of Thom" Origin: Old English, Old Norse, Gaelic  Variants : Holme  Hulme  Holms 

Pinterest Origin: Gaelic, Latin Meaning: McFadden is a Scottish and Irish surname, a patrynomic surname meaning "son of little Patrick" from Gaelic Mac/Mc meaning "son of" and Fadden , from Irish  Pháidín and Scottish Phaid(e)in, a diminutive of given name Patrick which comes from Latin Patricus meaning “patrician” used to refer to the elite of the Roman aristocracy descended from the founding fathers of Rome, derived from Latin  patres  (father). It has since attained the idea of “nobleman, noble”. Variants : Mcfadden  MacPhaden  McFfaden  MacFadyen (Scottish) MacFadden  MacFadan  McFaddin Mac Phaidin  McFadin (Scottish) MacFadwyn  MacFadyean  MacFadzean  MacFadyon  McFayden  Fadden  Fadyen  Faden  Fadin  Fadwyn 

Pinterest Origin: Gaelic Meaning: McShane is an Irish and Scottish surname, the Anglicised form of Gaelic  Mac Seáin meaning "son of Sean" or "son of Shane", both being the Irish form of given name  John meaning "Yahweh is gracious". It was a patrynomic surname referring to the son of a man with that name.

Pinterest Origin: Celtic, Latin Meaning: Davenport comes from a habitational surname, the name from a place in the town of Cheshire. The first part of the name is derived from the Dane river, apparently the Celtic cognate of Middle Welsh dafnu meaning "to drop, to trickle", while the second element of the name comes from Old English port via Latin portus  meaning "port, harbor". I've also seen Davenport as being an anglicized form of   Ó Donndubhartaigh , meaning "descendant of   Donndubhartach", a personal name made up of Irish donn meaning both "brown, brown-haired" and "chief, lord, noble", dubh meaning "black" and artach "nobleman" or "rock".  Variants : Devenport  Davenporte  Davinport  Devonport Devomporte 

Pinterest Origin: Gaelic Meaning: Cahill is a Gaelic surname, the Anglicized form of O Cathail meaning "descendant of Cathal", Cathal a given name meaning "battle".

Pinterest Origin: Gaelic Meaning: Campbell is a Scottish surname meaning "crooked mouth" from Gaelic cam (crooked) and beul (mouth), which could also mean "wry-mouthed" in reference to how someone smiled. It likely came about as a nickname that eventually became a surname. Campbell has also been used as a given name as well for both sexes, making it a unisex name.