A History of Surnames

Pinterest Whitaker is an English surname deriving from a place name made of up of Old English elements hwit (white) and   æcer (cultivated land, field), meaning "white field" though spelled  Whiteacre it means "wheat field", the first part derived from Old English  hwǣte (wheat). Origin: Old English Variants : Whittaker  Whitacre  Whittakers  Whiteacre  Witacre 

Pinterest Origin: Middle English Meaning: Witherspoon is a Scottish surname derived from a place name now long lost, perhaps from Old English wether (ram, sheep) and spong referring to a narrow strip of land, so the surname essentially means "a narrow strip of land where sheep dwell". Variants : Witherspoons  Wetherspoon Wotherspoon  Wetherspong 

Pinterest Origin: English Meaning: Rothwell is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "stream in a clearing", originally used to refer to someone who lived in a clearing by a stream, the clearing beind made by ridding it of trees. Variants : De Rottweil

Pinterest Origin: Proto-Brythonic Meaning: Glasgow is the name of a city in Scotland. Though the name is uncertain it could mean "green hollow" or "gray hollow" from Proto-Brythonic elements glas (gray or green) and cau (hollow). It was likely given to someone who came from a place called Glasgow. Variants : Glasgu (Medieval English)

Pinterest Origin: English Meaning: Birmingham is the name of a city in England, coming from   Beornmundingaham  meaning "homestead of the people of Beornmund", Beornmund being a given name meaning "young man, warrior + protection". Variants : Bermingham 

Origin: Old English Meaning: Cranston is a Scottish surname derived from a place name. It's made up from Old English cran (crane) and tun (settlement) meaning "crane's settlement".

Pinterest Origin: English Meaning: Matlock is a surname derived from a place name meaning "meeting oak-place" from Old English maethel (meeting, gathering place) and ac (oak) in reference to a place where a council or meeting was being held.

Pinterest Origin: Greek, Old English, Germanic Meaning: Sanders was originally a patrynomic surname meaning "son of Sander", originally given to someone who's father was named Sander or Alexander "defender of men" or "defending man". Sanders could also be derived from a place name in English, a village called Sanderstad , meaning "house on a sandy land". It's also an occupational surname referring to someone who worked with sand either for agriculture or construction. It comes from the Germanic word for sand. Variants : Saunders Sanderson Sandar Sandars

Pinterest Origin: Germanic Meaning: Montgomery is an English surname derived from a place in Normandy, France, meaning "Gumarich's mountain", Gumarich being a Germanic given name meaning "man ruler" or "ruler of man" from Germanic elements guma (man) and ric (power, ruler). Variants : De Montgomery Montgomerie 

Pinterest Origin: Spanish, Portuguese Meaning: Taveras is a Spanish and Portuguese surname, the plural form of Tavera , a variant spelling of Tabera  which is the name of a town in Spain, or a variant of Tabeira , a town in Galicia. Variants : Tavera  Tabera  Tabeira  Taverez  Tabarez

Pinterest Origin: Cornish Meaning: Restarick comes from a place, a farm in St. Dennis, Cornwall, made up from Cornish elements ros (hill, spur, heath) and dowrak (watery), meaning "watery heath" or "heath by the water" referring to the geographical location of the farm. Variants : Restowrack  Rostourec  Resdourek 

Pinterest Origin: Latin, Celtic Meaning: Lancaster seems to come from the name of a river called Lune located in Cumbria and Lancashire in England, which seems to come from a Celtic word meaning "clean" or "pure", with Latin castra meaning "fort, castle" .

Pinterest Origin: Old English Meaning: Rutherford comes from a place in Scotland called Rutherford, indicating someone who was originally from there. It comes from Old English hry đer (cattle) and ford (ford)  meaning "cattle ford". Rutherford can also be used as given name, such as Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the United States.