A History of Surnames

Adair comes from a Scottish surname, the Scottish form of personal given name Edgar meaning "wealthy spear" from Old English elements ead (wealth, fortune) and gar (spear). Adair has also been used as a given name. Origin: Old English Pinterest Variants : Adaire 

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: 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: Ancient Greek Meaning: Christie is a Scottish surname, originally a patronymic surname derived from Christian or Christopher, both deriving from Greek christos meaning "anointed". Variants : Chrysty (Medieval English) Criste (Medieval English)

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.

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: 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.

Pinterest Origin: Old Norse, Yiddish, Welsh Meaning: Guild is a surname that possibly came about as a nickname for someone who played an important role in a medieval guild, which comes from Old Norse gildi (payment, guild), though it could also possibly be the Scottish form of another surname, Gould, a variant of Gold meaning"gold" from Yiddish. Guild could also be the Anglicized form of Welsh surname Gwyllt meaning "wild".

Pinterest Origin: English Meaning: Addams is a patrynomic surname meaning "son of Adam", Adam being a given name derived from Hebrew name which has various meanings such as "man", "red", or "ground, earth" and "blood". Variants : Adams  Adamson 

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.

Pinterest Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Davis is a patrynomic surname meaning "son of David", David coming from a Hebrew masculine name meaning "beloved". Variants : Davies (Welsh, English) Davie (Scottish, English) Davidson (English) Davison (English) Davidsen (Danish) McDevitt (Irish; Anglicized form of Mac Daibh éid) Mac Daibh éid (Irish) Dawson (English) Davidovi ć (Serbian)