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Wardman Name Meaning
English (Yorkshire): occupational name from Middle English wardman either in the general sense ‘watchman guard’ (compare Ward ) or in the administrative sense ‘representative of a ward within a borough’.
Ward Name Meaning
English: occupational name for a watchman or guard from Middle English ward ‘watchman guard’ (Old English weard used as both an agent noun and an abstract noun). English: occupational name from Middle English warde ‘armed guard’ (Old English weard ‘watching guarding’) with the same meaning as 1 above. Irish: shortened form of McWard an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Bhaird ‘son of the poet’. The surname occurs throughout Ireland where three different branches of the family are known as professional poets. Jewish (American): adoption of the English name (see above) in place of some similar (like-sounding) original Ashkenazic surname such as Warshawski or Warshawsky . Altered form of French Guérin (see Guerin ) and Benoît (see Benoit ).
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Hardman, Warman, Waldman, Wadman, Wartman, Waitman, Carman, Warden
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Massey Name Meaning
English: from the Middle English personal name Massy a pet form of Matthew . Compare Mace . English (of Norman origin): habitational name from one or more of several places in Normandy such as Macey (Manche) Massy (Seine-Maritime) Macé-sur-Orne (Orne) and La Ferté Macé (Orne). English: variant of Marsay (see Marcey ). Altered form of French Massé (see Masse ). Altered form of southern French Massa: of Italian origin a habitational name from Massa the name of several places in (the northern part of) Italy; see Massa .
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Masse, Maser, Manley, Vassey, Hussey, Mussey, Massee, Hassel, Cassel
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Watkinson Name Meaning
English (Lancashire and Yorkshire): patronymic from the medieval personal name Watkin a pet form of Walter .
Watkin Name Meaning
English and Welsh: from the personal name Watkin a diminutive of Walter.
Walter Name Meaning
English (of Norman origin) German Dutch Polish Swedish and Danish: from a personal name composed of the ancient Germanic elements wald ‘rule’ + heri hari ‘army’. This personal name was introduced into England both in the reign of Edward the Confessor and by the Normans (in the forms Walt(i)er Waut(i)er). After the Norman Conquest it soon became one of the most popular personal names in Britain. Compare Walther . Germanized or Americanized form of Czech Slovak Croatian and Slovenian Valter and Czech Valtr: from the personal name Valter Valtr of ancient Germanic origin (see 1 above).
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Atkinson, Watkins, Adkinson, Hawkinson, Hankinson, Dickinson, Watson
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

McLean Name Meaning
Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Gille Eáin ‘son of the servant (i.e. devotee) of (Saint) John’. Compare Irish McAloon and McGlone .
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Mclear, Mckean, Mclennan, Mcvean, Mcbean, Mcleod, Mcpeak, Mclagan
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Natt Name Meaning
Irish or Scottish: shortened form of McNatt . Jewish (American): shortened and altered form of Nathan . Indian: variant of Nath .
Nathan Name Meaning
Jewish Assyrian/Chaldean English French and German: from the Biblical personal name Natan (Nathan in English French and German) meaning ‘given (by God)’ in Hebrew. In Europe the personal name was comparatively rare among non-Jews in the Middle Ages (although always common among Jews); as a modern surname it is most frequently Jewish. Sometimes this is also a Jewish short form of the personal name Jonathan or Nathaniel . Indian (mainly southern states): from a personal name derived from Sanskrit nātha ‘lord’. — Note: Since South Indians traditionally do not have hereditary surnames the southern Indian name was in most cases registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Matt, Hatt, Nutt, Nagi, Watt, Batt, Nett, Gatt, Batta, Nate
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Nelson Name Meaning
English: patronymic from the personal name Nell or Nele either of which might be a pet form of Elias or less commonly of Niel (from Latin Nigellus). See also Neal . Americanized form of Swedish Nilsson and also of the Danish Norwegian and North German cognates Nielsen and Nilsen (compare Nelsen ). Compare also Neilson and Nielson .
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Kelson, Belson, Neilson, Elson, Melson, Nilson, Nelon, Yelton, Merson
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Oliver Name Meaning
English (northern) southern Scottish southern French and German: from the Old French personal name Oliver (modern French Olivier). This became common largely through the influence of the immensely popular narrative poem Chanson de Roland in which the warrior Oliver is the wise best friend of the doomed hero Roland. The two men were peers at the court of Charlemagne and the name is probably of ancient Germanic origin. The name ostensibly means ‘olive tree’ (see Oliveira ) but this is almost certainly the result of folk etymology working on an unidentified ancient Germanic personal name perhaps a cognate of Alvaro . Old Norse Óláf (see Olliff ) and ancient Germanic Alfhari (composed of the elements alf ‘elf’ and hari ‘army’) have also been suggested as sources but both personal names are difficult to explain phonetically especially the latter. The Anglo-Norman name has been established in Ireland (Louth) since at least the 14th century and was reinforced in Ulster and Limerick by migrants from England in the 17th century. The surname is also borne by Jews apparently as an adoption of the non-Jewish surname. Catalan: generally a topographic name from oliver ‘olive tree’ but in some instances possibly related to a homonymous personal name (see 1 above).
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Olivero, Olive, Lier, Oliva, Olivera, Lever, Oliger, Oliviero, Plier

Paines Name Meaning
See Panes .
Panes Name Meaning
English (Somerset): variant of Payne with genitival or post-medieval excrescent -s.
Payne Name Meaning
English: from the Middle English and Old French personal name Pai(e)n Pagen (from Latin Paganus) a fairly common personal name among Normans. It derived from a word that originally meant ‘villager rustic’ later ‘heathen’ but it had doubtless lost these connotations in its use as a late medieval personal name. This name has also been established in Ireland since the 14th century.
Source:
The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, 2016
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Pane, Mayne, Bayne, Pyne, Layne, Hayne, Sayne, Kayne, Rayne, Paine
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Peakman Name Meaning
From Middle English pek ‘hill peak’ + man probably signifying ‘man of or from the peak’. The surname may be topographic for someone who lived at or by a peak or toponymic for someone from the Peak District in Derbys; compare Peak .
Peak Name Meaning
English: habitational name from any of several places in different parts of England named in Old English with pēac ‘hill knoll peak’ including Peak (Hill) in Sidmouth (Devon) East and West Peek in Luffincot (Devon) a minor locality in Chiddingly (Sussex) once called Peke (now Peke's House) and the Peak District an area of rugged hills in northwest Derbyshire and adjacent counties. English: possibly a nickname from the Middle English word in 1 above denoting a stout thick-set man. English: shortened form of Peacock . Possibly also Irish: shortened form of McPeak .
Source:
The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, 2016
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Speakman, Eakman, Peckman, Pearman, Packman, Dearman, Speckman
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Pearson Name Meaning
English: patronymic from the Middle English personal name Per(e) or Piers (see Pear and Pierce ) + son. The surname is also quite common in Ireland where it has been established for many centuries. Compare Peerson . Americanized form of one or more similar (like-sounding) Jewish (Ashkenazic) surnames.
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Parson, Person, Searson, Pierson, Pehrson, Peerson, Parsons, Merson
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts