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Surname History:

APPLETON 1 & 2 A fruit garden or orchard from Old English "oeppeltun" or literally "apple enclosure". Apletone 1086 - Appletune c1100 - Appletone 1253. Appleton Farm, Ickham, has the same meaning and appears as "Appleton" in 1261. The name also appears as "Napleton" prior to 1600 and "de Lapeltone" in 1182.
ARDEN 2 Often rendered as ARDIN. A Norman import. Turkill de Eardene 1080.
AUCKLAND Also as AUKLAND, OAKLAND and OKLAND. From the Latin "Altus" for high, via the Germanic "Hochland" for highland or hills. The origin is similar for the modern English "haughty".
BATEMAN 2 Literally "a servant of Bartholomew" or "Bart" + "man". Often a Norman first name. Variants are BATMAN, BAITMAN and BATTMAN.
BROMLEY 2 A Norman import. Hubert de Brumle 1194.
DYE 2 Several potential origins, including an occupational name. Prior to 1500, the "silent E" was voiced, sounding the name as "Dy-uh". Found in this form in Yorkshire in 1316. May also derive from "Henry le Deghar," 1260. Some members of my family use the DYER variant, and one branch used DWYER as a stage name in the theater.
FRISBY 2 Literally "Frisian village" from "Fris" for settlers from the Frisian Islands and "By", an Old English term for a village lying "by" a road. Ralph of Friseby 1266. FRISBEE is another variant.
MILLS 2 A very common name in England with several possible origins. Most are from MYLEN, Old English for "Mill" or "millstone", which derived from the Latin word for hard or strong.
PILCHER 2 Old English, literally "A maker or seller of Pilches (an outer garment made of skin dressed with hair)." Pullchare 1214 - Pilchere 1271.
SHEPPARD 2 Not to be confused with SHEPHERD or SHEPHARD or other variants traced back to 1279. Probably derived from OE "sceap-weard" or sheep-ward. Another possible origin is ship-ward.

Sources used:

  1. Judith Glover, "The Place Names of Kent".
  2. P. H. Reaney & R. M. Wilson, "A Dictionary of English Surnames," Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995, ISBN 0-19-863146-4.
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Last updated on 17-February-2003