The surname FIFIELD appears to be derived from an old Anglo-Saxon measure of land, the hide. A hide was the amount deemed necessary to support a family, and varied according to the quality of the land. A common family group was five hides of land

Several small English villages are called Fifield or a variant.

There are over 60 variants of the name Fifield

Some of these variants are: Fifield, Fyfield, Fivefield, Phyfield, Phifield, Fefeld, Fyphild and many more.

Any other information on the FIFIELD surname would be welcome!

When the ancestors of the GRIMLEY family emigrated to England following the Norman Conquest in 1066 they brought their family name with them.

They lived in Worcestershire as Lords of the manor of Grimley.

Local names like Grimley were one of the most common types of hereditary surnames through the Middle Ages, derived from the name or a place or landmark where the original bearer lived or was born.

In 1890 there were over 313 people bearing the surname Grimley. About 71% were found in the province of Ulster.

Variations in the spelling of the surname Grimley are:

Grimley, Grimlea, grimlee, Grimly, Grimleigh, Grimlie, Grimsley, Grymley. Some of the Grimleys moved to ireland in the Plantation of Ulster.

Any other information on the GRIMLEY surname would be welcome!

The surname HAWKE is derived from the Old English personal name Hafoc, which means hawk.

However the surname Hawke may have been applied as a nickname to someone with a wild or cruel disposition.

It may also be an occupational surname given to a "hawker" or someone who held land in exchange for providing land to a lord.

Lastly the surname Hawke may be a local surname given to someone who lived in a nook or corner, in this case the surname is derived from the Old English word halke, which means nook or corner

Variations in spellings or the surname Hawke are

Hawke, Hawkes, hawkey, Hauke, Hauk, Hawk, and Hawks.

Any other information on the HAWKE surname would be welcome!

The surname MARSHALL appears to be occupational in origin.

Research indicates that it can be associated with the English and Germans.

The name was carried to England in the great migration following the Norman Conquest - 1066.

Earliset record of the name found in England was in Wiltshire - where Goisfridus Marescal lived in 1084.

The name means 'One who cares for horses, especially one who treated their diseases; a blacksmith; an official in a king's or a high noble's household having charge of military affairs'

Various spellings of the MARSHALL surname:

Marschall, Marshell, Maskall, and Maskill, Marshale, Marshal, Marescal.

Any other information on the MARSHALL surname would be welcome!

The name PATEMAN began when someone in that family worked as a boatman.

The surname Pateman is an occupational name, derived from the Anglo Saxon word bat, which means a boat.

In some cases, the name is also derived from the old English word bate, which means one who contends, but this word is most often found as the root of the name Bater.

Variations of the name PATEMAN include:

Bateman, Batemanson, Badman, Bademan, Pateman and many more.

Any other information on the PATEMAN surname would be welcome!

The surname SULLIVAN originally appeared in Gaelic as O'Suileabhain.

O'Suileabhain is partially derived from the word Suil, which means eye, the surname probably means one-eyed or hawk-eye.

Various spellings of the SULLIVAN surname:

Sullivynd, Hossullivyn, Hossulliven, Hossullivan, OSullivan, Sullivan, Sulivan, O'Sulivan, Sullivint, OSulivan, Sullivent, Sullivend, Sulliven, Sullivant, Sullivind, OSulliven, O'Sullivan, OSullivand, OSullivane, OSulivind and many more.

Any other information on the SULLIVAN surname would be welcome!

The earliest mention of the place name was in 1291 as "Hundeswrth" but by 1322 it was more recognisably "Undesworth"

The UNSWORTHs claim to have been in the Goshen, Bury, Lancashire area in the days of William the Conqueror!

The name means 'Enclosure of the Hound or Dog'! or more accurately

'Hund's enclosure', (probably a man's name).

Any other information on the UNSWORTH surname would be welcome!

The surname WILLOUGHBY appears to be hereditary in origin.

The name was carried to England in the great migration following the Norman Conquest - 1066.

Earliest record of the name found in England was in Lincolnshire at Willoughby.

Various spellings of the WILLOUGHBY surname:

Wallowby, Waloughby, Waloughbie, Wilowby, Wilowbie, Willoughbey, Wylloughby, Wylloughbie.

Any other information on the WILLOUGHBY surname would be welcome!

The surname WOOLNOUGH appears to be a medieval personal name.

Early documents show the following attested recordings of the WOOLNOUGH name

Vlnoth - 1066 - Doomsday Book
William Wulnoth - 1221 - Suffolk
William Woolnough - 1815 - Badock, Herts

The name means 'son of a man named Wulnaugh' a medieval personal name which survived until the early 14th century.

From the Anglo Saxon 'Wulfnoth' meaning 'Wolf-daring'

Best known and usually denoting ancestry within the East Anglian region, UK.

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I have been informed, by a Woolner, that the meaning of the surname Woolnough, from her own research back to 1327, through documents, and her reading is that the original form was Wulfwinhawe - Anglo/Saxon, probably approx 800 a.d., which in translation means the place of Wolf's friend.

Wulfwinhawe means "the place of the wolfs friend". "Win" in anglo-saxon means friend and "hawe" or "haugh" is a wooden pallisaded defendable position or settlement.

Below is a copy of some research undertaken by a member of her family:

'The Dictionary of British Surnames' P.H.Reaney, p.36, mentions the surnames Woolner - Woolnough - Woolnoth - Wolfner, as deriving from old English 'Wulfnod' , wolf-boldness, a regional name that remained in use until the beginning of the C14th.

Amy Woolner, in the book of her father:- "Thomas Woolner, R.A. His Life in Letters", 1917, also refers to the name as deriving from Ulnod, Woolnough being the modern way of spelling the name, changed into Woolner by the great grandfather of Thomas, born at Hadleigh, Suffolk in 1825.

If Wolfinhawe is to be taken at face value, it would appear to represent the 'hawe' [an enclosure, a messuage or property] of one Wulfwin. With the usual loss of 'f' the name would become Wolinhawe, or as above, Wollenhawe, then Wolnawe etc....

Between Wolfnoth and Wulfwin - hawe, I would choose the latter as being the earliest example until more examples are noted.

W.E.Woolner[Islington] 1987

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Various spellings of the WOOLNOUGH surname:

Woolnough, Woolnoth, Woolner, Wolfner, Wolnald, Wulnoughe, Wolnowe.

Any other information on the WOOLNOUGH surname would be welcome!