Habitational Surnames

Name of pastoral Vermont town and college sounds too stiff and starchy.

Bennington

Habitational surnames originated to denote the place where a person lived.

Habitational surnames might be broad, like Blair, which means "dweller on the plain", or Logan, meaning "small hollow". In the days when many fewer first names were in common use, you could distinguish people as William from the hollow or William from the plain.

Other habitational surnames indicate a particular town or country, like Desmond, which denotes someone from South Munster in Ireland, or Sebastian, which means "from Sebastia".

Many habitational surnames have now migrated to become firsts, such as Everly or Brooks. Most habitational surnames have been traditionally used for boys, but many are becoming gender neutral. Names ending in -ley, which means meadow, have often been used for girls.

Habitational surnames originally denoted where someone lived. (Page 8)