AdamsOrigin: English / Hebrew
Alternate Surname Spellings:ADAM, ADDAMS, MCADAMS, ADAMSON (Scottish), ADIE (Scottish), ADAMI (Italian), ADAMINI (Italian), ADCOCKS (English) The surname Adams is a patronymic of Adam, which is of English origin, and is from the Hebrew personal name "Adam", which was borne, according to Genesis, by the first man. Uncertain entymology. Possibly from the Hebrew word adama meaning "earth", connecting to the Greek legend that Zeus fashioned the first human beings from earth.The "s" ending generally indicates a patronymic surname, meaning "son of Adam." Adams is the 69th most common surname in England and 39th most popular surname in the United States. It was very popular as a given name among non-Jews throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. The personal name was first recorded in England with one "Adam Warenarius " in Lincolnshire in 1146 - 1153. The surname development since 1281 (see below) includes the following: John Adamsone (1296, Scotland), William Adames (1327, Worcestershire) and Richard Adamessone (circa 1400, Norfolk). The second president of the United States, John Adams (1735 - 1826), and his son John Quincy Adams (1767 - 1848), who became the sixth president, were descended from Henry Adams, a yeoman farmer who had emigrated from Barton St. David, Somerset, to Massachusetts (United States of America) in 1640. Among the recordings in London is the marriage of Robert Adams and Jane Stanton on September 25th 1573 at St. Dunstan's, Stepney. The first recorded spelling of the Adams surname is shown to be that of Alianor Adam, which was dated 1281, witness in the "Assize Rolls of Cheshire", during the reign of King Edward I, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Famous People with the Surname ADAMS:
AlcockThe Alcock surname, comes from a diminutive of various male personal names beginning with "Al", particularly Alan, Albert, Alban and Alexander, with the popular medieval suffix "cock", from the Olde English pre 7th Century "cocc", Middle English (1200 - 1500) "cok", used here as a nickname from the bird. The application of the nickname could be for various reasons, it was most often used for a young lad who strutted around in a pert and aggressive manner, and as such soon became a generic name for young men, and was added to the short forms of many medieval names, such as Allcock, Hancock and Hiscock. The nickname may also have applied to an early riser or to a natural leader. The name can be spelt Allcock or Alcock. Recordings from London Church Registers include the marriage of John Alcock and Agnes White on October 4th 1545, at St. Mary Magdalene's, Old Fish Street, and the christening of Dorothie, daughter of Thomas Alcock, on June 16th 1550, at St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alexander Alecoc, which was dated 1275, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire".
AlflattThis very unusual surname recorded in the known spellings of Alflatt, Alflat, Allflatt, Elfleet, and Elfitt, is of Olde English pre 7th century origins. It derives from the compound personal or baptismal name 'Aelfflaed' which translates as 'elf beauty' or 'noble beauty', a description which no doubt accounts for its popularity in the period before the 1066 Norman Conquest. Thereafter it was 'politically correct' to adopt a more French type name such as William or Richard, and the Olde British names, except in remote areas, tended to die out, and were not adopted as surnames. In this case all the early recordings are from East Anglia, and specifically Suffolk, an area of fens, and almost totally cut off until the 17th century.
The rarity of a surname can often be judged by the variations in the spelling in early records. In the case of Simon (also recorded as Symon) Alflett of London, he had three children christened at the same church, St Ann Blackfriars, between 1609 and 1616, and in each case his surname appears under different spellings Alflett (1609), Alflot (1610) and Alflet (1616). Early recordings of the name from ancient charters include Thomas Alfred in the Curia Regis Rolls of Suffolk in 1222, Thomas Alflet of Cambridge in the 1279 Hundred Rolls of that county, whilst in the 1086 Domesday Book the name in its baptismal form, pre surnames, appears as Aeflet, Aelfled, Alfleta and Aelffled. The coat of arms granted in Sussex has the blazon of an ermine field charged with a blue saltire between four griffins heads. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam Ailflet, which was dated 1221, in the register of the Abbey of Ely, during the reign of King Henry III. |
AllenThis surname derives from the Gaelic and Breton personal name of the pre-Christian era 'Ailin' which loosely translates as 'Little rock, although it may also mean 'harmony'. The first recorded name bearer was 'Alawn', a legendary poet of the fifth century a.d., reputed to be one of the three foremost musicians of the period. From early times the spelling form has varied considerably not least in the Celtic countries where it has ranged from Eilian to Alwyn and Alleyne. The Bretons, who were originally British settlers in France, returned as invaders with William, Duke of Normandy, otherwise known as 'The Conqueror' in 1066, and in so doing it is claimed, re-introduced the name into England. Certainly 'Alanus' without a surname, is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book for the county of Suffolk. Early surname recordings include those of Roger Alain of Yorkshire in the rolls of the village of Calverly, in 1246, and Richard Aleyns of Staffordshire, in the Assize Court Rolls of 1309. Other examples are John Allen, prebendary of St Pauls Cathedral, London in 1527, whilst in 1638 another John Allen was a puritan divine, and one of the earliest settlers in the New England colonial city of Plymouth, USA.
AllsopThe long-established surname of Allsop, now chiefly found in the Midlands, is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from Alsop-en-le-Dale, a chapelry in the parish of Ashborne, Derbyshire. Recorded as "Elleshope" in the Domesday book of 1086, and as "Aleshop" in the 1241 "Registrum Antiquissimum" of that county, the place was so called from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Aelle", with "hop", a small enclosed valley; hence, "Aelle's hop". Locational surnames, such as this, were originally given to local landowners, and the lord of the manor, and especially as a means of identification to those who left their birthplace to settle elsewhere. The surname development since 1175 (below), has included: William Alsape (Cambridgeshire, 1273), and Philip Alsope (Cambridgeshire, 1279). In 1538, one Thomas Alsop "gentleman potycary" to Henry VIII, was recorded in the "Privy Purse Expenses of Princess Mary". In the modern idiom the name has a number of spelling variations ranging from Allsop, Al(l)sopp, Allsup(p) and Allsep(p), to Elsip and Elsop. A Coat of Arms granted to the Alsop family of Alsop, Derbyshire, is a black shield with three silver doves rising, legged and beaked red, the Crest being a gold dove with wings expanded, beaked and legged red, holding in the beak an ear of wheat gold. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Gamel de Haleshoppe, which was dated 1175, in the "Pipe Rolls of Derbyshire", during the reign of King Henry II.
AshmanThis interesting surname, of Anglo-Saxon origin, and recorded as Ashman, Asman and Ashment, is derived from the Middle English personal name "Asheman", from the Olde English pre 7th Century "Aeschmann", recorded as "Assemanus" in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was probably a byname form of "qescman" meaning "seaman" or "pirate", a compound of the Olde English "aesc" (boat made of) ash, plus "mann", man. It can also be a topographical name for someone who lived near a prominent ash tree. The surname dates back to the late 13th Century (see below), and further recordings include one Robert Asheman (1275), in the Hundred Rolls of Suffolk, and Roger Asman (1279) in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire. Nicholas Ashman (1299) was the bailiff of Yarmouth, Norfolk, in the reign of King Edward 1 (1272 - 1307). Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Ashment, Asman, Aisman, Ascheman, and Asscheman. Recordings from London Church Registers include: the christening of Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Alice Ashman, at St. Bride's, Fleet Street, on August 24th 1620, and the christening of Thomas, son of John Ashman, on August 25th 1641, at St. Olave's, Southwark. A Coat of Arms granted to the Ashman family is a gold shield with three silver fleurs-de-lis on a red bend between two black talbots' heads, the Crest being a hautboy in pale. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Asseman, which was dated 1273, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk", during the reign of King Edward I
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