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 W Surnames Family History Resources

Surnames, their origin and their meaning

Many surnames are associated with the place/locality of where the family lived and in those cases the location is noted as the meaning.
Many surnames are associated with the occupation of the person given the name.

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Surname		Origin	Meaning
Wade		Dutch	meadow or pasture
Wadsworth			farm or place in the wood
Wagner		German	wagon-maker or driver
Waite		Locality	ground cleared of wood, a meadow
Wakefield		Locality	market-town in west Yorkshire, England
Wakeman			watchman
Walden		Saxon	woody place
Waldgrave		Saxon	From wald, a forest, and grave, a ruler
Waldron		Saxon	a wood
Wales		Saxon	native of Wales
Walker		English	o walk, tread
Wall			at the wall
Wallace		Saxon	from Wales
Waller		Saxon	foreigner
Wallis			from Wales
Wallock		Gaelic	loch, a lake
Wallop		Locality	Wallop, in Hampshire, England
Walpole		Locality	Walpole, a town in Norfolk, England
Walsh			Welshman
Walter		German	keeper of the wood
Walton		Locality	several villages in England
Wample		Locality	river of England
Wands		Locality	place where Woden was worshiped by the Anglo-Saxons
Warburton		Locality	township in Cheshire, England
Ward			A keeper, one who guards
Wardlaw		Locality	parish of Kirkhill, in Moray, Scotland
Ware		Locality	market town of Hertfordshire, England
Warne			An alder-tree, a ship's mast
Warren		Locality	Guarenna or Varenna, in the county of Calais, in Normandy
Warrender		British	old British dour, water
Warrwick		Locality	county town of Warwickshire, England
Washington		Locality	The name was taken from the place in England where the family originated; the town on the wash or salt river or creek.
Wassen		Locality	town in Switzerland
Watcock			The son of Wat or Walter
Waters		Locality	one who navigated the waters, or resided near them.
Watkins			son of Wat or Walter
Watkinson			son of Wat or Walter
Watson			The son of Walter
Watt		Scottish	nickname for Walter
Watts			son of Walter
Way		Locality	A road or passage of any kind;
Wayland		Locality	Dutch, 'Weiland,' pasture-ground, meadow-land
Weber		German	weaver
Webster			weaver
Weeden		Locality	town in Northamptonshire
Weidman		Dutch	Weid, a pasture or meadow, and man,--a herdsman
Weir		Locality	town of Hertfordshire, England
Welby		Locality	habitation in a wood or grove
Weld			A wood
Welden		Locality	A wood
Weller		Anglo-Saxon	hollow or gulf
Wells		Locality	person who resided by a well
Wempel		Locality	river in England
Wemple		Locality	A river of England
Wemyss		Locality	Wemyss-shire, in Fife-shire, Scotland
Wendell		Dutch	a walker
Wentworth		Locality	The Worth, place, on the river Went, in Northumberland, England
Werden		German	From Wehr, a fortification, and den, a hill; a town in the Netherlands called Woerden
Werner		German	warrier
Westall		Locality	West-Hall
Westcott			west cot
Westerveldt		Dutch	west field
Westmoreland		English	A county of England; the West-moor-land
Weston		English	west town
Wetherby		Locality	the wide or extended village
Wetherspoon		Locality	A grazing-place in the spur of a mountain or hill
Wetherwax		Dutch	a herdsman, and wacht, a watch, a guard; weide, a pasture, a meadow
Wetsel		Locality	town on the lower Rhine
Weyland		Locality	Dutch, Weiland' pasture-ground, meadow-land
Whalley		English	Having greenish white eyes; wall-eyed
Wheaden		English	An old English west country term for a silly fellow
Whealdon		Cornish	A place where mines are worked
Wheaton		Locality	a place of the same name on the river Nen, Northamptonshire, England
Wheden		English	An old English west country term for a silly fellow
Wheeler		occupation	trade
Wheelock		occupation	trade
Whieldon		Cornish	A place where mines are worked
Whitby		English	White-town, a town in Yorkshire England
White		English	color of the hair, or complexion
Whitfield		Locality	white field
Whitford		Locality	white ford
Whiting		Saxon	fair offspring
Whitlock		Saxon	Fair hair
Whitman		English	lively, quick, and man
Whitney		Saxon	town in Oxfordshire, England
Whittaker		Locality	The north part of a graveyard allotted to the poor
Wicker			A man of the creek or bay
Wickham		Saxon	A town in Buckinghamshire, England
Wickliff		Saxon	a village six miles from Richmond, in Yorkshire, England
Wigan		Locality	town on the river Douglass, Lancashire, England
Wiggin		Locality	a town on the river Douglass, Lancashire, England
Wilberforce		Locality	Wild-boar-foss, a dike, a ditch
Wilbor			Wildboar
Wilbraham		Locality	Wild-burgh-ham, A town in Kent England
Wilbur			Wildboar
Wilcox			Son of Will
Wilder		Saxon	A traveler, foreigner, or pilgrim
Wilkins			son of William
Wilkinson			son of Wilkins
Willard		Teutonic	One who has a determined disposition
Willet			Little William
William		Belgic	Guild-helm, harnessed with a gilded helmet
Williamson			son of william
Willis			son of Willy
Willoughby		Locality	The town or habitation by the willows in Lincolnshire, England
Wilmot		French	Guillemot, a name frequent in France in early times, derived from Guillaume
Wilson			son of William
Wilton		Locality	a town in Wiltshire, England, so called from the river Willey
Wiltshire		Locality	A county in England
Wimple		Dutch	A streamer, pendant
Winch		Locality	A place in the county of Norfolk, England
Winchcombe		Saxon	From wincel, a corner, and comb, a valley
Winchel		Dutch	From Winschaal, a wine-bowl, a wineshop
Winchester		Locality	A city of Hampshire, England
Windham		Locality	A town in the county of Norfolk, England
Windsor		Locality	A town in Berkshire, England
Winegar		Dutch	A town in Berkshire, England
Winekoop		Dutch	Something to drink upon the bargain
Wing		Locality	A village in the county of Buckingham, England
Wingfield		Locality	From the manor of Wingfield, in Suffolk, England
Winne		Welsh	The same as Gwynne, white
Winship		Saxon	Wineshop
Winslow		Locality	From the town of Winslow, in Buckinghamshire, England
Winterton		Locality	From the village in the county of Norfolk, England
Winthrop		Locality	wine village
Wire		Locality	A market town of Hertfordshire, England
Wise			wisdom
Wiseman			wisdom
Wishart			Wise-heart
Wiswall		Locality	Weisweil, a town in Baden, on the Rhine, Germany
Witherington		Locality	The withered or dry hill. A place in Northumberland, England
Witherspoon		Locality	A grazing-place in the spur of a mountain or hill
Witter		Dutch	A whitener, a fuller, bleacher
Wodderspoon		Locality	A grazing-place in the spur of a mountain or hill
Wolf		German	someone living at a house distinguished by the sign of a wolf.
Wolsey		Locality	the Wolds-ley, from wold, a wood, a lawn
Wong		Chinese	from a character meaning prince
Wood		Locality	A surname very ancient in Scotland
Woodruff			Wood-reeve, the governor or keeper of a wood, a forester
Woodward			a forest-keeper or officer
Woodworth		Locality	The farm or place in the wood
Wool			One having short, thick hair
Woolley		Locality	Wold-ley, uncultivated lands, hills without wood
Woolsey		Locality	Wolds-ley, from wold, a wood, a lawn, and sometimes a plain, and lle, or ley, a place
Wooster			Worcester
Worcester		Locality	A county and city of England from Saxon Were, a forest, and Cester, a camp or city
Worth		Saxon	A court, farm, possession, place, field or way
Wright		Scottish	maker of machinery
Wu		Chinese	from the name of Ji Wu, a son of Ping Wang (770–719 B.C.), the first king of the Eastern Zhou dynasty
Wylie			Willie or William
Wyman		Dutch	From Weiman, a huntsman, a hunter

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