CAVENDISH members around the world

CAVENDISH Family History

This unusual name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is locational, originating in the place called Cavendish in Suffolk. The placename is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Kavandisc", and by 1242 as "Cavenedis". The meaning of the name is "Cafna's pasture", derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Cafna", itself from "Caf", meaning "bold, daring", plus "edisc", meaning "enclosure or pasture". Locational surnames, such as this, were usually acquired by a local landowner, or by the lord of the manor, and especially by those former inhabitants of a place who had moved to another area, usually in search or work, and were thereafter best identified by the name of their birthplace.