1,103 Global EARNSHAW Family Members

EARNSHAW Family History

This most interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from a village so called in Lancashire, composed of the Olde English personal name "Earn", eagle, and the Olde English "halh", a nook, or "sceaga", a wood. In some cases, the name may be of topographical origin, denoting a dweller by the eagle-wood or nook, from the same derivation as above. Topographical names were among the earliest created, as both man-made and natural features in the landscape provided easily recognisable distinguishing names in the small communities of the Middle Ages, while, as migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming more common, people often took their former village name as a means of identification.