The Origen and Meaning of Our Surname
THE ORIGIN OF OUR SURNAME:
The
surname BARNHAM originated in England, and descendants of the immigrant ancestor
in North America have also used the spellings BARNAM and BARNUM. The last of
these is by far the most common in North America today, while BARNHAM continues
to be the most common spelling in England.
Sir
Francis Barnham, MP, (1576-1646) discussed in his journal the origin of the
surname Barnham. He stated, “Our Name as we have it by tradition, strenghtened with probable circumstances, and some good
records (which I have heard some of my friends say they have seene) was first gentilized, or
at least advanced, by Sir Walter Barnham, a Baron of the Exchequer in the time
of King Richard II, and soe continued in a flowrishinge estate (at a place called Barnham in Suffolke not far from Thetford, where divers descents of
them lye now buried) till the time of King Henry VII, all which I have received
from my grandmother, father, and uncles, whoe spake it with much confidence, as being delivered to them,
by theire friends of the former age, and the truth of
it assured by divers records, however it is not that which I will binde on as an infallible truth, because I my self have not seene that which
may soe absolutly assure
it, and because I for myne owne
parte care not to fetch a pedegree
farther then from the certaine memory of a
grandfather that was rich and honest, and a father that was vertuous
and wise;....”
Later
research suggests that our surname probably originated with Godwin Halden, Lord
Haylesdon, on or after the year 1070. After he was
awarded the lordship of Haylesdon (Hellesdon) by William the Conquerer
in 1070, Godwin resided at Bernham Manor, Norfolk,
and took his surname from that place. Through the vagaries of medieval English
spelling, the family name de Bernham appears to have
given rise to that of Barnham by several centuries later. The village that grew
up near Barnham Manor, originally called Bernham Rysks, is today known as Barnham Broom.
Godwin
was an ancestor of William de Bernham (b. abt. 1154),
of Walter de Bernham (abt. 1264-abt. 1327) and of their
numerous descendants, probably including Sir Walter Barnham (abt. 1350-aft.
1399).
THE
MEANING OF OUR SURNAME:
Our
surname is a locational name for any of the towns or villages called Barnham in
the English counties of Suffolk, Norfolk and Staffordshire. Locational surnames
were derived from—and originally designated—the place of residence of the
bearer. They were employed in France at an early date (e.g., La Porte
“at the entrance to”) and were introduced into England by the Norman
conquerors, many of whom were known by the titles of their estates.
Barnham
in Suffolk is recorded as “Berneham” in the Domesday
Book of 1086, while the two places in Norfolk and Staffordshire appear in the
same source as “Bernham”. All of these places have
the same derivation. That is: a combination of the pre-7th-Century Old English
byname Beorn(a) [from Beorn
(Old Norse barn), a warrior] with the Old English suffix “ham”, meaning
homestead or village.
As
mentioned above, Beorn is the Old English word for
warrior (or freeman in Anglo-Saxon society), but was also a name used by some
noblemen (since “nobleman” was an alternate meaning). It is related to the
Scandinavian names Björn (Swedish) and Bjørn
(Norwegian and Danish), meaning bear. The word baron also developed from Beorn.
The
basic meaning of Barnham in Old English was thus “the homestead (-ham) of the
family or followers of a man called Beorn”.
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family in England and North America
The information on this site is developed and maintained by Patrick Barnum
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