Blackburn
A place-based surname meaning “someone from Blackburn,” especially the Lancashire town.
The #889 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,897 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Blackburn is a locational surname from places called Blackburn, most famously the town in Lancashire. The place-name is usually explained from Old English elements meaning “black” and “brook” or “stream,” referring to a dark watercourse. As a surname, it simply identified a person by origin from that place.
History
Medieval records show the name established in Lancashire very early, and later it spread beyond the county as people moved. English surname dictionaries consistently treat it as a straightforward local name rather than a nickname or occupation. It also appears in Scotland as a place-based surname tied to local place-names there.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is especially strongly linked with Lancashire, where Blackburn is both a surname source and a major historic town.
From the historical record
“BLACKBEARD. See Beard. BLACKBIRD. Probably "black-beard." BLACKBURN. A great town m Lanca- shire. BLACKE. See Black. BLACKER. SeeBlaker.- BLACKETT. Dan. hlakhcU greyish. Ferguson. But the B.'s of Northumb. trace to Richard de Black-heved, or Blackhead, forester of Stanhope, 1350 ; and the name is consequently local.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom