Bradshaw
A habitational surname meaning “from Bradshaw,” an English place-name usually glossed as “broad wood” or “broad copse.”
The #818 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,271 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bradshaw is a habitational surname taken from places called Bradshaw in northern England, especially in Lancashire and Yorkshire. The name is generally understood from Old English elements meaning “broad” and “wood” or “copse,” referring to a wide wooded area. Later surname bearers took their name from the place where they lived or held land.
History
Historical surname writers particularly linked Bradshaw to Lancashire and Yorkshire, and Bardsley notes several local branches from the Bradshaw places near Halifax and Bolton. Lower also treats it as an old Lancashire and Derbyshire local name that gave rise to established families. The surname became well known in England and later spread widely in Britain and the English-speaking world; the commonest American lineages are still of English origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname appears in several English place-names, so more than one unrelated family may have adopted it independently.
From the historical record
“dition of Norman descent. BRADSHAW. A chapelry, co. Lancaster, " where the BradshaAvs have llourislied from the time of the Saxons, the present owner thereof being Thon)as Bradshaw Isherwood, Esq." B.L.G. Bradshaw, near the Peak of Derbyshire, gave name to another ancient family. Lysons. BRAGG. BRAGGER. Skelton…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom