Broadway
A locational surname meaning someone who lived by, or came from, a broad road or a place called Broadway.
The #5,247 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 46,449 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Broadway is a habitational surname from places called Broadway or from a local feature described as a 'broad way.' The name is built from Middle English broad + way, ultimately from Old English brād + weg, meaning a wide road or thoroughfare. In some cases it may refer specifically to a person living near a notable broad road, and in others to someone from one of the English places named Broadway.
History
19th-century surname dictionaries treat Broadway as a straightforward local name, especially linked to places in Dorset, Worcestershire, and Somerset. The surname is still found in England and appears in Ireland as well, likely through migration rather than separate origin. Because Broadway is also a common place-name, the surname may have arisen independently in more than one locality.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Several English villages and parishes called Broadway helped make this a classic example of a surname formed from a place-name rather than a trade or nickname.
From the historical record
“I only furnish a single instance. Trout is the son of Troyt, a great personal name in the West Country in the surname epoch (now generally Trott). Even Plaice is Place, from residence by the place or stead, or manor, or public broadway, or courtyard : John atte Placb, co. Soms., i Edw. Ill, Kirby's Quest, p. 258.…”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances