Buckland
A habitational surname from places named Buckland, meaning “meadow or open land near a beech tree/wood.”
The #9,506 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 90,303 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Buckland is a place-based surname taken from one of several English places called Buckland. The name is usually explained from Old English elements related to beech and land, often interpreted as “beech-land” or as land associated with a woodland clearing. Because there were many Bucklands across England, the surname could arise independently in different counties.
History
The name is widely attested in English records and was borne by families from several counties, especially in southern and western England. Nineteenth-century surname writers consistently treated it as a locational surname from the numerous places called Buckland in counties such as Devon, Kent, Somerset, Sussex, and others. It remains relatively uncommon but is well established in Britain and in emigrant branches overseas.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
There are multiple English parishes called Buckland, which is why the surname could develop separately in more than one place.
From the historical record
“the shire is named. BUCKLAND. Parishes and places in COS. Berks, Bucks, Glouccst., Herts, Kent, Surrey, Somerset, Devon, Dorset, &c. BUCKLE. Probably corrupted from the local name Buckwell. BUCKLER. Doubtless from the trade of making buckles. Le Bokelcr, 11. R. See imder Smith. Tbe name has, liowe-ser, been thought…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom