Craven
Usually a Yorkshire place-name surname, originally from the Craven district in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
The #2,341 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 19,833 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is generally taken from the district of Craven in Yorkshire, so it began as a locational byname for someone who came from that area. The exact meaning of the place-name itself is uncertain and has been much discussed by place-name scholars. Older writers sometimes linked the word with English "craven" meaning a coward, but that is a separate word and is not the likely source of the surname.
History
The Yorkshire district-name is well established in medieval records, and the surname appears as a regional identifier in England before becoming hereditary. Because the place-name is prominent, the surname spread beyond Yorkshire over time, especially with internal migration. The accidental overlap with the common noun "craven" probably encouraged folk-etymological confusion, but it is not the surname's real origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
There is a famous place in Yorkshire called Craven, and its name has given rise both to a surname and to the well-known regional identity of the district.
From the historical record
“Crawford. CRAVEN. In the days of chivalry this word meant a coward — one who ' craved' mercy from an antagonist, and it was also applied to a fighting-cock that failed in combat. " No cock of mine, yoii crow too like a (raven." Tammg of the Shreio , But the surname is probably derived from Craven, a district of…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom