Crossland
A northern English surname from a place-name meaning “cross land” or land by a cross.
The #8,994 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 84,914 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Crossland is a locational surname taken from places named Crossland or Crosland in northern England, especially in Yorkshire. The name is built from Old English cros, meaning “cross,” plus land, meaning “land” or “estate,” so the literal sense is “land by the cross” or “cross land.” Some 19th-century writers also connected it with a township in Yorkshire.
History
The surname is concentrated historically in Yorkshire and nearby parts of northern England. Later records show it spreading into other English counties and, through migration, to the United States and other English-speaking regions. Spellings with and without the internal -s- have both been used, with Crosland and Crossland often treated as related forms.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because many medieval surnames came from local landmarks, Crossland is a good example of a name that may have begun as a simple description of where someone lived.
From the historical record
“merick, &c. CROSSLAND. A township in York- shire. CROSSLEY. The Crossleys of Scait- cliffe, CO. Lancaster, anciently Del Cros- legh, are of unknown antiquity. B.L.G. I find no locality so called. GROSSMAN. Probably from residence near a cross. See Cross and Crouch. CROSSWELL. CROSSWELLER. In”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom