East
A topographic or directional surname for someone who lived to the east of a place, or came from the eastern part of a district.
The #2,843 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 24,341 Americans shares it.
Etymology
East comes from Old English east, meaning “east” or “the eastern side.” As a surname, it was often applied to someone who lived to the east of a village, farm, or boundary, or who had moved from an eastern district. It could also sometimes function as a shortened form of a longer place-based or directional name in medieval records.
History
The surname is old in England and fits a common medieval naming pattern based on direction, like West, North, and South. Because it is so short and ordinary, it may also appear in records as part of compound or expanded forms, which can make family lines harder to trace. Its modern distribution is mainly English-language, with especially natural fit in areas where directional bynames were common.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Directional surnames like East were often easiest to distinguish in a village where several people shared the same first name.
From the historical record
“Easton. EAST. See under North. Del Est, " of the East." H.R. EASTBURY. Places in Berks, Dorset, &c. EASTER. This name may be derived with nearly equal probability from several distinct sources, as : 1. From the parishes called Easter in Essex. 2. From the Christian festival, like Christmas, Noel,”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom