Field
A common English surname meaning someone who lived by an open field or countryside clearing.
The #1,452 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 12,580 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Field comes from Old English feld, meaning open country, pasture, or unenclosed land. As a surname, it usually began as a topographic name for someone living by a field or in open rural land. It could also arise from places called Field or from older forms like "atte Field" meaning "at the field."
History
The surname is very widespread in England and later spread to other English-speaking countries through migration. Historical sources note both simple topographic use and older locative forms with the preposition "atte." It has remained a familiar ordinary surname rather than a strongly aristocratic or clan-based name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Medieval records preserve forms like "atte Field," literally "at the field," showing how many English surnames grew out of everyday speech.
From the historical record
“Braose;' 'de Vere, see Vere.' That surnames with the [English] prefix 'atte,' e.g., 'atte Field,' 'atte Tree,' 'atte Teye,' &c;, be indexed under those forms, but that a cross-reference be appended in each case to the form without the prefix, as 'atte Green, see also Green,' and Green, see also atte Green.' This…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)