Hargrave
A mainly English locational surname meaning someone from a place called Hargrave, likely “hare grove.”
The #4,989 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 43,875 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hargrave is a habitational surname taken from places named Hargrave in England. The name is usually explained as Old English hara or here? Actually the traditional interpretation in the surname dictionaries is “hare grove,” with the second element being grove, a small wood. In other words, it likely began as a place-name describing a grove where hares were found, or a similar wooded spot associated with hares.
History
Early surname dictionaries place Hargrave among English local names, especially from parishes in Cheshire, Northamptonshire, and Suffolk. Some writers also note that Lancashire Hargreaves families probably took the name from Hargrave in Cheshire. The spelling Hargreaves developed as a frequent variant, and both forms remained in use.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname writers often glossed Hargrave as “hare grove,” a neat example of how place-names were turned into family names.
From the historical record
“family." B.L.G. HARGRAVE. HARGRAVES. Parishes, kc. in cos. Chester, Northampton, and Suffolk. HARGREAVES. See Hargraves. HARINGTOK HARRINGTON". A place in Cumberland, where Robert H. lived temp. Henry III. Shirley's Noble and Gentle Men. It is elsewhere asserted that”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom