Haviland
A surname most often linked to an old Norman family from Normandy and Guernsey.
The #9,531 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 90,541 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Historical sources connect Haviland with a Norman place- or estate-name, usually written in forms like de Havilland or de Haverland. The name is generally treated as locational: someone was identified by a holding or ancestral seat in Normandy or Guernsey, rather than by an occupation or personal nickname. The element is not fully certain in the older literature, but the most common explanation is that the surname came into England with a Norman family and was later anglicized to Haviland.
History
One 19th-century source says the family came from Cotentin in Normandy, moved to Guernsey before the late 12th century, and later settled in Somerset. The name appears in medieval and later records in forms such as de Haverland and de Havilland, which helped fix the modern spelling. It remains comparatively uncommon in Britain and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is historically linked with the same island family that later produced the well-known de Havilland aviation name.
From the historical record
“called the liaaf or haven. HAVILAND. A member of the ancient Norman family of DeHavillandof Guernsey settled in Somersetshire temp. Henry VII., and founded this surname in England. Gent. ]\Iag., June, 1852. The ftimily ori- ginated in the Cotcntin in Normandy, aud settled in Guernsey before 117G. B.L.G. De…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom