Herring
A surname that may have started as a nickname from the fish name herring, though some early writers also treated it as a local or family-name form.
The #894 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,971 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is most often explained from the fish name herring, used as a nickname in medieval English, much like other animal or fish surnames. Early surname scholars also noticed related forms and debated whether some examples could be local or family-name forms rather than direct nicknames. The underlying word is the common Germanic word for the fish, ultimately the source of modern English "herring."
History
Fish-based surnames were common in medieval England, and Herring appears among them in early surname discussions. The name seems to have spread as an inherited family surname rather than as a reference to the fish trade in every case. It is also found in broader British surname contexts and later became established in English-speaking countries, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname writers grouped Herring with other fish surnames such as Whale, Pike, and Spratt, reflecting how vivid everyday nicknames often became hereditary names.
From the historical record
“32 ENGUSH AND WELSH SURNAMES Rolls (^^73) It is local. Finally, Herring is, as in Harrington, a family name. The Yorkshire Buclrtrout seems to be really a fish-name, and is found early : RoBERTUS BuKTaooT, 1379, P. T, Yorks., p. ai8. Beast-names.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances