Kersey
A surname taken from the Suffolk parish of Kersey, originally meaning someone who came from that place.
The #4,189 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 36,499 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kersey is a locational surname from the parish of Kersey in Suffolk. In medieval records it appears in forms such as de Kereseye and similar spellings, marking a person by their home village rather than by an occupation or nickname. The place-name itself is older than the surname, but the surname’s basic meaning is simply “from Kersey.”
History
This is a fairly typical English habitational surname, found in medieval records and later spread beyond Suffolk as families moved. The name also became familiar more widely because “kersey” was used for a sturdy woolen cloth, though the surname and the fabric term are distinct in origin. Modern bearers are concentrated in English-speaking countries, especially the United States and the UK.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One of the historical citations shows that the surname was already established in medieval Suffolk, with spellings that preserve the old preposition de (“of” or “from”).
From the historical record
“Iilontgomery. KERSEY. A parish in Suffolk. KERSWELL. " Kerswell of Kerswell is noticed b}^ Norden, as being one of the principal houses of his day, but we have not been able to ascertain in what part of the county Kerswell was situated." C. S. Gilbert's Cornwall. KERWIN. The same as Curwen, which see.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom