Kershaw
A mainly English place-based surname, probably meaning someone from a “shaw” or wood associated with a man named Kerr or similar.
The #6,630 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 60,432 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kershaw is generally explained as a local surname formed from a place-name. The second element is Old English sceaga, meaning a wood, copse, or small thicket, which later appears in surname spellings as -shaw. The first element is less certain, but is often linked to a personal name such as Kerr or a related northern form, so the name likely meant “the wood belonging to Kerr” or “Kerr’s wood.”
History
The name is strongly associated with northern England, especially Yorkshire, and historical records show several spellings such as Kearshaw and Kirshaw. 19th-century surname writers treated it as a local surname and noted regional variants rather than a single fixed origin. It later spread more widely in Britain and overseas through migration, especially to English-speaking countries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The ending -shaw is a common clue in English surnames that the original place-name referred to a patch of woodland.
From the historical record
“Keane;.— Local, ■ of Keraey,' q.v. ; cf. Karsley for Kearsley, Kearshaw for Kershaw. Richard de Kany, co. Wore., Hen. Ill-Edw. I. K. London, 3 ; «DB. (co. WUl.), 1.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances