Kirkham
A habitational surname meaning someone from a place called Kirkham, literally a “church village.”
The #8,032 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 74,920 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kirkham is a locational surname taken from places in England named Kirkham. The name is usually explained as coming from Old English or a closely related early northern form meaning “church” plus “village” or “homestead,” so the literal sense is “church village.” The place-name likely referred to an early church settlement, and the surname arose when people were identified by that origin.
History
The surname is especially associated with Kirkham in Lancashire, which older surname writers treated as the main source of the name. As with many English locational surnames, it would have become hereditary when families moved away from the original place and were identified by it in legal and parish records. It is also found in records from medieval and early modern England, and later in North America through migration.
Origin
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Fun fact
Kirkham is one of several English surnames built on kirk, the northern word for “church,” which is especially common in place-names from the north of England and Scotland.
From the historical record
“had a place of worship there in ancient times. KIRKHAM. Local. From Kvrk, a church, and ham, a village. The name of a small town in England, whence the surname originated. KIRKPATRICK. Local. A parish in Dumfriesshire, Scot- land, i. e., Patrick's Church. KIRTLAND. A corruption of Kirkland, that is, the church…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names