Landes
A surname most likely tied to a place-name or to land, especially in French usage.
The #7,550 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 70,106 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In many cases, Landes is a locational surname, from a place-name or regional name in France, especially the Landes area in southwestern France. It can also be connected with the common word for "land" in English and related forms, giving it a broadly topographic sense in some families. The historical sources also point to French place-names such as Landres and other local forms as possible sources for some bearers.
History
The name appears in historical surname lists in both English and French scholarship, usually as a place-based surname. Because several different French local names and landscape terms look similar, the surname may have more than one independent origin. In modern usage it is found in the United States and elsewhere, often without a single shared family line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The French region called Les Landes is known for its sandy heathland, so the name has a very strong landscape feel.
From the historical record
“the now better-known Herefordshire Ryelands. The Lane. Rylands was Ri- landes, Rylau?ides (and Riland) in the .13th cent. ; Rylondes, Ruylondes, etc., in the 14th- 15th cent. (v. 'The Rylands of the Ry- ' lands within Westhoughton, co. L ancaster' by J. Paul Rylands, F.S.A.) The Chesh. Rylands was Rylondis and…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)