Long
Originally a nickname for a tall person, Long became a common English surname and later spread widely in the English-speaking world.
The #97 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 1,346 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname comes from a word meaning “long” or “tall,” used first as a nickname for someone of great height. In medieval records it appears in forms such as Longus and Le Long, showing both Latinized and French-influenced spellings. In English surname formation, such nicknames often became hereditary family names.
History
Lower explicitly explains Long as a surname from stature and gives the story of “Long Hemy,” a tall attendant whose nickname became hereditary in the Wiltshire family. The name has long been common in England and later spread broadly through British and Irish migration to North America and elsewhere. Because it is such a simple descriptive name, it also arose independently in more than one place.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A famous early bearer in Lower’s account was “Long Hemy,” whose nickname was said to have become the family surname Long.
From the historical record
“sbire. LONG. From stature ; a tall person. One of the family of Preux, an attendant on Lord Treasurer ITungerford, from his great height, acquired the sobriquet of Long Hemy. On his marriage to a lady of quality he trausj)osed this appellation to Heniy l-ong, and became the founder of the Longs of Wiltshire.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom