North
A compass-point surname usually given to someone who came from the north or lived north of a settlement.
The #1,766 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,177 Americans shares it.
Etymology
North comes from Old English norð, meaning “north.” As a surname, it was commonly used for someone who had moved from a northern district, or who lived on the north side of a town or manor. In some cases it may also have distinguished a person from others by direction or residence rather than by an inherited family line.
History
The surname is well established in medieval and later English records and belongs to the broader set of surnames formed from compass directions. Later surname dictionaries note that these directional names often arose naturally when people migrated and were identified by where they came from. North has remained in use as a straightforward English surname and is now found widely in Britain, North America, and other English-speaking regions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname writers grouped North with South, East, and West as one of the clearest examples of a place-based directional name.
From the historical record
“Chaucer, Cant. Tales, £561. NORTH (Eng.) One from the North [O.E. - norY\ NORTHAM (Eng.) Bel. to Northam (Devon, . Hants, &c.) = the North Enclosure [O.E. nor^ -\- ham{m, a piece of land, en- closure] NORTHAMPTON (Eng.) Bel. to Northampton, A.D. 917 and 921 Hamtun, Domesday”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)