Nottingham
A habitational surname from the city of Nottingham, meaning “the homestead or settlement of the Snotingas,” an early Anglo-Saxon group.
The #7,944 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 74,129 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname comes from the English place-name Nottingham. The old form is usually explained as Snotinga-hām, meaning “the home or settlement of the Snotingas,” a tribal or family group named after an early leader called Snota or a related personal name. The first element is the group name Snotinga-, “people of Snota,” and the second is hām, “homestead” or “village.”
History
The place-name is very old and appears in early medieval forms such as Snotingeham and similar spellings. As a surname, Nottingham is a straightforward habitational name for someone who came from the town or county of Nottingham. It is much less common than many other English locational surnames, but it is well established in English records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname preserves one of the oldest recorded English place-names in the East Midlands.
From the historical record
“name, Nothart. Ferguson. NOTTINGHAM. The chief town of the shire so named, NOUGIITON. Perhaps from Nowton or Newton, co. Suffolli, Nua 240”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom