Outlaw
A surname that likely began as a nickname or label for someone outside the law—literally an outlaw.
The #3,991 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 34,687 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is generally understood as coming from the common noun outlaw, meaning a person placed outside the protection of the law. In older English usage this could describe a criminal, a rebel, or more broadly someone under formal legal ban; some writers also suggested a spiritual sense, referring to an excommunicated person. A few 19th-century surname books also proposed a toponymic link with Oathlaw in Forfarshire, but the legal/nickname explanation is the main one given in the historical sources.
History
Historical records show the name very early in England, including forms such as Richard Outlawe in the 13th century. Because the word was also a vivid and memorable byname, it may have been applied independently to different families rather than coming from one single origin. Later surname writers sometimes connected it with famous outlaw figures such as Robin Hood or Guy of Gisborne, but that is more illustrative than proven genealogy.
Origin
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Fun fact
A medieval surname book even speculated that the name might have been influenced by the romance and legend of famous outlaws, not just by literal legal status.
From the historical record
“warlike exj^edition. OUTLAW. A rebel. OUTEED. Doubtless the A- Sax. per- sonal name Utred or Uhtred. OUTAVAITE. The same as Owthwaite. OUVRY. The family are believed to have come into England at the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. In the early part of the XVIII. century, they were connected with the silk…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom