Self
An old surname that may come from an Anglo-Saxon or Scandinavian byname meaning “sea-wolf,” though some instances may also be locational.
The #1,520 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 13,085 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The strongest old explanations connect Self to an early Germanic personal name such as Old English Seawulf / Sewlf or a related Scandinavian form, built from words meaning “sea” and “wolf.” In that reading, the surname began as a hereditary descendant-name from a given name rather than from the modern word self. Some 19th-century writers also suggested that in certain cases it could be locational, especially from Shelf in Yorkshire, so the surname may have more than one origin line.
History
Early surname scholars recorded forms such as Sewlf and related Scandinavian spellings in medieval records, which helped make the “sea-wolf” explanation popular. The name is not especially common, and in later English usage it also appears in the spelling Selfe. Because medieval surname formation was messy, different families named Self may not share the same origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century etymologist explicitly linked Self to a charter of Canute, treating it as an old Scandinavian-style name.
From the historical record
“SELE, V. Seal. SELF 1 (Teut.) descendants of i the A.-Sax. SELFE J Sckwulf or O.N. S(kAlf-r= Sea- Wolf [O.E. O.N. stfe -)- O.E. wulf^ O.N. jj//-r] 2 the A.-Sax. Sdbldf or O.N. Sckleif-r = •Sea - Relic [O.E. O.N. stk + O.E. Idf = O.N. leif-r, a relic] 3 the A.-Sax. Sigeldf or O.N. Sigleif-r =”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)