Sheffield
A habitational surname meaning “from Sheffield,” the Yorkshire city name likely referring to a crooked or irregular field by the River Sheaf.
The #1,817 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,642 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname comes from the place-name Sheffield in Yorkshire. The old form appears as Scafeld in Domesday Book and later as Schefeld; the second element is the Old English word for “field” or “open land.” The first element is less certain: older scholars suggested it may refer either to the River Sheaf or to a word meaning “crooked” or “sheared,” giving the sense of an uneven or bent field.
History
The name is documented early in Yorkshire, with a 14th-century bearer recorded as Will'us de Sheffeld. It spread as a surname from people who had moved away from the town, and later became especially visible in England and its diaspora. Lower also notes the Sheffield family’s rise in prominence in the Middle Ages, including the dukes of Buckingham.
Origin
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Fun fact
Sheffield is one of those surnames where the place-name is older than the modern city spelling, and the medieval forms help show how the name developed over time.
From the historical record
“SHEET, V.I Sheat. SHEFFIELD (Eng.) Bel. to Sheffield (Yorks), 14th cent. Sheffield, Schefeld, Domesday Scafeld [Sheffield is on the R. Sheaf; but the river-name is prob. from the place- name, the first element of which may be the O.E.icti/, crooked, if not O.E. scMaga, a wood ; the second being M.E. O.E./eW, ii…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)