Strange
An English surname meaning “foreign” or “stranger,” originally a nickname for someone from elsewhere.
The #2,425 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 20,655 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname comes from Middle English straunge, from Old French estrange, ultimately from Latin extraneus, meaning “outside” or “foreign.” It began as a nickname for a newcomer, outsider, or someone viewed as not from the local place. In some cases it may also have been used in the French form le Strange or l'Estrange.
History
Medieval records show forms such as John le Straunge, and the name appears in English documents from the Middle Ages onward. Some noble English families used the French-style form le Strange/L'Estrange, which helped stabilize the surname in hereditary use. The spelling Strange is the modern English form and is also found in place-linked surname traditions, including associations with the name Strangeways.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The word is the same one behind the modern English adjective “strange,” though the surname’s original sense was more social than spooky.
From the historical record
“G. Douglas, King Hart. STRANGE (A.-Fr.-Lat.) Foreign [M.E. stra(u)nge, O.Fr. estrange (Fr. Strange), LatI extraneus, foreign] John le Straunge. — Hund. Rolls. See Lestrange. STRANG(E)WAYS (Eng.) Bel. to Strange- ways (Manchester), i6th cent. Strange-^ waies, 15th cent. Strangways, 14th cent. Strangwas, Strongways =…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)