Turney
A surname most often traced to the French place-name Tournay or Tourny, introduced into English after the Norman period.
The #5,145 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 45,384 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Turney is generally explained as a locational surname from Tournay/Tourny in Normandy, with the same line of explanation also linking it to the French town of Tournai. The place-name is ultimately tied to a Latinized form meaning an estate associated with a personal name such as Tornus or Turnus. Medieval records show early spellings like de Turney, Turnai, and Torney, which fit this French place-name origin.
History
The name appears in medieval English records very early, especially in forms with de-, which is typical of surnames taken from a place of origin. 19th-century surname writers mostly treat Turney as a Norman-French locational name rather than as a form of Turner. Modern bearers are found mainly in England and countries of English settlement.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older reference books sometimes gave Turney and the more familiar Turner as separate surnames, but later writers often connected Turney instead with a French place-name.
From the historical record
“f. tourner, O.Fr. torner, Lat. tomare, to turn] TURNEY 1 (A.-Fr.-Lat.) Bel. toTournai, Tour- TURNAY / nay, or Tourny (all in Normandy), M.Lat. Torneium, Turneium = Tornus' or Turnus' Estate {-eium, possess, suff.] The forms in our i3th-i4thcent. records were de Turney, Turnai, Torney.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)