Windham
A locational surname from an English place-name, probably meaning “the homestead by a winding path” or “Wimund’s home.”
The #3,437 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 29,716 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Windham is an English locational surname taken from a place-name. One explanation connects it with Old English elements meaning “winding path” plus “homestead/enclosure,” giving a sense like “the homestead by the winding way.” Another older explanation treats it as a corruption of an earlier form meaning “Wimund’s home,” so the exact original sense is not certain.
History
The name is associated especially with the English place-name Windham in Norfolk, and historical forms show long fluctuation in spelling. In later surname use, Windham became established both in England and in English-speaking countries, with Wyndham as a well-known related spelling. Nineteenth-century surname writers disagreed on whether the place-name was topographical or derived from a personal name, so both possibilities are often noted.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source explicitly cites the Sussex Windham as appearing as Windeha in Domesday Book.
From the historical record
“Wei. place-name Nanthir] WINDHAM (Eng.) Bel. to Windham or Wynd- ham = the Enclosure with the Winding Path [O.E. ge)wind, winding path + ham(m, enclosure] The Sussex Windham was Windeha' in Domesday-Bk. WINDHOUSE (Eng.) Dweller at a Winding”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)