Yarbrough
An English surname that likely began as a locational name, referring to someone from Yardley or a similar “yard meadow” place-name.
The #1,441 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 12,475 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally explained as a reduced or altered form of English place-name surnames such as Yardley, Yarborough, or Yarbury. The place-name element is usually taken to be Old English gearð or gard, meaning an enclosure, yard, or fenced place, plus leah, meaning a meadow or clearing. In that sense, the name would originally mean someone living by, or coming from, the “yard meadow” or enclosed clearing.
History
The form Yarbrough is one of several related spellings that developed from the same English place-name base, alongside Yardley, Yarborough, and Yarbury. Harrison’s early 20th-century discussion treats these as connected variants and notes the older medieval forms of Yardley. In the United States, Yarbrough became the most familiar modern spelling in many branches of the family, while other forms remained in use elsewhere.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Old English place-name elements behind this surname also appear in many English place names ending in -ley.
From the historical record
“YARBORO YARBOROUGH YARBROUGH YARBURY YARDLEY (Eng,)'Bel. to Yardley ; or Dweller at thfe Yard-Lea [M.E. yard{e, yerd(e, enclosure, court, garden ; O.E. g{e)ard, fence, enclosure + M.E. ley, O.E. ledh, meadow] The Wore. Yardley was Yerdeley, i4t,h- 15th cent.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)