Saturday 12 October 2013

Surname Saturday - Holmes

Surname Saturday is a regular blog post in which I will discuss the origins and geography of the surnames which appear in my own family tree.

This weeks surname is HOLMES.

Variant spellings: Holmes, Holme, Hulme, Holm, Holms, Home, Homes

Holmes is both a locational and topographical surname. It is derived from the Old Norse holmr meaning small island or a piece of low lying meadows land surrounded by water and also from the Old English "holegn" meaning holly woods or a person who lived near a holly wood or tree.

The surname is most commonly found in Yorkshire but is a fairly widespread and common surname.

My maternal great, great grandmother was Sarah Ann Holmes and although she settled in Leeds, West Yorkshire she was born in Nottingham, where her father was also born but her grandfather, Joseph Holmes was born in Wittick, Leicestershire. The family were framework knitters until they moved to Leeds, West Yorkshire.


Information from:
Surname database - Holmes
Wikipedia - Holm
Ancestry - Holmes

Copyright © 2013 Ruth Hogan



No comments:

Post a Comment