Although the language of our name came from Scandinavia it does not prove that our family came to the British Isles on a Viking long boat. It is more likely that we picked the name up later after Scandinavian words had become absorbed into English.
Hereditary surnames are a relatively recent development, particularly for ordinary people. Although surnames did exist in Anglo-Saxon times it wasn't until the late middle ages that they started to be become common - spreading outwards from the south east until nearly everyone had a surnmane by 1400. One of the most frequent types of surname was derived from where people lived. However, several people in a village could be named after the same thing and not be related - leading to all sorts of problems for genealogists. Given the meaning of our surname it is likely that our ancestors acquired it by either:
| association with an "island" |
| borrowing the name from land they worked, farmed or owned |
| borrowing the name from their lord or master, although this raises a further question of where the lord or master acquired the name. |
Exactly why, when and where we gained the name
is unknown. but it is most likely that our early
ancestors where living next to a 'fair isle' and became associated
with it (see meaning). We have
found eight locations which could be the sources: two in Scotland and
six in England. These are locations which seem to have existed for
many years, evidenced by records. However, it is entirely possible
that surname arose in a location that never made it into records and
ceased to exist. It is also possible that the surname started in many
different locations, but this seems unlikely given the early
concentration of the surname in just two areas - to the east of
Nottingham and in Edinburgh. The image gallery contains maps of the
locations of the possible sources.
Today there are at least 49
properties in the UK called Fairholm, 259 called Fairholme and 2
called Fairholmes. They are spread from Shetland in the north to
Cornwall in the south west.
Image
gallery for sources of the surnames
Click
on an image for a larger version and information
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| Location map (gif) Distribution of locations |
Location
map (gif) Fairholm, South Lanarkshire, Scotland |
Location map (gif) Fairholm, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland |
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| Location map (gif) Fairholm, Nottinghamshire, England |
Location map (jpeg) Fairholmes, Derbyshire, England |
Modern photographs
(jpeg) Fairholmes, Derbyshire, England |
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| Location
map (jpeg) Fairholme, East Yorkshire, England |
Location
map (jpeg) Fairholme & Far Fairholm, North Yorkshire, England |
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