7 English Surnames of Anglo-Saxon Origin Still in Use Today (Meaning & History Included) @celtichistorydecoded

Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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7 English Surnames of Anglo-Saxon Origin Still in Use Today… (Meaning & History Included)

Chapters:
0:00 English Surnames
1:07 Godwin
2:38 Edmunds
4:01 Smith
5:56 Edwards
7:26 Wright
8:59 Harding
10:13 King
11:35 Other Names

Does your surname and lineage link back to the Anglo-Saxons who were instrumental in the creation of England? Well these are 7 English Surnames of Anglo-Saxon Origin Still in Use Today, from royal lineages to occupational necessities, and let me know what your surname is in the comments below…

Now quickly before we get into the 7 names, I should note that during the Anglo-Saxon period itself, which lasted from roughly the 5th century AD until the Norman Conquest in 1066, English people didn't have surnames like we do today. Most people just had a single given name, and sometimes a descriptive byname like "the Smith" or "the Red." Proper surnames like we have today only became common in England mainly between the 12th and 15th centuries.

Yet all these surnames on the list have roots that are derived from the language of the Anglo-Saxons, Old English. And many connect to Anglo-Saxon royalty and nobility, and some even come directly from Anglo-Saxon personal names, which later became surnames.

Sources:
Godwin Surname Meaning & Godwin Family History at Ancestry.co.uk®
Harold Godwinson - Wikipedia
Godwine Name Meaning, Family History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
King Surname Meaning & King Family History at Ancestry.co.uk®
Edwards Surname Meaning & Edwards Family History at Ancestry.co.uk®
Edward Surname Meaning & Edward Family History at Ancestry.co.uk®
Edwards Name Meaning, Family History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms, english
Smith Surname Meaning & Smith Family History at Ancestry.co.uk®
Smith Name Meaning, Family History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
Smith Surname Origin, Meaning & Family Tree | Findmypast.co.uk
Harding Surname Origin, Meaning & Family Tree | Findmypast.co.uk
Harding Surname Meaning & Harding Family History at Ancestry.co.uk®
Harding fitz Eadnoth (1063 - 1125) - Genealogy
Eadnoth (1035 - 1068) - Genealogy
Harding FitzEadnoth (abt.1060-1125) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree
Wright Surname Meaning & Wright Family History at Ancestry.co.uk®
Wright Name Meaning, Family History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
Edmond Surname Meaning & Edmond Family History at Ancestry.co.uk®
Edmunds Surname Meaning & Edmunds Family History at Ancestry.co.uk®
Edmunds Name Meaning, Family History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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English surnames – English ancestry – English heritage –

#english #ancestry #surnames

7 English Surnames of Anglo-Saxon Origin Still in Use Today (Meaning & History Included)

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$What is the Origin and Reason for Blond Hair? Please Buy Me a Coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/celtichistory Please support this channel on Patreon and get ad-free videos and other benefits: https://www.patreon.com/historydecoded Subscribe to Celtic History Decoded: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCS3M_uNHH2iOJkpGhkO2SA?sub_confirmation=1 Check out my merch store and please help support this channel - https://celtic-history-decoded.creator-spring.com/ - Full terms and conditions can be found on Spring’s website. Follow Celtic History Decoded on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/celtichistorydecoded/ Follow Celtic History Decoded on Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@celtichistorydecoded What is the Origin and Reason for Blond Hair? Chapters: 0:00 Blond Hair 2:52 Origins of Blond Hair 5:11 Reasons for Blond Hair What is the origin of blond hair and why did it develop in the first place? Now only around 2 percent of the worlds population has naturally blond hair, and it is most common in northern Europe or people who have ancestry connected to Europe, but blond hair is also found across the world, from North Africa to Asia, and even among the native populations in places such as Fiji and the Solomon Islands. But why is this? Why does around 10% of the native population of the Solomon Islands have naturally blond hair? Well more on that latter. In general, human hair colour is caused by varying amounts of two types of melanin: known eumelanin and pheomelanin. Sources: European women twice as likely to be blonde as men, study says - BBC News Kenny EE, Timpson NJ, Sikora M, Yee MC, Moreno-Estrada A, Eng C, Huntsman S, Burchard EG, Stoneking M, Bustamante CD, Myles S. Melanesian blond hair is caused by an amino acid change in TYRP1. Science. 2012 May 4;336(6081):554. doi: 10.1126/science.1217849. PMID: 22556244; PMCID: PMC3481182. Study identifies more than a hundred new genes that determine hair colour - Kings College London (kcl.ac.uk) Hysi, P.G., Valdes, A., Liu, F. et al. Genome-wide association meta-analysis of individuals of European ancestry identifies new loci explaining a substantial fraction of hair color variation and heritability. Nat Genet 50, 652–656 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-018-0100-5 Blond - Wikipedia The Origin of Blond Afros in Melanesia | Science | AAAS Iosif Lazaridis et al.A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia.Science377,940-951(2022).DOI:10.1126/science.abq0755 Share of hair dye users* who dyed their hair in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2017, by color UK: most popular dyed hair colors 2017 | Statista Guenther CA, Tasic B, Luo L, Bedell MA, Kingsley DM. A molecular basis for classic blond hair color in Europeans. Nat Genet. 2014 Jul;46(7):748-52. doi: 10.1038/ng.2991. Epub 2014 Jun 1. PMID: 24880339; PMCID: PMC4704868. Mathieson I et al. The genomic history of southeastern Europe. Nature. 2018 Mar 8;555(7695):197-203. doi: 10.1038/nature25778. Epub 2018 Feb 21. PMID: 29466330; PMCID: PMC6091220. The Genomic History of Southeastern Europe - PMC (nih.gov) Zhang, F., Ning, C., Scott, A. et al. The genomic origins of the Bronze Age Tarim Basin mummies. Nature 599, 256–261 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04052-7 Sulem P, et al. Genetic determinants of hair, eye and skin pigmentation in Europeans. Nat Genet. 2007 Dec;39(12):1443-52. doi: 10.1038/ng.2007.13. Epub 2007 Oct 21. PMID: 17952075. Ancient North Eurasian - Wikipedia The Origin of Blond Afros in Melanesia | Science | AAAS Melanin - Wikipedia Troy (2004) Official Trailer - Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom Movie HD (youtube.com) Afontova Gora - Wikipedia Eastern Hunter-Gatherer - Wikipedia Tarim mummies - Wikipedia Creative Commons Imagery: World map: DalGobboM - Phenotype map: Andrea Hanel, Carsten Carlberg File:Archaeogenetic analysis of human skin pigmentation in Europe (with Asia geographic extension).png - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. CC BY-SA 4.0 Deed | Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International | Creative Commons Dark Tichondrias File:Light hair coloration map.png - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. CC BY-SA 3.0 Deed | Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported | Creative Commons Irene Scott/AusAID File:A close up shot of three junior AFL player holding footballs at the Lord Howe Settlement, Honiara. (10661462334).jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. CC BY 2.0 Deed | Attribution 2.0 Generic | Creative Commons Pohopetch File:Fenualoa Tuo school children.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. CC BY-SA 3.0 Deed | Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported | Creative Commons #blondhair #blondehair #ancestry$

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