BARFIELD
Recorded variant spellings include Bar Field
Barfield is an English surname of locational origin that derives from two Old English words: bere, meaning barley, and feld, meaning field. The combination indicates that the original bearers lived near or worked in a field devoted to barley cultivation or that the surname was applied to someone involved in the management or labour of such barley fields.
In some historical accounts the element bar is interpreted as meaning boar, so that an alternative form of the name could signify an open land where the boars roam. These varying explanations imply that the surname might have arisen either as a topographic reference to a barley field or as a description of a rural landscape populated by wild boar. The primary and most widely accepted etymology, however, remains the association with barley.
The earliest documented instances of the name appear in London during the mid‑sixteenth century, a period that coincided with significant changes in the British countryside brought about by the beginnings of the industrial revolution and the aftermath of the Great Plagues. Records show that the surname was used in clerical documents such as those of Roger Baryfld, who married Anne Bennet at St Michael Bassishaw in 1604, and Dorothie Barfield, who was wed to Edmund Child at St Dunstans in Stepney in 1629. The first known spelling that has survived is that of Thomas Bowrefeild, recorded on 17 November 1566 at St Pancras Church, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
Over time, the spelling of Barfield has varied, producing forms such as Barefield, Barfeild, and Barrfield. The surname has spread from its original English habitats to other parts of the world, most notably to English‑speaking countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. While it is not among the most common surnames—ranking 4,870th in England according to the 2011 Census and 3,736th in the United States according to the 2014 Census—its historical standing is reinforced by the depth of its documentary record.
Because the name preserves the memory of places that have largely disappeared, it offers a linguistic trace of settlements that vanished between 1550 and 1750 owing to the socio‑economic upheavals of the era. The persistence of the surname in contemporary records, along with its documented variations, continues to provide insight into the movement and occupational identities of its bearers across centuries.
Typical given names associated with the Barfield surname
Male
- Andrew
- Anthony
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
- Thomas
Female
- Anne
- Dawn
- Elizabeth
- Helen
- Julia
- Julie
- Karen
- Louise
- Lynn
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Barfield in...
Braille
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Morse
-....-.-...-.....-..-..
Semaphore
Did you know?
According to a survey carried out by Democracy Club, politicians and candidates with the surname Barfield are most likely to say that their favourite biscuit is a Bourbon.
There are approximately 1,080 people named Barfield in the UK. That makes it roughly the 6,958th most common surname in Britain. Around 17 in a million people in Britain are named Barfield.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Barfield
- Owen Barfield - Philosopher (1898 to 1997)
- Julia Barfield - Architect
- Lucy Barfield - Godchild of C.S. Lewis (1935 to 2003)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.