DAWS
Daws is an English surname of medieval provenance, originally functioning as a patronymic identifier for the descendants of an individual named Dawe, a diminutive of the personal name David. The given name David itself is a Hebraic formation meaning beloved, a meaning that carries forward into the surname via its pet form.
The surname is classically derived from the medieval personal name Daw, a pet form of Dawe, which in turn was a diminutive of David. In the Middle Ages it was commonplace to create surnames from personal names, occupations or geographical features; the name Daws follows the pattern of taking a familiar nick‑name and forming an inherited surname. Accordingly, the meaning of Daws can be regarded as a form of the original beloved concept.
Several alternative origins are recorded for the surname. One proposes that it was a nickname for someone associated with the jackdaw (the bird known also as a daw), either because of a perceived likeness or for living in an area where the birds were common. Another suggests that the name was an Anglo‑Irish assimilation of the Gaelic O’Deaghaidh, itself a descendant of the personal name Deaghadh, whose components may include deagh “good”, and adh “luck” or “fate”; this line of derivation has occasionally been equated with the translation Goodwin in Ireland. These multiple possible sources reflect the fluidity of medieval naming conventions.
Early documentary evidence is abundant. The earliest known spelling is Ralph Dawe of Worcester, dated 1211 in the Curia Regis Rolls of Worcestershire, during the reign of King John. Other early instances include a Ralph Dawe in Worcestershire in 1275, a Lovekin Dawes noted in the Hundred Rolls of Oxford in 1279, and a senior ecclesiastic, Sir William Daws, who served as Archbishop of York in 1713. The name appears in the colonies as well, with migration to North America and Australia documented in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Variants such as Dawes, Dawsen, Daweson, Dawson, Dawison, Daw, Day and others have evolved through regional dialectal change, transcriptional error and social adaptation. These spelling differences, however, all retain a common root in the original personal name David and are considered etymologically linked.
Typical given names associated with the Daws surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Matthew
- Michael
- Richard
- Robert
- Simon
- Steven
Female
- Angela
- Christine
- Hayley
- Janet
- Kate
- Kathleen
- Louise
- Margaret
- Mary
- Rachel
- Sarah
- Shirley
- 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 Daws in...
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There are approximately 1,595 people named Daws in the UK. That makes it roughly the 5,096th most common surname in Britain. Around 24 in a million people in Britain are named Daws.
Surname type: From name of parent
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Daws
- Robert Daws - Actor
- Lenny Daws - Boxer
- Tony Daws - Football player
- Nick Daws - Football player
- Jimmy Daws - Football player (1898 to 1985)
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.