EDGEWORTH
Edgeworth is a surname of English origin, derived from a location-based name. Its roots lie in the Old English words ecg, meaning “edge” or “hill‑ridge”, and worth, meaning “enclosure” or “settlement”. Consequently the name can be interpreted as “dweller at the edge of an enclosure” or “one who lives near a boundary”.
Evidence of the name in the British Isles is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under the entry for Edgeworth in Gloucestershire, where it appears as “Egesworde”. By the early twelfth and thirteenth centuries the form had evolved to the forms Eggewrthe in the Book of Fees (1212) and de Egewurth in the Assize Court Rolls of Gloucestershire (1221). The surname is associated with individuals such as Peter de Eggeworth, recorded in the “Testa de Neville” during the reign of Henry I, and Hugh de Eggeworthe of Turton in Lancashire, listed in the Lay Subsidy of 1332.
In the sixteenth century the Edgeworths established a presence in Ireland. A family bearing the surname settled in County Longford in 1583, giving its name to the town of Edgeworthstown. A grant of arms was awarded to Francis Edgeworth (c.1593), featuring a shield divided per chevron in gold and red with three marlets counterchanged. The lineage includes the celebrated novelist Maria Edgeworth (1769–1849) and the Abbe Henry Essex Edgeworth (1745–1807), noted for his piety and exile to Louion XI.
Contemporary statistics show that the surname remains most common in England and Wales, with 886 recorded individuals in 2018 according to the Office for National Statistics. In the United States the name is represented by a minority of the population; the 2020 census recorded 0.0082 % of respondents bearing the surname, predominantly in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Smaller concentrations exist in Canada, Australia, India and other parts of the world, largely owing to the migration of British officers and settlers during the nineteenth century.
The Edgeworth surname has several variants that share the same origin, including Edgecombe, Edgworth, Edgcombe, Edgcomb and less frequent forms such as Egcomb and Edgestone. These variations reflect dialectal differences and the evolution of local place‑names ending in “-worth” or “-comb”. Historically the Edgeworths are considered one of the prominent families in Ireland, with traced lineage to Robert de Edgeuerd of the thirteenth century and later to the baronetcy held by Sir Francis Edgeworth, created in 1621.
Typical given names associated with the Edgeworth surname
Male
- Andrew
- Brett
- David
- James
- John
- Jonathan
- Mark
- Matthew
- Michael
- Paul
- Philip
- Stephen
Female
- Amanda
- Anna
- Camille
- Catherine
- Christine
- Claire
- Helen
- Jennifer
- Julie
- Laura
- Lisa
- Melda
- 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 Edgeworth in...
Braille
⠑⠙⠛⠑⠺⠕⠗⠞⠓
Morse
.-..--...-----.-.-....
Semaphore
Did you know?
According to a survey carried out by Democracy Club, politicians and candidates with the surname Edgeworth are most likely to say that their favourite biscuit is a Fig Roll.
There are approximately 467 people named Edgeworth in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around seven in a million people in Britain are named Edgeworth.
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 Edgeworth
- Maria Edgeworth - Irish writer (1768 to 1849)
- Richard Lovell Edgeworth - Anglo-Irish politician (1744 to 1817)
- Robert Edgeworth-Johnstone - Chemical engineer and inventor (1900 to 1994)
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.