As described in historical dictionaries

Patronymica Britannica (1860)

KEMPTHORNE. The family name (which was originally Ley) was derived from an estate so called in the parish of Beer-Ferris, co. Devon. C. S. Gilbert's Cornwall.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.


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