KERSHAW
Kershaw is an English locational surname that originated in the British Isles. It denotes a person who lived near a particular woodland or settlement that carries the features encoded in its name.
The earliest and most widely accepted etymology comes from Old English. The element carr, meaning “rock”, is combined with sceaga, meaning “wood” or “grove”. This construction suggests that the name originally described somebody dwelling beside a rocky wood or grove. An alternative Old Norse derivation proposes that the name is formed from kjarr, meaning “marsh” or “fen”, and skogr, meaning “wood” or “grove”. In this view the name would have applied to a resident of a marshy woodland or grove.
Another significant derivation links Kershaw to the village of Kershaw in Lancashire, a settlement whose name itself is derived from Old English kirk (church) and sceaga (copse). Here the surname would have been a toponymic marker, identifying a person who lived near the “church‑wood” of the parish. The spelling of the name historically varied, appearing as Kyrkeschawe in the early fourteenth century and as Kyrkshagh in the fifteenth. The form Kershaw emerged in the late sixteenth century when the second k of “kirk” was dropped, a change that persisted thereafter.
Documentary evidence for the surname dates back to the early 14th century. In 1307 the name Adam de Kyrkeschawe appears in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield during the reign of King Edward I. Subsequent records include John de Kyrkshagh of Townhouses in Rochdale in 1424 and Edward Kershaw of Upper Townhouse in Rochdale among the wills proved in Chester in 1572.
The family crest associated with the surname is described heraldically as a silver shield bearing three cross‑crosslets in black upon a chief of blue, with three bezants. An alternative version of the crest, recorded in some branches of the family, depicts a silver shield with a black bend and three black escallops.
Geographically, the surname remains most common in the United Kingdom, particularly in Northern England where Lancashire and Yorkshire are the traditional strongholds. Due to historic emigration the name can also be found in countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia. Within the United Kingdom it continues to be predominantly a British surname, and it is occasionally noted abroad by individuals such as the American baseball pitcher Clayton Kershaw, whose surname echoes the same locational origin.
Typical given names associated with the Kershaw surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Stephen
Female
- Christine
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Helen
- Joanne
- Margaret
- Mary
- Nicola
- 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 Kershaw in...
Braille
⠅⠑⠗⠎⠓⠁⠺
Morse
-.-..-.........-.--
Semaphore
There are approximately 11,310 people named Kershaw in the UK. That makes it the 810th most common surname in Britain. Around 174 in a million people in Britain are named Kershaw.
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 Kershaw
- Ian Kershaw - Historian
- Nik Kershaw - Singer-songwriter
- Liz Kershaw - Broadcaster and journalist
- Noreen Kershaw - Actress
- Betty Kershaw - Nursing administrator
- Anthony Kershaw - Politician (1915 to 2008)
- Dave Kershaw - Martial artist
- Alan Kershaw - Football player
- Frank Kershaw - (1879 to 1959)
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.