MEDCALF
Medcalf is an English surname that has been associated with the British Isles since the Middle Ages.
The name is derived from Old English elements. In one interpretation, it combines medu, meaning “mead” or “honey”, with cealf, meaning a young cow. This has led scholars to suggest that early bearers of the name were perhaps brewers or sellers of mead, or that they lived near a meadow where calves were kept. In a further interpretation the first element may be the pre‑7th century word mete meaning “food”, so that meat‑calf described a calf intended for consumption, or a calf that was being fattened in a pasture.
The earliest surviving record of the surname appears in the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire in 1301, under the spelling Adam Medecalf, during the reign of King Edward the First. Subsequent authentic documents include a 1463 registration of John Medcalfe as a Freeman of the City of York, the 1596 marriage of William Metcalf to Marageret Stansfield at Kippax, Yorkshire, and the 1635 emigration of Michill Metcalfe of Norwich, together with his wife Sarah and eight children, who settled in Boston, New England.
The surname has been documented in several variant forms, most commonly Metcalf, Metcalfe, and Medcalfe. These variations are largely phonetic and reflect the lack of a standard orthography in early modern England. Contemporary records in the United Kingdom overwhelmingly place the name in the county of Yorkshire, where it is still found, though a smaller number appear elsewhere in England.
Following the expansion of the British Empire, bearers of the name migrated to the United States, Australia and Canada. In the United States the name is principally concentrated in the Midwest, while in Australia and Canada it remains comparatively rare. According to the most recent global surname data, Medcalf ranks as the 171,430th most common surname worldwide.
The surname is classified as belonging to the habitational group of surnames, derived from a place name or a local landmark. In this case the name is interpreted as indicating a residence “at the middle calves pasture”, a designation used in the Middle Ages for a calf‑pasture situated in the middle of a village.
All occurrences of the name and its variants are ultimately traceable to the same origin in Middle English. The elements mete (‘meat’) and cealf (‘calf’) combined to describe either a person associated with the breeding or butchery of calves, or a person associated with a pastoral setting where such animals were raised. No credible evidence suggests alternative origins, so the prevailing scholarly consensus is that the name denotes either an occupation or a topographical association with calf‑pasturing.
Typical given names associated with the Medcalf surname
Male
- Andrew
- Anthony
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Jonathan
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
- Simon
Female
- Alison
- Anne
- Claire
- Denise
- Heather
- Jennifer
- Joan
- Julie
- Karen
- Louise
- Sarah
- Susan
- Victoria
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 Medcalf in...
Braille
⠍⠑⠙⠉⠁⠇⠋
Morse
--.-..-.-..-.-....-.
Semaphore
There are approximately 1,611 people named Medcalf in the UK. That makes it roughly the 5,038th most common surname in Britain. Around 25 in a million people in Britain are named Medcalf.
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Medcalf
- Kim Medcalf - Actor
- Stephen Medcalf - Academic (1936 to 2007)
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.