PAGE
Page is a surname of mixed English and French provenance, classified as a status name within the British Isles. Its earliest attested forms appear in the early thirteenth century, well after the Norman Conquest of 1066, indicating that the name emerged in the period of increasing hereditary usage of occupational identifiers.
The name derives principally from the Middle English and Old French term page, denoting a young servant or attendant in a noble household. In this occupational sense, the surname originally described individuals who performed the duties of a page – a pupil of chivalry who assisted knights and gentlemen. Such job‑descriptive surnames were initially literal, later becoming hereditary markers of family identity.
A secondary derivation links the name to the Old English word pag(e), meaning “enclosed pasture”. In this topographic context, Page could refer to a person who lived beside a field or pasture, a meaning reflected in certain early records.
Documentary evidence includes the appearance of Ralph Page in the Pipe Rolls of Devonshire in 1230 and of William le Page as a witness in the Court of Fines for Essex in 1240. Parish registers from Leicestershire record marriages and baptisms involving the name throughout the sixteenth century, such as the marriage of Margery Page and William Webster in 1541. Notable bearers include Thomas Page, an early settler who departed London for New England aboard the *Increase* in 1635, and Sir Francis Page (1661‑1741), a barrister of the Inner Temple famously nicknamed “the hanging judge”.
The coat of arms most frequently associated with the family displays a black shield bearing a silver fess between three silver doves, the birds’ beaks and claws rendered in red. This heraldic emblem underscores the surname’s historic connection with the customs of chivalry and the social status of its early bearers.
Typical given names associated with the Page surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Richard
- Robert
- Stephen
Female
- Alison
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Julie
- Karen
- Margaret
- Mary
- Nicola
- Patricia
- 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 Page in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
Did you know?
According to a survey carried out by Democracy Club, politicians and candidates with the surname Page are most likely to say that their favourite biscuit is a Chocolate Digestive.
There are approximately 42,837 people named Page in the UK. That makes it the 170th most common surname in Britain. Around 658 in a million people in Britain are named Page.
Surname type: Status name
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Page
- Jimmy Page - Guitarist of Led Zeppelin
- Larry Page - American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur
- Joanna Page - Welsh actress
- Scarlet Page - Photographer
- Ellen Grace Philpotts-Page - Canadian actress
- Martin Page - Singer, songwriter, session musician, and producer with a career spanning from 1980–present.
- Bettie Page - American pin-up model (1923 to 2008)
- This page - Philosopher (1947 to 1995)
- Rob Page - Welsh football player and coach
- Tim Page - Artist
- Geoffrey Page - Military aviator (1920 to 2000)
- Bryony Page - Trampolinist
- Frederick Handley Page - Aerospace engineer (1885 to 1962)
- Samantha Page - Canadian television presenter
- Lewis Page - Football player
- Jacko Page - Army general
- John Page - Merchant in Virginia (1628 to 1692)
- Denys Page - Classical scholar and academic (1908 to 1978)
- Kathy Page - Canadian writer
- Anthony Page - Film director
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.