STRAWBRIDGE
Strawbridge is a surname of English origin. It derives from the Old English words streaw (straw or rush) and brygg (causeway, raised track), indicating a dwelling that lay adjacent to a bridge constructed of reeds or straw. The name may therefore have functioned as a topographic designation for residents of a marshland area where the local crossing was built from plant material.
Alternatively, the surname may be habitational. It is thought to originate from a now lost place in the Midlands whose name, though unrecorded by surviving documents, would have been composed of the same constituent elements. Such lost villages were common from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries, when the Black Death and the expansion of wet‑land sheep‑pasturing led to the abandonment of many settlements. Thus, Strawbridge could also be a locational name inherited from a small hamlet with a straw bridge.
Historical documentation attests to the usage of the surname at least since the late sixteenth century. The earliest recorded spelling that survives is that of Elizabeth Strawbridge, who was christened on 22 January 1591 at St. Dunstan's Church, Stepney, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Subsequent entries in church registers include the christening of Hollioak Strawbridge at St. Mary's, Kensington, London, in 1640, and the marriage of Mary Strawbridge to Samuel Bell on 13 October 1839 at Manchester Cathedral, Lancashire.
In contemporary times, Strawbridge remains a relatively uncommon surname. It is found mainly in the United Kingdom and the United States, where a small proportion of the population bears the name. The surname is noted in genealogical resources and is occasionally mentioned in local histories of the regions where early bearers settled.
Typical given names associated with the Strawbridge surname
Male
- Colin
- David
- Ian
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Richard
- Robert
- Thomas
- William
Female
- Anna
- Brigit
- Claire
- Deborah
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Jacqueline
- Janet
- Joanne
- Lynn
- 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 Strawbridge in...
Braille
⠎⠞⠗⠁⠺⠃⠗⠊⠙⠛⠑
Morse
...-.-..-.---....-...-..--..
Semaphore
There are approximately 787 people named Strawbridge in the UK. That makes it roughly the 8,891st most common surname in Britain. Around 12 in a million people in Britain are named Strawbridge.
Famous people named Strawbridge
- Dick Strawbridge - Television presenter
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.