WESTFIELD
Westfield is an English locational surname that originates from the Old English elements west meaning “west” and feld meaning “open country”. The name was adopted by people who came from a settlement called Westfield or who lived to the west of a field, and it was common in several English counties such as Surrey, North Somerset, Gloucestershire, Norfolk and the West Riding of Yorkshire.
The earliest surviving spelling of the surname is that of John Westerfyld, recorded in the Christening Registers of St. Margaret’s, Westminster for the year 1547, during the reign of Henry VIII. This record shows that the name was established in the mid‑sixteenth century and had already been used to identify individuals who had moved away from their place of origin.
Westfield is associated with a number of distinct places named Westfield. In Surrey there is a village of that name; in North Somerset the hamlet lies south of the county; near Winchcombe in Gloucestershire another Westfield exists; one can also find a Westfield close to East Dereham in Norfolk and one in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Each of these places would have provided a geographic basis for the surname when it was first applied to local inhabitants.
The surname may also be regarded as a topographical name. It could have been used to distinguish a person who lived on pasture land to the west of a main settlement, a practice common among the rural population. In some cases it was the surname of the Lord of the Manor of a particular Westfield estate, allowing the name to be transmitted by feudal association.
A notable bearer of the name was Thomas Westfield (1573‑1644). He was created Doctor of Divinity at Cambridge in 1615 and served as Bishop of Bristol in 1642. His personal coat of arms features a cross set between four golden garbs on a red field, while the family arms are red with six black Catherine wheels on a silver fess, flanked by six silver billets. In heraldic interpretation the Catherine wheels signify a person prepared to endure great trials for the Christian faith; the billets are thought to represent building bricks or the letters of a scribe.
Over the centuries the surname has appeared in a number of variant forms. These include Westfeld, Westfild, Westfielde, Westfeild, Westfilde, Westfyld, Westfylde, Westfyl, Westefield and others. The variation Westfeld is believed to have arisen partly from the Great Vowel Shift, a dialectal change that altered the pronunciation of many English words during the Early Modern period.
In contemporary times the surname remains common throughout England, with concentrations in Berkshire, Devon, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Somerset and Worcestershire. It also persists in the Commonwealth, notably in Victoria and New South Wales in Australia, and in Canada. In the United States the name is most frequently found in the states of Vermont, New Hampshire and Arkansas, reflecting historical patterns of migration. The name has regained popularity through its association with the town of Westfield in Massachusetts and its appearance in popular films such as Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited and Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, as well as in literary works by Canadian author Jodi Picoult.
Typical given names associated with the Westfield surname
Male
- Adrian
- Carl
- James
- John
- Keith
- Kevin
- Leigh
- Michael
- Peter
- Robert
- Simon
- Stuart
Female
- Caroline
- Denise
- Dolores
- Helen
- Hilary
- Jean
- Karen
- Margaret
- Michelle
- Samantha
- Sarah
- Shirley
- Tara
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 Westfield in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 242 people named Westfield in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around four in a million people in Britain are named Westfield.
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Westfield
- Mervyn Westfield - Cricketer
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.