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Our Surnames N
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NALL. Possibly the same as NAYLOR and similar
names, meaning a nail-maker. (Old English nægel)
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NASBY. From Naseby in Northamptonshire (Grid Ref:SP689779), site of the famous
Civil War battle, 14th June 1645.
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NATRASS, NATTERASS, NATTRASS. From Nattrass, on the Garrigill road, about a mile
south of Alston (NY 727448 – you need the 1:25000 series map to see it!)) The name of the village may derive from a Viking or
Norse personal name such as Andreasson or Anetresson. Alternatively it could be from the Old English phrase 'aet
thaem trus’, the people who lived or worked near brushwood on the edge of
a moor. The Normans seem to have had some influence, since early spellings make
it look a lot more French (Nattres, Natress etc.) and that seems to change
around 1800 maybe because of the Napoleonic wars!!
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NELSON. Son of Nell, Neil or Nigel. The given
name is an ancient Gaelic one, Níall,
meaning “champion” and carried around the Northern Hemisphere from Iceland
to Norway by the Vikings then back to England via the Normans, not to mention
from Ireland to the North Pennines by ex-patriot Norwegians. No wonder Lord N.
was a seafaring man.
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NESBET, NESBIT, NESBITT. From one of several place-names e.g.
Nesbit (Grid Ref:NT985327) The place-name seems to derive from a
“nose-bit” – part of a horse’s harness, by what means is unclear!
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NEEVEN, NEVEN, NEVIN, NIVEN. Said to be from the Gaelic naomhin,
“little saint”; could this mean “minor saint”? Or is it a nickname for a
notably devout layman? Or, ironically, the opposite? See also NEVISON. The
family have a long history in Ayrshire and Galloway.
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NEVIL, NEVILLE. The NEVILLEs of Raby are an old family who played no small part
in the history of England since the Conquest. Their name is Norman, from Néville
in Seine Inférieure. Other Nevilles may also have established lines in England
as similar place-names exist, e.g. Neuville in Calvados. Gilbert de NEVIL was
the Conqueror's Admiral of the Fleet in 1066 hence the inclusion of a galley in
their Arms. (Raby Castle, Landranger Sheet 92, NY 128220). NEVILs were for
several generations Ushers to the King’s Court and some took USHER as their
surname (see USHER). They were much intermarried with other noble families, such
as the BEAUFORTs (q.v.) and PERCYs (q.v.) The most colourful of the NEVILLEs was
probably Richard, Earl of Warwick (The Kingmaker) (1428-71).
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NEVISON, NEVINSON. Son of NIVEN or NEEVEN (q.v.) or, if you prefer a Viking to a
Celtic ancestry, son of NAFNI. The village of Navenby in Lincolnshire, in the
heart of the Danelaw is NAFNI’s by and the name persists in more modern
times, too; one of our associates’ 5xgreat grandfather, born in Denmark in
1696, was Peder Navnesen, son of Nafn Ibsen. Whatever the origin, the
overwhelming evidence is that NEVISON is a derived form of NEVINSON, many
individuals having been recorded as both during their lifetimes. The medial n is
easily dropped in pronunciation, and the scribe simply followed the sound.
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Notable NEVI(N)SONs
include Christopher, Doctor of the Civil Law, a nephew of Richard NEVINSON of
Newby (see NEWBY) who married a niece of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and became
Cranmer's commissary. He ended up
in 1552 with the leases of six manors in Kent. One of Christopher’s
descendants, William, had a colourful, if less distinguished career, and was
hanged as a highwayman at York. Another William NEVI(N)SON, baptized in Barton
Parish, Westmorland, in 1711, was buried in Auckland, St. Andrew, in 1756, and
is the ancestor of the majority of NEVISONs in County Durham.
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In Scotland there is a concentration in the valley of the Nith in Dumfriesshire,
where the name has evolved to NIVISON.
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Finally, in the New World, a probable descendant of Christopher NEVINSON
migrated to New England where the spelling evolved to NEVERSON, as it did in the
colony of Virginia with descendants of another NEVI(N)SON, an Anglican priest.
NEVERSON became a forename in the South.
There is a black family with the surname NEVERSON.
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NEWBY. From the
place-name, from which there are many to choose as it simply means new
settlement.
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NEVINSONs were lords of the manor at Newby, Morland Parish, Westmorland
(now in Cumbria: Landranger Sheet 90/91 Grid Ref NY594213), beginning with
Richard NEVINSON about 1538.
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NEWELL. A variant of NOËL, coming probably
from someone born at Christmas.
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NEWMAN. A New Man in the district. It is also likely that the particular New Man
reported by our researcher doubly earned his name, having originated in the area
of the Neiman River near Memel, Prussia.
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(ONS)
roberta.newman@one-name.org
More information at http://www.mpw.com.au/newman
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www.newmannamesociety.org
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NICHOL, NICHOLSON, NICKELS, NICHOLAS. An old name, of infinite variety, popular
in the Middle Ages and unusual in having a Greek origin, meaning
“victory-people”.
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NIXON. Son of Nick / Nicholas, so probably arose in many different places. In
the North Pennine context, probably related to the Reiver clan of that name.
(See Reivers)
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Famous Nixons? – don’t even ask. Even the Reivers have their limits!
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NORMAN. Either “the Norman” or simply a dweller in the North.
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NORRIDGE. This may be a dweller on the north ridge, or someone from Norwich.
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NORRIS. This name is said to be commoner in southern England where it means
“the northern one”. However, unless our NORRISes returned, than the name is
as likely to mean a dweller in the northern house, or perhaps be descended from
a nurse (Old French norrice).
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