Nook of Names

Darben

More surnames as first names; all of English, Anglo-French or Norse origin, which have so far seen hardly any use as given names.

Today, it’s the turn of D.

• Dacre — from Dacre in Cumbria, or various places called Acre. Dacre is named after Dacre Beck, from the Common Celtic *dakro- ‘tear’; usually translated as ‘the trickling one’, while Acre is from the Old English æcer‘newly cultivated land’.
• Dallam, Dalham — from Dalham, Suffolk. Old English dæl ‘valley’ + hām ‘village’, ‘estate’, ‘manor’, ‘homestead’
• Dallyn — from Dalling, Norfolk. Old English personal name Dalla + -ingas ‘family/following’
• Damerell — from Aumale in France. This was originally Alba Margila ‘white marl’.
• Danby — from Danby in Yorkshire. Old Norse Dana ‘of the Danes’ + bý ‘farmstead’, ‘village’ and ‘settlement’.
• Danvers — from Anvers, an old form of Antwerp.
• Darben – from Middle English deore ‘dear’ + bearn ‘child’.
• Darley — from Darley, Derbyshire. Old English dēor ‘deer’ + lēah ‘wood’, ‘woodland clearing’, ‘glade’, ‘pasture’ and ‘meadow’.
• Darlow — Old English dierne ‘secret’ + lufu ‘love’. Arose as a nickname.
• Daubenay — from one of the places called Aubigny in France, deriving from its Gallo-Roman name Albinacum, from the Gaulish or Roman personal name Albinus or Albinius, either from the Common Celtic *albiyo- ‘(upper) world’ and ‘white’ or Latin albus ‘white’.
• Daventry — from Daventry, Northamptonshire. Old English personal name *Dafa (perhaps from dafen ‘suitable’) + trēow ‘tree’.
• Dayne — from Old French dein ‘worthy’ and ‘honorable’, deigne ‘haughty’ or deien ‘dean’. Has sneaked into the top 1000 just once, in 2000.
• Debney — either from Daubenay, or from the Middle French dieubeneye ‘God bless’.
• Decker – although in the UK this would automatically bring to mind double decker buses, I don’t think it carries such connotations elsewhere! Middle English dykkere – ‘ditcher’ – i.e. someone who digs and repairs ditches.
  
• Delacour — Old French de la court ‘from the manor’.
• Delamond — Old French de la mont ‘from the hill’.
• Delver — from Middle English delvere ‘delver’, i.e. ‘digger’ and ‘quarryman’.
• Denby — from one of the places of the name. Old English Dena ‘of the Danes’ + Old Norse bý ‘farmstead’, ‘village’ and ‘settlement’.
• Denry — from Old French denrée ‘penny-worth’. Also Darry.
• Derolf — from the Old English name Dēorwulf — dēore ‘dear’ + wulf ‘wolf’.
• Devereux — from Evreux in France, itself from the Celtic tribe the Eburovices, who took their name from the river Ebura, possibly considered a Goddess. From the Common Celtic *eburo- ‘yew’.
• Dockeray – from Dockray, Cumbria. Old English docce ‘dock (the plant)’ or ‘water-lily’ + Old Norse vrá ‘nook’. Also Dockery.
• Dorey, Dory — from French doré ‘golden’.
• Douceamour – Old French douce amour ‘sweetheart’.
• Draker – Middle English drakere ‘standard-bearer’ from Old English draca ‘dragon’.
• Dray — Middle English dregh ‘enduring’, ‘patient’, ‘stalwart’, ‘fierce’, but also ‘slow’. Variant: Drey.
• Drayton — from one of the places of the name. Old English dræg ‘sledge’ and ‘dray’ + tūn ‘enclosure’, ‘village’, ‘farmstead’, ‘manor’, ‘estate’.
• Drury — Old French druirie ‘love token’.
• Durham – from the famous, historic city. Old English dūn ‘hill’ + Old Norse holmr ‘island’, ‘river-meadow’,
• Dutton — from one of the places of the name. Old English dūn ‘hill’ + tūn ‘enclosure’, ‘village’, ‘farmstead’, ‘manor’, ‘estate’
• Dyster — from Middle English deystere ‘(female) dyer’.

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