Trenholm (surname)
  Trenholme The approximate location of Trenholme near the village of Stokesley in North Yorkshire | |
| Pronunciation | tɹɛnəm |
|---|---|
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Old Norse |
| Meaning | "Flat lands where cranes gather," "Islet where cranes gather" |
| Region of origin |  England Yorkshire |
| Other names | |
| Variant form(s) | Trenholme, Trenholmn, Tranholm, Trenham, Trennum, Trenghans[1] |
Trenholm is an English surname of Norse origin.[2] Another common variant is Trenholme.[3]
Origin and variants[edit]
Trenholm is a habitational name from the village of Trenholme near the market town of Stokesley in the county of North Yorkshire in the North of England.[2] According to the Oxford Dictionary of English place names, it is derived from the pre-7th century Old Norse words "trani" meaning "crane," and "holmr," ("holm") meaning "islet" or "flat lands".[2][4] It has also been proposed that the name could possibly be derived from Old Norse through the Old English words "trendel" meaning "fort" or "castle," and "holm."[4]
First found in Yorkshire, the first bearers of the surname would have been from the village of Trenholme where they would have adopted the name as a habitational marker to identify themselves as natives of the village.[1] This practice became very common as people started to leave their original homes to move to more distant locations, especially as the use of fixed surnames gradually became a legal necessity after the introduction of personal taxation.
A relatively rare surname, it is historically concentrated in the county in and around the districts of Hambleton, Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough, and Stockton-on-Tees. Outside of England, variants of the surname can most commonly be found in Canada (most common) and the United States.[5]
Until the gradual standardization of English spelling in the last few centuries, English lacked any comprehensive system of spelling. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents, meaning that a person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. As such, different variations of the Trenholm surname usually have the same origin.[1]
Notable people with the surname[edit]
- George Trenholm (1807–1876), South Carolina businessman, financier, politician, slaveowner and Confederate Secretary of the Treasury
- William L. Trenholm (1836–1901), Confederate Army veteran, United States Comptroller of the Currency (1886-1889),[6] and president of the North American Trust Company (1898)
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "Trenholm History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms". houseofnames.com. January 2000. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
- ^ a b c Hanks, Patrick (2013). Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press.
- ^ "Trenholm Family History". ancestry.com. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Last name: Trenholm". surnamedb.com. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
- ^ "Trenholm Surname Meaning & Statistics". forebears.io. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
- ^ William L. Trenholm biography. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.