Tyrone

Recorded in the British Isles in a wide variety of spellings including: Terran, Terrans, Terram, Terron, Terren, Tiron, Tirone, Tyron, Tyrone and Tyren, this is an English surname. It is however almost certainly of French origins, and for most protestant nameholders probably 17th century Huguenot as well. It would seem to derive from the original personal name of the pre 7th century a.d. 'Terre' meaning earth, which forms the basis of many French surnames. These include Terree, Terrasse, Terrat, Terrien, Terrier, Terry, and Terrin, the later form being principally found in the south west of the country, which was also with Brittany and Languedoc, the main centres of protestant power in late medieval France. When King Louis X1V (1643 - 1715) in a fit of religious lunacy, decided to rid France of the protestants, he not only set in force powers which ultimately brought down the monarchy in France, but which are still with us in (for instance) Northern Ireland today. This being one of the main places where many Huguenot refugees settled. Early examples of the name recordings taken from the surviving church registers include: William Terren who married Elizabeth Vertue at the church of St Margarets, Westminster, on February 11th 1594, Robert Tyrone, a witness at St Botolphs Bishopgate on July 31st 1681, and Marianne Terron, the daughter of Jean and Marie Terron, at the French Huguenot church called 'The Artillery', in the city of London, on December 29th 1715.