Freshwater

Freshwater
This is an English surname. It is locational and originates either from the village of Freshwater on the Isle of Wight, then part of the county of Hampshire, or possibly from an area called Freshwater, in Pembrokeshire in South Wales, or from some now "lost" medieval place, which was renowned locally for its "fresh water". Over three thousand surnames of the British Isles are known to have originated from now lost sites, so whilst unusual, this is by no means a unique situation. The famous Victorian etymologist, Canon Charles Bardsley writing about this name in the year 1880 said that "he could find no trace of the surname in the county of Hampshire" and that he therefore concluded that it had to come from a lost village. However more modern experience of name research, suggests that it is quite common for a locational surname not to appear in its original homeland area at all, particularly as they were names were usually given to somebody as easy identification, after they moved away to somewhere else. Many surnames for instance are recorded in the city of London, but clearly originate from far away, where they do not appear in the modern lists at all. In this case the first recording is about as far away as it was possible to get, being in the county of Norfolk. There a John Freshwater was the rector of Little Thorp, in the year 1371.

Surnames reference. 2013.

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  • freshwater — (adj.) also fresh water, 1520s, from FRESH (Cf. fresh) (1) + WATER (Cf. water) (n.1) …   Etymology dictionary

  • freshwater — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ of or found in fresh water; not of the sea …   English terms dictionary

  • freshwater — /fresh waw teuhr, wot euhr/, adj. 1. of or living in water that is fresh or not salt: freshwater fish. 2. accustomed to fresh water only, and not to the sea: a freshwater sailor. 3. small, provincial, or little known: a freshwater college. 4. Obs …   Universalium

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  • freshwater — I. noun Date: 14th century water that is not salty especially when considered as a natural resource II. adjective Date: 1528 1. of, relating to, being, or living in freshwater 2. accustomed to navigating only in inland waters < a freshwater… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Freshwater — 1 Original name in latin Freshwater Name in other language State code AU Continent/City Australia/Sydney longitude 33.77867 latitude 151.28569 altitude 18 Population 7872 Date 2011 06 04 2 Original name in latin Freshwater Name in other language… …   Cities with a population over 1000 database

  • freshwater — fresh|wa|ter [ˈfreʃwo:tə US wo:tər, wa: ] adj [only before noun] 1.) having water that contains no salt →↑saltwater ▪ freshwater lakes 2.) living in water that contains no salt →↑saltwater ▪ freshwater crabs …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • freshwater — fresh|wa|ter [ freʃ,wɔtər ] adjective consisting of water that does not contain salt: a freshwater lake a. living in water that does not contain salt: freshwater fish ─ compare SALTWATER …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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