Terrans

This is a very interesting surname. Recorded in Britain in a wide variety of spellings including: Terran, Terrans, Terram, Terron, and Terren, it is almost certainly of French origin, and for most nameholders (protestant) 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 of the diocese of Greater London include: William Terren who married Elizabeth Vertue at the church of St Margarets, Westminster, on February 11th 1594, 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.