The thorn Surname
thorn Name Meaning and History
- English and Danish: topographic name for someone who lived by a thorn bush or hedge (Old English, Old Norse þorn). The name is also found in Sweden.
- English: habitational name from a place named with Old English, Old Norse þorn ‘thorn bush’ (see 1), for example Thorne in Kent, Somerset, and South Yorkshire.
- North German and Danish: topographic name for someone who lived near a tower, from Middle Low German torn ‘tower’.
- German: habitational name from the city of Thorn (Torun in Poland), which was named with Middle High German torn ‘tower’.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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