The thornberry Surname
thornberry Name Meaning and History
- English: habitational name from Thornborough in North Yorkshire (Thornebergh in 12th-century records) or Thornbrough in Northumberland and North Yorkshire (T(h)orneburg in 13th-century records). The former is probably so named from Old English þorn ‘thorn bush’ + beorg ‘hill’; the latter from þorn + burh ‘fort’. Other possible though less likely sources are Thornbury in Devon, Gloucestershire, or Herefordshire, which are all named from Old English þorn + byrig, dative of burh ‘fortified place’.
- Possibly an Americanized spelling of Swedish Thornberg.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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