English and French: from an Anglo-Norman French form of the Old
Norse personal name þórfinnr, composed of the elements
þórr, the name of the god of thunder in Scandinavian
mythology (see Thor) + the ethnic name Finnr
‘Finn’. This may have absorbed another name, Turpius,
Turpinus (from Latin turpis ‘ugly’, ‘base’), one of the
self-abasing names adopted as a mark of humility by the early
Christians. It was borne by the archbishop of Rheims in the
Charlemagne legend.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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