Washington (name)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Washington (/ˈwɒʃɪŋtən/) is a male given name and a surname. It most frequently refers to George Washington (1732–1799), the first President of the United States of America.

Origin and dissemination[]

The name itself is a name of origin and refers to place names in England, such as Washington, Tyne and Wear, from which the ancestors of George Washington are said to have come.[1]

The word became a surname in 1183 when William de Hertburn took the name William de Wassyngtona.[2] In 1657 the name came to Virginia; from 1789 to 1797 George Washington was president. Since this time the given name spread throughout the US as patriotic. In addition to a genealogical origin of the name, it is also (as with Abraham Lincoln and other persons associated with abolition of slavery in America) a favored assumed name of freed slaves and thus a widely spread surname of their progeny in the black population of the USA.

The name appears also as a male given name, often as a second or third name in honor of George Washington.

Family name[]

Washington
Washington.JPG
Origin
MeaningDerived from the English place name
Region of originEngland

The surname historically derived from the English place name.

Given name[]

Washington as a male given name is derived from the surname. It is particularly popular in the United States and South America, evoking the memory of George Washington.

See also[]

  • Washington (disambiguation), other meanings including place names (in modern times, mostly named after George Washington)
  • All pages beginning with Washington

References[]

  1. ^ Neill, Edward D.; Washington, John; Orme, Robert (1892). "The Ancestry and Earlier Life of George Washington". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 16 (3): 261–298. ISSN 0031-4587. JSTOR 20083489.
  2. ^ "Slumberland".
  3. ^ McQuaid, Cate (2009-12-23). "Behind the mask of 'Hero's'". Boston.com. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
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