The drain Surname
drain Name Meaning and History
- Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Dreain ‘descendant of Drean’, a byname possibly from dreán ‘wren’. The name is also found in Scotland.
- Irish (Cork): reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Druacháin (see Drohan).
- English: from Middle English dreine ‘drain’, ‘ditch’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a ditch digger or a topographic name.
- English: variant spelling of Drane.
- French: reduced form of Derain, from Old French dererain ‘last’, hence a nickname for the youngest son of a family.
- French: habitational name from a place in Maine-et-Loire called Drain.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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