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The salisbury Surname

salisbury Name Meaning and History

  1. habitational name from the city in Wiltshire, the Roman name of which was Sorviodunum (of British origin). In the Old English period the second element (from Celtic dun ‘fortress’) was dropped and Sorvio- (of unexplained meaning) became Searo- in Old English as the result of folk etymological association with Old English searu ‘armor’; to this an explanatory burh ‘fortress’, ‘manor’, ‘town’ was added. The city is recorded in the Domesday Book as Sarisberie; the change of -r- to -l- is the result of later dissimilation.
  2. habitational name from Salesbury in Lancashire, so named from Old English salh ‘willow’ + burh ‘fortress’, ‘manor’.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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salisbury Family Facts

Distribution of salisbury Families in the US in 1920
Number of salisbury families
 201-399
 68-200
 1-67
 0
Compiled by Ancestry.co.uk from the 1920 US Federal Census records

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The salisbury name in History

A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the salisbury family name as far back in history as possible.

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