Severn Family History

English (Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire) from an unattested Middle English personal name equivalent to French Séverin (see Severin). Topographic name from residence by the River Severn which flows from Wales through much of western England to the Bristol Channel.

The river name is recorded as early as the 2nd century AD in the form Sabrina. This is one of Britain's most ancient river names; the original meaning is uncertain but it may have been ‘slow-moving’.