NORFOLK SURNAMES: G

GEDGE:
Gedge is considered an East Anglian name, although it does not occur as often as one would expect. It derives initially from a term of contempt applied to a foolish or loose woman or a man who is somewhat ungainly in mannerisms. So a gawky youth could gain it as a nickname and it would eventually become a term of recognition for his offspring and so on.
It occurs 2111 times in the IGI and the earliest reference is in 1543.
In the 1881 census there are only 256 references.

GOTTS:
This is an English patronymic of the name Gott, mainly an English (Norman) or German name from the personal form of various Germanic compound names with the first element ‘god’ or ‘got’, signifying good or god.
In the 1881 census for Norfolk there were 224 examples of the name Gotts.
The International Genealogical Index for Norfolk shows 1122 references to people with the name of Gotts or close variants. The earliest reference dates back to 1605.

GURNEY:
This is originally from a place name and is of Norman origin from Gournay (en-Brai). The fact that the original Gurney arrived in England from Normandy is further supported by the earliest reference to it in the IGI in Norfolk being 1110.
In Norfolk the name appears in the IGI 2019.
It tailed off over the centuries, however, and the 1881 census for Norfolk records only 107 Gurneys.

SURNAME DIRECTORY: A B C D E F G H I J K N P R S T

Click the letter to see some examples of surnames, their meanings and distribution in Norfolk.