Arms
A surname that most likely began as a nickname or occupational name connected with arms, armor, or bearing arms.
The #8,541 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 80,110 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Arms is most plausibly from Middle English arms, meaning weapons or armor, or from the idea of "bearing arms" in the military sense. In surname form, it may have been given to someone associated with weapons, service, or a martial household, rather than from the later heraldic sense alone. The name could also sometimes have been influenced by the word for a coat of arms or by a descriptive nickname, so the origin is not perfectly certain.
History
The historical excerpts do not give a direct headword entry for Arms, but they do show the older surname tradition of classifying names under war, arms, and military occupations. As a modern surname, Arms is uncommon and appears chiefly in English-speaking countries, especially the United States. Because it is short and semantically broad, it may have developed independently in more than one family line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The phrase "bearing arms" was once a standard way of saying a man was eligible for military service or status as a free man.
From the historical record
“the year 1345 what may be considered the general establishment of surnames — at any rate in the South of England. William Camden, appointed Clarenceux King-of-Arms in 1597,' had reached a some- what similar conclusion in the chapter on Surnames in his 'Remaines concerning Britaine': I quote from a reprint of the…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)