Barnes
A common surname that can come from a place-name, a barn-side dwelling, or, in some cases, the older surname Berners.
The #110 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 1,415 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Barnes has more than one plausible origin. In many cases it is locational: it could refer to someone who lived near a barn or worked at a manorial or monastic barn, from Middle English forms like atte Berne. Some bearers may instead derive the name from Berners/Bernieres, an older Norman surname, which some early writers linked to Barnes and wrote in varying spellings.
History
The name is well established in England, especially in southern and eastern records, and it spread widely in later centuries. Early genealogical writers sometimes treated Barnes as a variant of Berners, but by the 19th century it was also clearly recognized as a separate local surname. It became common enough to rank among the top U.S. surnames by 2010.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One early source noted that Dame Juliana Berners, famous for the Boke of St. Albans, wrote her name in forms including Berns and Barnes.
From the historical record
“BARNES. BARNS. 1. The same as Berners, which see. Dame JuHaiia Bemers, the author of the well-known treatise on sporting and heraldry called the Boke of St. Albans, wrote herself Berns and Barnes. 2. From residence near a barn ; say a mo- nastic or manorial barn. Atte Berne is the XIV. cent. orthograi)hy. 3.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named Barnes
- Julian Barnes (b. 1946)
- Djuna Barnes (1892–1982)
- Ben Barnes (b. 1981)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.