Barnhill
A Scottish locational surname meaning “dweller by the barn on the hill.”
The #3,940 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 34,153 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Barnhill is a habitational surname formed from the place-name Barnhill, itself made from Middle English or Scots barn plus hill. The literal sense is “barn hill” or “hill with a barn,” and the surname originally identified someone who came from such a place. In many cases, surnames of this type could arise independently from more than one minor locality with the same name.
History
Barnhill is found chiefly in Scotland and parts of the wider English-speaking world, as with many surnames taken from small local place-names. The single excerpt provided uses Barnhill as a territorial designation in a Scottish family context, which fits a locational surname rather than a descriptive one. The name is not especially common today, but it has persisted in Scotland and among descendants of Scottish emigrants.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because it comes from a fairly transparent place-name, Barnhill is one of those surnames whose meaning is still easy to guess from modern English words.
From the historical record
“first, in 1688, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir James Ramsay of Bamff, by whom he had seven sons and three daughters ; and, secondly, in 1707, Dame Catherine Smith of Barnhill, by whom he had two 60ns and four daughters. His youngest and only surviving son, Sir Stuart Thriep- land, became third baronet. This gentleman…”
— The Scottish Nation, vol. 3