Barwick
A locational surname from places called Barwick, especially one meaning a settlement or farm on the river mouth or near barley fields.
The #8,559 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 80,235 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Barwick is a locational surname, originally meaning someone who came from a place called Barwick. Historical writers connected it with English place-names such as Barwick in Yorkshire and other similar places in Norfolk and Somerset. One traditional explanation links the name to Old English or Scandinavian elements meaning a settlement or farm, while another associates it with a place near a river mouth or with barley (compare the older form Berewick).
History
The surname appears in medieval records in forms such as de Berwvk, showing its use as a place-based byname. It was already established in northern England and later spread more widely, including to urban centers such as London and overseas. Because several English places could supply the surname, different family lines may have independent local origins.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname dictionaries sometimes treated Barwick and Berwick together, because the spellings were easily confused in old records.
From the historical record
“Bartel, an abbreviation of Bartholomew, used in Holland. BARWICK or BERWICK. Local A town in Northumber- land, Eng., at the mouth of the river Tweed. The name signifies, the town at the mouth of a river, from dber, the mouth, and wick, a town or harbor. Berewick, the corn- town, from bere, barley, corn. BASFORD.…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names