Battle
A surname that is usually local or descriptive, and may also reflect a nickname or an old personal name in some lines.
The #1,332 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 11,681 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most evidence points to Battle being a name formed from Middle English battle, “battle,” ultimately from Old French bataille and Latin battuere-related forms, used either as a nickname or as a local surname. It may also sometimes have arisen from association with Battle in Sussex, the famous site of Battle Abbey, so the same spelling can conceal more than one origin. In some records, medieval forms suggest it could also be a shortened or altered personal-name form in certain families.
History
The surname is found in English records in more than one medieval and early modern form, and historical writers sometimes classify it as local, nickname-based, or even baptismal depending on the family. Its visibility was no doubt helped by the prominence of Battle Abbey and by later English record-keeping that preserved spellings such as Battell and Battle. Because the name has several plausible sources, different bearers may not share the same origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Battle is one of those surnames where the spelling alone does not reveal the origin: in one family it may point to a place, in another to a nickname, and in another to an old given-name tradition.
From the historical record
“ard, noble, etc. + the asp. form of gal, valour, battle] MAC ART (Celt.) Son of Art = Stone, or Noble, Exalted. i See Arthur 2-”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)