Flagg
An English surname probably from a place-name in Derbyshire, though some writers also linked it with older words for a flag or banner.
The #5,122 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 45,178 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The best-supported explanation is that Flagg is habitational, from Flagg in Derbyshire, a place-name recorded by early surname scholars as the likely source. The place-name itself is usually connected with an old word for a marshy or boggy place, though the exact root is not always stated consistently in older books. Some 19th-century writers also treated Flagg as part of a broader group of surnames related to words meaning 'flag,' 'banner,' or 'fluttering cloth,' but that looks more like a secondary association than the main surname origin.
History
The surname appears in English records and was noticed by 19th-century onomastic writers as a local name. In later surname dictionaries it is often grouped with other short names such as Flack, Flegg, and Fleck, reflecting both phonetic similarity and uncertain medieval spelling. The modern surname is established in English-speaking countries, especially through British migration to North America.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One early surname writer explicitly pointed to a Derbyshire township called Flagg as the likeliest source of the family name.
From the historical record
“Floodgate. FLAGG. A township in the parish of Bakewell, co. Derby. FLAMANT. O. Fr. Flamand, a Flem- ing. Le Flamant, H.R. FLANDEPvS. From the country. See Fleming. FLASH. See under Flashnian. The Prompt. Parv. defines flasshe as ' watyr,' and under ^-'^ff^^' 7(6' we have " llasche, where”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom