Harkness
A Scottish and northern English surname most likely taken from a place-name, probably Hackness in Yorkshire.
The #5,953 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 53,388 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally treated as locational: it was used for someone who came from a place called Harkness or, more plausibly, Hackness in Yorkshire. The place-name is usually connected with Old English elements meaning something like “hawk” plus “headland” or “projecting land,” though older writers were not always certain. The ending -ness is a common northern English place-name element referring to a promontory or headland.
History
19th-century surname writers repeatedly classified Harkness as a local surname, but some admitted they could not identify a separate place actually called Harkness. Later authorities commonly linked it to Hackness in Yorkshire, which is a more convincing explanation. The surname also appears in Scotland and Ireland, and it is found in records of Yorkshire families and later in broader British and American usage.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The form Harkness was often discussed alongside Harland, Harcourt, and other surnames that older antiquarians tried to explain from obscure local place-names.
From the historical record
“EarkneBB, Haitneaa. — Local, ■of Harkness.' I cannot find the place; cf. Fumess, Holdemess. &.C. MDB, (co. Cnmb.), i, 3 ; London, 3. o. Earland. — Local, 'of Harland.'”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances