Kellam
A surname most likely meaning “from Kelham,” a place-name in Nottinghamshire.
The #7,680 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 71,419 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kellam is usually treated as a variant spelling of Kelham, a habitational surname for someone who came from Kelham in Nottinghamshire. The place-name is generally explained as containing Old English elements meaning “river bank” or “corner” plus “homestead” or “village,” though the exact early form is not always certain in older references. In surname use, it simply pointed to a person identified by their home place.
History
The form appears in historical records as a local surname linked to Nottinghamshire, and later spelling variation produced Kellam alongside Kelham. Like many English locational surnames, it spread beyond its original county as people moved to other parts of England and later overseas. In the United States, Kellam is established but relatively uncommon.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A single medieval place-name could generate several surname spellings, and Kellam is one of the forms that survived the spelling fluidity of English record-keeping.
From the historical record
“o, 5 ; Philadelphia, o, 2. Kelham, Kellam.>-Loca]» 'of Kelham/ a parish in co. Notts, two miles from Newark. Walter de Kelome, co. Notts, 1273. A,”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)