Ness
A surname for someone who lived by a headland or promontory, and sometimes by low marshy ground.
The #3,272 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 27,974 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained as a topographic name from Old English or Old Norse words meaning a headland, promontory, or nose-shaped piece of land. In some places, the same form could also be used for land low-lying beside marshy ground, so the name may refer to different kinds of landscape depending on where it arose. The core idea is simply "the person who lived by the ness."
History
The word is especially common in place-names in northern Britain, and surnames built from it often arose independently in several localities. 19th-century surname writers also linked some Ness forms with Scottish and northern English topographic names such as Kirkness and Furness. Because it is a very short and common place-element, the surname may have multiple independent origins.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same tiny word survives in many place-names, especially in Scotland and the north of England, where it usually means a headland or promontory.
From the historical record
“NESMITH, a var. of Nasmith, q.v. NESS 1 (Teut.) I Dweller at a Promontory NESSE/or Headland [O.E, nass = O.N. nes'] 2 Dweller on Low, Marshy Ground [v. under Nesbit and Holderness] N ET H E R BY (Scand.) Bel. to Netherby (Cumb.; Yorks) = the Lower Farm [O^N. «eSn”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)