Ramage
An old nickname surname from a word meaning “wild,” especially used of an untamed hawk or something living in the branches.
The #8,494 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 79,615 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ramage comes from a medieval word meaning “wild,” especially in the sense of a hawk that had not been trained. The trail usually given is Middle English ramage, from Old French ramage, “wild” or “wild as a hawk,” ultimately linked to Latin ramus, “branch,” with the idea of something that lives among the branches. It was also used more generally for untamed or rustic behavior.
History
The surname is recorded in medieval England, and the sources treat it as a nickname rather than an occupational or place-name. Early spellings vary, including Ramage and Bamadge, and later bearers appear in English and Scottish records. The word’s association with hawking helped keep its meaning vivid, since an “untaught hawk” was a common medieval image of wildness.
Origin
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Fun fact
Chaucer used the word in The Romance of the Rose in a comparison about a goat being “ramage,” showing that the term was already familiar in Middle English.
From the historical record
“Ram. — Domesday-Book. RAMAGE (A.-Fr.-Lat.) Wild [M.E. ; O.Fr. ramage, wild (of a hawk), lit. ' living in the branches ' j L.Lat. *ramatic-us, f. Lat. ram-US, a branch] Or ellis he is not wise ne sage, Nomore than is a gote ramage. — Chaucer, Rom. of the Rose, 5383-4.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)