Updated June 9, 2019

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Family name origins & meanings

  • Scottish and English : status name for a farmer who held his land from an overlord by obligations of rent or service, from Old French, Middle English tenant (present participle of Old French tenir ‘to hold’, Latin tenere). This was the normal situation for landholders in the Middle Ages, since in the feudal system all land belonged ultimately to the king and use of it was granted in return for financial or military support.

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