Downs Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Downs last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Downs last name
Meaning of the Downs last name: of the downs. The Downs surname described someone who lived on the downs or on a hill, from Old English dun, "hill", with -s meaning "of the downs". The rolling chalk downland of Sussex, Hampshire and Wiltshire gave rise to many such names. The last name was carried by English and Irish emigrants to North America. A curious detail of this surname origin: the everyday word "down" first meant "off the hill", from the same old word.
Arms associated with the Downs name
Coats of arms associated with the Downs surname follow English heraldry, where each blazon names the colours first and then the figures, such as lions, bands or stars.
Get your full Downs family history
This is only a glimpse of the Downs story. The full Downs history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Downs coat of arms. Get the full Downs report.
Downs name FAQ
What does the Downs name mean?
Of the downs. Common variants include Downes.
Where does the Downs surname come from?
It originates in England, and is also found in the United States, Ireland and Australia.
Is there a Downs coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Downs coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: Reaney & Wilson, Dictionary of English Surnames; Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford).