Arrington

Part of speech: noun, verb, adjective

Definitions

1. A family name of English origin, borne by people in many countries ; a name given to several villages and small towns, including one in Cambridgeshire, England
2. A surname carried by numerous families ; the name of several rural communities, among them a village in Cambridgeshire, England
3. Used as a surname in various parts of the world ; also the name of small settlements, such as a parish in eastern England

Etymology: Arrington is a place name rather than a common word, and its roots lie in an Old English personal name. The first element is "Earna," a byname drawn from "earn," meaning "eagle." To this was added "-ing," a suffix meaning "belonging to," and "tūn," meaning "enclosure" or "settlement," which later became the ordinary English word "town." Put together, the name describes a settlement belonging to the people or household of a man called Earna. Place names of this pattern were common in Anglo-Saxon England, where a leader's name was attached to the land his group occupied, so the eagle-named founder has been remembered in the name ever since.