Ashby

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A place name for several English towns and villages, most notably Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire ; a family name of English origin borne by people with that surname
2. Refers to an English settlement such as Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire ; a hereditary family name found mainly in England
3. The name of several English localities, chiefly Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire ; a surname of English origin carried by individuals and families

Etymology: Ashby is a place name first and a surname second. It combines Old English "æsċ", meaning "ash tree", with Old Norse "býr", meaning "farm" or "town". The Old English element tells you the settlement was known for its ash trees, while the Norse element points to Scandinavian settlers who established farms or villages in the area. This pairing is a telling sign of the Danelaw, the part of eastern and northern England where Norse speakers settled from the late ninth century and mixed their place-naming habits with those of the English already living there. The "-by" ending is one of the commonest elements in English place names across the Midlands and the north and east, and it survives in many towns such as Grimsby and Whitby. Names like Ashby were then carried by families who took them as surnames, so the word now often refers to a person rather than a village. Many places called Ashby exist across England, so the name does not point to one single location.