Haviland

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A brand of fine porcelain tableware produced in Limoges, France ; a family surname of English origin ; a small town in Kansas, United States
2. Name of a renowned French maker of delicate china dinnerware ; a surname borne by various people ; the name of a community in the American Midwest
3. Fine china dishes made by a long-established Limoges firm ; a surname shared by several notable people ; a Kansas town in the United States

Etymology: Haviland is a surname before it is a brand. David Haviland, an American from New York, moved to Limoges, France, in the 1840s and began exporting porcelain to the United States, and the firm he founded in 1842 became Haviland & Co. The porcelain was made for American tastes and soon became a fixture of fine tableware, so the name of a family, rather than of a place or a product, is what stuck to the dishes. Limoges had long been the centre of French porcelain after kaolin deposits were found nearby in the 1760s, which is why an American merchant chose it. The name "Haviland" itself is a English-derived surname, traceable to Havilland-type place names in England, though its exact original toponym is uncertain. Several other people have carried the name, and the Kansas town of Haviland, founded in the 1870s and named for a local figure, shares the same surname root.