From
Middle English a topographic name for someone who lived on a
lane, used to denote any narrow pathway, including one between houses in a town. A Norman or Breton origin has also been proposed for some people bearing this surname, derived from L'Asne, itself perhaps coming from a nickname such as le Asinus (the Ass) or from a
toponym in
Normandy or
Brittany.[1]
A prominent Lane family documented in
Staffordshire claim to have Norman ancestry, and list the earliest ancestor as "Adam de Lone" living in 1315.[2] Lane families enjoyed prominence in other counties such as Kent,[3] Gloucestershire,[4][5]Buckinghamshire,[6] and
Northamptonshire[7] where Sir
Ralph Lane is theorized to have originated. A knighted Sir Richard Lane is found in Northamptonshire in the early 1600s.[8]
Tax lists of
Buckinghamshire in 1400s list "John atte Lane" and "William atte Lane" with the Saxon term "atte" being the same as the French term "de la", showing topographic reference.
In 1663, a Matthys Laenen Van Pelt emigrated from Amsterdam to New Jersey. The family appears to have shortened the name to Lane after arriving.
Early
Virginia County Tax lists of the late 1700s show Lane families with the spellings of "Lane", "Lain", and "Layne" but with no indication of importance for the different spellings, other than possible separation of unrelated Lane families. By the middle 1800s though, "Lane" was commonly adopted.
Lane is also an Anglicized form, of three Irish Gaelic surnames, however, no evidence showing the following words being used as "Lane" can be found.
Ó Laighin ‘descendant of Laighean’, a byname meaning ‘spear’, or ‘javelin'.
Ó Luain ‘descendant of Luan’, a byname meaning ‘warrior’.
This page lists people with the
surnameLane. If an
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