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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : habitational name from Kirkshaw in the parish of Rochdale, Lancashire, so named from northern Middle English kirk ‘church’ + shaw ‘grove’. There are two minor places in West Yorkshire called Kershaw, which may be of the same origin and may also lie behind the surname, but on the other hand they may themselves derive from the surname. In some cases the name may be topographic for someone who lived near the ‘church grove’.

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