Skip to main content

Updated March 6, 2024

Table of contents

Boy name origins & meanings

  • Old English : Town near water

Boy name variations

How Popular Is The Name Washington

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : habitational name from either of the places called Washington, in Tyne and Wear and West Sussex. The latter is from Old English Wassingatūn ‘settlement (Old English tūn) of the people of Wassa’, a personal name that is probably a short form of some compound name such as Wāðsige, composed of the elements wāð ‘hunt’ + sige ‘victory’. Washington in Tyne and Wear is from Old English Wassingtūn ‘settlement associated with Wassa’.
  • George Washington (1732–99), 1st president of the U.S. (1789–97), was born at Bridges Creek, VA. His great-grandfather had settled in the colony after emigrating from England in 1658. With the passage of time, the surname has come to be borne by more African Americans than English Americans. A prominent example was the educator Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), born a slave in VA, who adopted his surname from his stepfather, Washington Ferguson.

Famous people with this last name

Join the Family

Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning.

Subscribe