West

Boy name variations

Family name origins & meanings

• English and German : from Middle English, Middle High German west ‘west’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived to the west of a settlement, or a regional name for someone who had migrated from further west.
• This name was brought to North America independently by many bearers in the 17th and 18th centuries. Thomas West, 12th Baron De La Warre, was captain general of Virginia in 1610–11. The state of DE is named for him. One of the earliest permanent settlers was Francis West (1606–92), who came to Duxbury, MA, from Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, in or before 1638.

Famous people with this last name