Origin of Surname

[submariner]

What is the country of origin and the meaning of the surname Shortland?

[Quizmonster]

England, specifically the county of Kent. Click here for details.

[Quizmonster]

I should have added above that surnames often were related to the particular place where the people originally lived. So, we get Moore, for example, which probably meant the first people so called lived outside a settlement and on the edge of the surrounding moors.
One meaning of 'shaw' - Shawland being one of the variants of your name, Shortland - was a small wood and another meant the furthest part of cultivated land. It is quite likely, therefore, that your ancestors lived pretty much "on the end of town" or just outside it, as it were!

[JK2]

http://www.spatial-literacy.org/UCLnames/Compa risons.aspx?name=SHORTLAND&year=1998&altyear=1 881&country=GB&type=name
I hope the above link works - it is a surname profiling survey done by University College London. They give the name as English - (Locational Name; Settlement Ending; Land )and the area of most frequency of the surname in the UK in 1881 and again in 1998 was Northampton area - specific town Kettering

[JK2]

If you are interested, the link will also show you a map of the population spread of Shortland in the UK in 1881 & 1998 & also if you read down and click on the Mosaic link & follow it through it gives info on the majority family type. Very interesting. It was pretty accurate about my working class background, lifestyle, moral standards etc etc

[submariner]

Many thanks to JK2 from submariner

[shineybomb]

www.houseofnames.com (I think that is the right address) is a good website to find the origin of a surname