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Updated March 13, 2024

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Family name origins & meanings

  • Scandinavian (especially Norwegian), Scottish, and northern English : topographic name for someone who lived on a headland or promontory, Old Norse nes, or a habitational name from any of the numerous places named with this word; there are over a hundred farms in Norway and many settlements in Scotland and northern England so named
  • English : according to Reaney and Wilson, a variant of Nash.
  • German : habitational name from places called Nesse in Oldenburg and Friesland.
  • German : from a short form of the female personal name Agnes (see Agnes 1).

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