5,617 Global Benham Family Members

Benham Family History

This interesting surname is Anglo-Scottish although the roots are quite different between the two nations. If English it derives from Benham in Berkshire, or Binham in Norfolk, although the latter place has few directly associated recordings. The village names derive from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name 'Benna', of uncertain meaning, plus "hamm" meaning "river-meadow". If Scottish, it is again locational, but this time from 'Benholm', in the former county of Angus. This name is composed of the elements 'Benna' again, plus the English "holm" meaning "island", although not necessarily an island on a river or lake, it may have been a cultivated or drained area in a forest or marsh.