5,394 Global Fenn Family Members

Fenn Family History

This interesting and unusual surname is of medieval English origin, and one of first recorded. It is a topographic surname for someone who lived in a low-lying marshy area, or locational and regional for a former resident of the Fen Country of East Anglia in particular. The derivation is from the Old English pre 7th Century "foenn", itself an East Saxon form, and meaning a marsh, lake, or boggy region. Topographical and locational surnames were amongst the earliest created, it being the easiest form of identification to call a person by the name of the nearest feature to his or her home.