1,127 Global GREENHOUSE Family Members

GREENHOUSE Family History

Recorded in several quite distinct spellings as shown below, this interesting name is of pre 7th century Olde English origins. It is locational from either Greenhalgh in Lancashire, or Greenhow, in Yorkshire. The placenames are originally derived from "grene", meaning green, and "haugh", a hollow or sometimes a hill! Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. Over the centuries spelling being at best indifferent and local dialects very thick, lead as with this name, to the development of 'sounds like' spellings The placenames were first recorded as "Grenehou and Greneholf", in the Domesday Book of 1086, but after the 13th century the suffix of the place names sometimes changed to "how", or "hus", and these changes greatly effected the surname spelling.