4,457 Global LOVELADY Family Members

LOVELADY Family History

This curious surname, now chiefly recorded in the north western English county of Lancashire, is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is an interesting example of that sizeable group of early European surnames that were gradually created from the habitual use of nicknames. These nicknames were originally given with reference to a variety of personal characteristics, such as physical attributes or peculiarities, mental and moral characteristics, and to habits of dress and behaviour. The derivation, in this instance, is from the Middle English "lufe" (Olde English pre 7th Century "leof"), love, with "ladie", lady, denoting a philanderer, or a man particularly attentive to the desires of women.