Lamb

Variations – Lambden, Lamson, Lampkyn, Lambert, Lambertson
Racial Origin – English
Source – A given name

How did such a family name as Lamb come into being?

Through the resemblance of a man to a sheep? Possibly, in some instances. Through the inn or shop sign, as “At the Sign of the Lamb?” Yes, in a great number of instances.

But for by far the most part the family names in this group were formed with no idea of any zoological connection, but were based in regular fashion upon a given name, and in the first cases were significant o parentage.

Lambert was this name. It was the name borne by the patron saint of Liege, and was brought to England from Flanders, for all through the Middle Ages trade and communication between these countries was close.

Though today Lambert is more frequently met with as a family name than a given name, and in many instances it is given to children today because it is a surname borne by some branch of the family, it is truly a given name.  It is Teutonic, but not of the pre-Christian era, for its meaning is “lamb-bright” or “fair lamb,” clearly not the type of name to be chosen by the war-loving pagan Teutons.