Meaning of Name: Dweller by the Shore. Quote from English Surnames, "Some people, of course, lived on the coast, but their numbers were small compared with those in the thousands of inland farms and villages, and there are few surnames that can be definitely attributed to them. The sea itself has made no surname, unless it is represented by rather rare Say (cf Peacock and Paycock). Probably among coast dwellers it was too large and vague an expression, and a more detailed form of address such as by the cliff or Cave was preferable, or more exactly still, the Redcliffe or Radcliffe, or the South Cliff (Sutcliffe). These could also be inland features, and so could Shore, which was used of lakes and rivers as well as the coast, but to counterbalance this we should bear in mind that a sheltered harbour on the coast was often a Poole (as for example Poole in Dorset) and that those who lived by the Waters could be by the sea. Probably the most distinctive seaside name is Sands, written by one well-known Cornish Family in the old form of spelling, Sandys."