Background: 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."
