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Surnames KKeen,the English nickname for the brave man, from Middle English kene > Old English cene meaning fierce, brave. Keene is a variation, and Kenning is a patronymic form.
Kellett,is an English place name from so-name locations in Lancashire and Cumbria which derived their names from Old Norse kelda meaning spring + hlid meaning slope, hillside. Kellet and Kellitt are variations.
Kelso,Scottish Place name that was used to describe the man who lived near the 'chalky height', a place they would have recognized during the Middle Ages when surnames were adoped there.
Kemp,the Occupational name for the man who was a champion at jousting or wrestling. It is derived from the Middle English word kempe, which came from Old English cempa meaning warrior, champion, which itself came from Latin campus meaning field, plain of battle. Kempe is a variation of the English name, while other cognates include Kampf, Kömpf from Germany; Kempner, Kempe from German Low Regions; Kemper from Holland. Patronymic versions include Kempson, Kempers , and Kemppainen (Finnish).
Kerwin, Kirwan, and others are commonly accepted as Irish surnames that described the swarthy man, or black-haired man. Spellings are varied because none of these names were Anglo to begin with, but were actually the Gaelic name O Ciardhubhain , which means "descendant of Ciardhubhan" whose name was composed of the elements ciar meaning dark + dubh meaning black + the diminutive suffix -an. When the name was Anglicised, it took a number of versions: while Kirwan is the most commonly found, these also derived from O Ciardhubhain -- Kirwen, Kirwin, Kirivan, Kierevan, Kiervan, O'Kirwan, O'Kerevan, O'Kerrywane . Since most of the population was illiterate, spellings were often the whim of whoever recorded the name at a particular point in time, and whether that spelling managed to survive until recorded on deeds or similarly abstracted materials.
Kerr,is a Scottish and North English place name for the man who lived by the area of wet ground that was covered with brushy growth, from the Middle English (Northern) term kerr , from Old Norse kjarr . It is generally pronounced like the auto -- car -- which reflects the dialect and a Middle English misconception about the pronunciation of the -er spelling. Similarly, the name for the clerk was pronounced "clark" and the merchant was called the "marchant." Carr is a spelling variation based on the pronunciation. Scholars later re-educuated the public about the sound and some surname pronunciations were changed at the same time. Being in Scotland, and exposed to the Gaelic term cearr (wrong, left-handed), it became part of the local folklore that the Kerr family members were left-handed. Keir, Ker are variations. Kjair, Kiaer are Danish cognate forms. Karrstrom is a Swedish adopted ornamental name from Swedish elements
meaning (marsh + river).
Kidd,English Occupational, Nickname. Most surnames relating to animals had their origin in signs that were displayed at inns throughout the countryside. In early times, when travel from one location to another could not be completed in a day -- people took travellers into their homes -- many doing so as a business. Animals pictures were popular additions to the signs. Kidd came from the picture of the "little goat" at an English inn...in France, the counterpart was Chevrolet .
Kincaid,Scottish Place Name. Kincaid was derived from a place near Lennoxtown in Campsie Glen, north of Glascow. It was referenced in 1238 as Kincaith which means 'top pass.
King,is an English nickname, derived from Old English cyning, originally meaning tribal leader, but it evolved to modern vocabulary as king. The name was already in use before the Norman conquest, and was a common nickname for the man who carried himself like royalty, or to the man who had played the part of the king in a medieval pageant (several surnames were derived from medieval pageants, must have been quite the attraction, and the players must have been celebrities of sorts, as a result). Rarely, the name was given to the man who worked for royalty as a footman or servant. Among Ashkenazic Jews, it is an Anglicised version of Konig (umlaut over the -O-). Kinge is a variation of the English nickname.
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