Elbourn - Name

Recorded in many spellings including Elborn, Elborne, Elbourn, Elbourne, Elbourne, and possibly others, this is an English locational surname. It obviously originates from a place, and presumably one in a near spelling of the surname, but if this is so, then we have not been able to trace any such place in the known gazetters of the British Isles for the past three centuries. It would therefore seem that we are dealing with a surname from a now 'lost' medieval village. It is estimated that at least three thousand surnames of the British Isles do originate from such places, of which the only reminder of its very existence is the surname itself. The village of Ebridge in Kent means plank bridge, and it is possible that with this name the place spelling was originally 'Elburna', meaning the planks over the stream. As to where it was is a mystery, but as the surname is very well recorded in the surviving registers of the city of London, it suggest that the village may have been in Southern England. These recordings include John Elbourne, christened at the village of Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex, on July 21st 1628, during the reign of King Charles 1st (1625 - 1649.