The long and noble heritage behind the name of Ternan first began in medieval France. While the patronymic and metronymic surnames, which are derived from the name of the father and mother respectively, are the most common form of a hereditary surname in France, occupational surnames also emerged during the late Middle Ages. Many people, such as the Ternan family, adopted the name of their occupation as their surname. However, an occupational name did not become a hereditary surname until the office or type of employment became hereditary. The surname Ternan was a common name for a tenant farmer. Looking back further, we find the name Ternan was originally from the Old French word tenant, which referred to someone who lived on and farmed an area of land which was owned by someone else.
The surname Ternan was first found in Burgundy (French: Bourgogne), an administrative and historical region of east-central France, where the family has been traced from very early times.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ternan research. Another 125 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1303, 1362, 1472, and 1526 are included under the topic Early Ternan History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Spelling variations of this family name include: Ternant, Ternants, Ternante, Ternantes, Ternan, Ternans, Ternane, Ternanes, Tairnant, Tairnants, Tairnante, Tairnantes, Tairenant, Tairenants, Tairenante, Tairenantes, Ternont, Ternonts, Ternonte, Ternontes, Ternon, Ternons, Ternone, Ternones, Ternond, Ternonds, Ternonde, Ternondes, de Ternant and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Ternan Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.