Wisham - Name

Recorded as Wisham, Wishant, Wisam, Wysom, Wysome, Wysam, Wyshum, and possibly others, this is apparently an English locational surname. We believe that it may originate from the hamlet of Wyson near Tenbury in Herefordshire, or possibly and judging by the number of spellings, from some now "lost" medieval place of which the only reminder is the surname itself in all its variations. Some five thousand surnames of the British Isles are known to originate from lost villages, so whilst unusual, this is by no means uncommon. In spite of its appearance, we believe that the meaning of Wyson may well be "willow farm" from a fused an transposed form of the Olde English "wipig-hamm". This is also the meaning that we would attribute to the surname in its varied spellings. Locational surnames are those which derive from a place name, and were given to people usually when they moved somewhere else. Over the centuries spelling has been at best problematical and local dialects very thick. This has lead with the majority of surnames to "sounds like" spellings, some far removed from the original form, whatever that was. In this case early church recordings include Walter Wysham at Hope under Dinmore, Hereford, on November 16th 1662, and William Wysome, a christening witness to his daughter Honor, at St Margarets Westminster, on January 1st 1630.