Meaning & Origin of "Wakefield"

THE FAMILY NAME OF

WAKEFIELD

Family motto

ARDUA VINCO

meaning

I CONQUER DIFFICULTIES

The English surname of Wakefield is of local origin, being one of those surnames derived from the place where the original bearer once lived or held land.  In this instance, the name simply denotes one who is a “dweller at the town of Wakefield”, a toponym or place name which means literally “field for the yearly wake or festival”.

The term “wake” was first applied to the all-night watch kept in a church before certain holy days and at the annual commemoration of the dedication of the church.Ultimately, the festival element predominated and the name came to denote annual fairs held at such times.  Certain town in the North of England still celebrate certain local holidays as “wakes”.

A town by the name of Wakefield can be found in West Yorkshire and in Northamtonshire is a town called Wakerley.

References to this name in written records may be found as early as the thirteenth century, when one Thomas de Wakefield was noted in the “Placita de Quo Warranto” during the reign of Edward first and in 1379, a Willelmus Waykfeld, barker, was mentioned in the “Issue Rolls” of Yorkshire.

A notable bearer of this name was Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796 - 1862), the English colonial reformer, who while imprisoned in Newgate for abducting an heiress outlined his views on colonial government and later became a member of the first government of New Zealand.