Frequency: (204)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Cornish: habitational name from any of three places in Cornwall called Carlyon, in St. Minver and Kea parishes. The first element is Celtic ker ‘fort’; the second could represent the plural of Cornish legh ‘slab’.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
