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)
1. English: from Middle English, Old French sur(ri)gien (from a derivative of Late Latin chirurgia ‘handiwork’), hence an occupational name for a person who performed operations, mostly amputations. Before the advent of anaesthetics, only crude surgery was possible, and the calling was often combined with that of the barber or bathhouse attendant.
2. French: topographic name for someone who lived close to a gushing spring.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
