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Blencowe Family History

This very unusual and interesting name is of combined ancient Celtic and Old Norse origin, and is a locational surname deriving from the place called Blencow near Penrith in Cumberland. The placename is recorded in the 1232 Pipe Rolls of the county as "Blenco", and in 1254 as "Blenkhaw", and the meaning of the name, although obscure, is thought to be "(place at) the hill top", derived from the Old Welsh "blaen", top, with the Old Norse "haugr", hill. The Welsh element is found in two other Cumberland placenames; Blencarn (cairn-top), and Blencogo (cuckoo-hill).