Twist Family History
Twist Name Meaning
English (mainly Lancashire): probably a variant of Twiss or possibly in a few cases a habitational name from Twist a minor place in Devon or Twist Wood in Brede Sussex both named from Old English twist Middle English twist ‘something twisted or forked’. English (mainly Lancashire): possibly a metonymic occupational name for someone in the cotton-spinning industry whose responsibility was to combine threads into a strong cord a sense of twist recorded from the 16th century. North German: nickname from Middle Low German twist ‘argument quarrel’ for a quarrelsome person. German: habitational name from a place so named in Lower Saxony or Twiste in Hesse probably referring to a ‘place of division or twisting of land or a boundary’ (as in 1 above). This surname is very rare in Germany.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
