Churchill Family History

English (Dorset and Somerset): habitational name from any of various places called Churchill for example in Devon, Oxfordshire, Somerset, and Worcestershire. Most were probably originally named with a Celtic element crūg ‘hill’ (which early on was reinterpreted as Old English cyrice ‘church’) to which was added Old English hyll ‘hill’. Alternatively, a topographic name denoting someone who lived ‘(on the) church hill’.

Americanized form (translation into English) of Finnish Kirkkomäki: habitational name from farms situated near a church or a hill named Kirkkomäki from kirkko ‘church’ + mäki ‘hill’. Established as a hereditary surname since the 19th century in Tavastia, southern Ostrobothnia, and southwestern Finland.