Furness Family History

English: habitational name from the district on the south coast of Cumbria (formerly in Lancashire) earlier Futharnes so named from the genitive case (Futhar) of Old Norse Futh meaning ‘rump’ the name of the peninsula formerly of an island opposite the southern part of this district + Old Norse nes ‘headland nose’.

English (of Norman origin): occasionally perhaps a variant of Furneaux (see Furnace). The two names were sometimes confused.

Norwegian: old variant of Furnes (and in North America probably also an altered form of this) a habitational name from any of various farms particularly in Møre og Romsdal named Furnes from Old Norse fura ‘pine’ + nes ‘headland’.