Markham Family History

English: habitational name from Markham Clinton or East Markham (Nottinghamshire). The placename derives from Old English mearc ‘mark boundary’ + hām ‘village homestead’ or hamm ‘water meadow’.

Irish: English surname used as an equivalent of Gaelic Ó Marcacháin ‘descendant of Marcachán’ a diminutive of Marcach ‘horseman rider’ (see Markey).

This was originally a Galway surname but is now found mainly in Clare sometimes translated into English as Ryder.