I was born Keith Douglas Jackson on 7 April 1957. I changed my name to "Keith Burgess-Jackson" in 1981 so as to have both of my parents' names. Here are the origins of my four names:
- Keith Name Meaning Scottish: habitational name from the lands of Keith in East Lothian. In the 17th century numerous bearers of this name settled in Ulster. German: nickname from Middle High German kit ‘sprout’, ‘offspring’. Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press
- Douglas Name Meaning Scottish: habitational name from any of the various places called Douglas from their situation on a river named with Gaelic dubh ‘dark’, ‘black’ + glas ‘stream’ (a derivative of glas ‘blue’). There are several localities in Scotland and Ireland so named, but the one from which the surname is derived in most if not all cases is 20 miles south of Glasgow, the original stronghold of the influential Douglas family and their retainers. Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press
- Jackson Name Meaning English, Scottish, and northern Irish: patronymic from Jack 1. As an American surname this has absorbed other patronymics beginning with J- in various European languages. Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press
- Burgess Name Meaning English and Scottish: status name from Middle English burge(i)s, Old French burgeis ‘inhabitant and (usually) freeman of a (fortified) town’ (see Burke), especially one with municipal rights and duties. Burgesses generally had tenure of land or buildings from a landlord by burgage. In medieval England burgage involved the payment of a fixed money rent (as opposed to payment in kind); in Scotland it involved payment in service, guarding the town. The -eis ending is from Latin -ensis (modern English -ese as in Portuguese). Compare Burger. Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press
No wonder I felt so at home in Scotland!
